Ritz-Carlton Hotel Ñ the latest luxury landmark in Doha Ñ was opened late last month by Qatari Amir Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.

The opening of the QR500 million ($137.4 million) hotel is part of the state's strategy to promote tourism and business travel to the country.

Qatar, the venue for this month's the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting, regularly runs a number of business conferences and exhibitions as well as high-profile sporting events. The country, which is to host the 2006 Asian Games, is now making concerted efforts to boost the number of hotel rooms available.

The Ritz-Carlton is the second of Qatar's new generation of hotels to open. Late last year saw the opening of the 300-room Hotel Inter.Continental Doha in the West Bay area of the capital. Apart from the Inter-Continental Doha, Six Continents Hotels is presently constructing the 136-room Holiday Inn Doha, as part of its expanding presence in the rapidly developing tourism market of Qatar.

The five-star deluxe Ritz-Carlton in the fashionable West Bay Lagoon development is expected to meet all the business, entertainment and recreational requirements of visitors and residents.

Of the total 376 keys, 17 are presidential suites, 40 ministerial suites, four deluxe rooms and 315 guestrooms.

Besides, there are a number of restaurants, including The Lagoon.

Due to a shortage of time, the seven-acre aqua park, currently linked to the main hotel with a bridge, is yet to be developed. This will be carried out in the very near future to provide a variety of water and leisure facilities.

The main island site and marina occupies an area of 207,793 sq m while the hotel itself covers 21,000 sq m. The gross floor area of the hotel is 78,200 sq m, and the two marina buildings take another 1,242 sq m.

The opening of the 80,000-sq m glass and chrome tower marks the culmination of more than three years of efforts by the Qatar National Hotels Company (QNH), which also owns several other prime properties in Qatar.

Other QNH properties include the Doha Marriott Gulf Hotel, which recently saw extensive lobby and room renovations, and the Doha Corniche Movenpick Hotel, a business hotel due to open before the WTO conference.

Another property, the Sheraton Doha Hotel, is undergoing a phased programme of room renovations to be followed by an upgrade of facilities early next year.