Nakheel breaks ground on Avani hotel at Ibn Battuta Mall.

Dubai’S Nakheel broke ground on two new hotels in Dubai last month: The Avani hotel at Ibn Battuta Mall, with a total project value of Dh240 million ($65.3 million) and the Premier Inn Dragon City.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the 375-room Avani was led by chairman Ali Rashid Lootah and comes a month after the company handed a construction contract worth Dh184.5 million ($50.2 million) to Dubai-based Parkway International Contracting to build the hotel, which will be operated by Thailand’s Minor Hotel Group under the Avani brand.

Set for delivery in 2019, the Avani is the second Nakheel hotel at Ibn Battuta Mall. Located next to the new link connecting the mall with the Dubai Metro, the Avani has a built-up area of 278,000 sq ft across 15 floors, and features a restaurant, pool, gym and car park for 135 vehicles. It complements Nakheel’s first hotel at Ibn Battuta, a 372-room Premier Inn, which opened last October.

Nakheel also launched construction on its Dh176 million ($47.9 million), 304-room Premier Inn at Dragon City. The Premier Inn is Nakheel’s second hotel at Dragon City and is expected to be delivered in 2019.