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The first international-class hotel opens in Male, the capital city of the Maldives. Holiday Inn Male, which sports the look-and-feel, service and quality facilities of the new Holiday Inn brand, welcomed its first guests at 2 p.m. yesterday.
“As the newest hotel and the first international-class property in Male, I am confident that Holiday Inn Male will do extremely well. Holiday Inn Male aims to be the ideal business and leisure connection for our guests to the Maldives,” said General Manager Brett Wilson. “We are also fully in line with the standards of the global Holiday Inn relaunch, joining over 1,000 other hotels around the world that sports the new Holiday Inn brand standards and contemporary new logo.”
Holiday Inn Male offers world-class meetings and conference facilities, food and beverage outlets, extensive recreation and leading-edge communication facilities and commands an unrivalled view of the habour. A mere five-minute speedboat ride from the international airport, Holiday Inn Male will be ferrying guests in the first-ever speedboat.
Located on the corner of Ameer Ahmed Magu, Holiday Inn Male lies near the harbourfront, shops and markets and within a short walking distance to the various historical places of interest like the Old Friday Mosque, Sultan Park and The Presidential Palace. The hotel provides the perfect gateway to holidaymakers heading out to outlying resort islands.
Holiday Inn Male boasts of 117 stylish rooms, including 17 Superior Rooms, 77 Deluxe Rooms, 13 Deluxe Ocean view Rooms, 9 Premiere Rooms and a Presidential Suite. All rooms feature either a king bed or two twin beds and offer amenities such as broadband Internet, LCD TVs, minibar, complimentary tea/coffee making facilities and in-room safes. As for dining and entertainment, there is a Lobby Cafe, an all day dining restaurant, a rooftop restaurant offering European/Japanese fusion cuisine and a 24 hour in-room dining.
The hotel also has a rooftop swimming pool, a well equipped fitness centre and the first branded Spa in Male, Coconut Spa. Other full range of activities include scuba diving and snorkeling, big game fishing, island excursions and picnics, Male city tour, photo flights, resort day visits, submarine trips and others.
For corporate meetings, there are four versatile meeting rooms including the Grand Ballroom offering 255 square metres of space, all equipped with the latest technology. They provide the ideal space for a range of function requirements: from seminars, board meetings and exhibitions, to wedding banquets and private celebrations catering for up to 180 persons, banquet style, or 240 for a reception.
The hotel is currently in its soft opening phase with 39 rooms opened for booking. By October the full facilities at Holiday Inn Male will be available.
As the first Holiday Inn in the Maldives, this is another milestone for the iconic Holiday Inn brand. Currently, Holiday Inn is undergoing a global relaunch programme, the biggest rebranding exercise in hospitality that will result in a completely refreshed estate worldwide by 2010.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
