Emaar’s Rove lifestyle brand has just opened its fourth property in Dubai, the 270-room Rove Trade Centre near DWTC, but that is only the tip of the iceberg, says Jaidev Menezes, corporate director business development, Emaar Hospitality Group.

“We are very focused on seeing the opportunity in midscale. We are looking at building the brand in other parts of the Emirates in Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah.”

The UAE is only the beginning of the Rove expansion, according to Menezes who says that the brand will be rolled out across Saudi Arabia, Oman, India, China and Europe.

Emaar’s confidence is largely in response to the reception that has greeted the Rove brand in Dubai.

“It’s a fresh, different product and people are tired of staying at boring, cookie cutter hotels. Rove is a different product from the point of view of design and technology – it is efficient and unique – it’s a fresh and novel concept,” he says.

Emaar Hospitality Group has a number of other projects that are coming to the fore as well.

“We have announced 26 projects in the region. We are also looking at management agreements to grow the pipeline,” he says.

“We are not in a race to hit a certain number of hotels or get to a certain size. It’s important to be looking at signing quality deals, quality owners and if we’re going to be developing, to be developing quality product.”