QE2 Hotel Project Still Ongoing

Palm Jumeirah developer has said that the scheme was “ongoing” and that they were “investigating all options” to convert the famous QE2 into a luxury hotel development.

The company’s comments come after reports circulating on numerous maritime sites on the internet, suggested that the plans for QE2’s transformation into a floating hotel and tourist attraction could be sunk by the effects of the international credit crunch.

“The plans for QE2’s full restoration and refurbishment are ongoing as we continue to investigate all our options in leveraging this fantastic asset. We have no intention of selling the ship to any party whatsoever,” said a Nakheel spokesman.

QE2 has been moored at a berth in Dubai for three months after arriving in Nov 2008.

Nakheel said at the time that it was in talks with major hotel operators with a view to handing over the running of the QE2 hotel.

While no names have been revealed, it will be “most likely” a hotel operator will be chosen that Nakheel already has done business with, according to Manfred Ursprunger, CEO of Nakheel Hotels, QE2 Enterprises.

The hotel will comprise 200 rooms which will all be a minimum of 50 square metres and of these, around 10 per cent will be suites.

There will also be a 500-seat luxury theatre which will host productions rivalling those in London’s West End and Broadway, as well as a 5,000 square metre indoor and outdoor wellness centre and spa.

Other features include five restaurants and three-star Michelin chef Michel Roux will be in charge of the menus.

The ship will be able to hold 1,500 guests, including guests just visiting for dinner.

The ship will form the centrepiece of the QE2 precinct, on Palm Jumeirah which will also include a land area, complete with residential units and a yacht club.

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Nakheel Denies All Scrapping Rumours

Three months after bringing the former British cruise liner, QE2, to Dubai, developer Nakheel is still committed to its plans to covert it into a floating luxury hotel development by 2012, snubbing rumours of the project being put on hold due to credit crisis.

According to industry sources, QE2′s transformation has either been altered or put on hold due to the worsening economic conditions, with Nakheel scaling back on a number of major projects including the construction of its one-km tall tower, apart from cutting 500 jobs.

Though the cruise ship, has been parked at a berth in Dubai since its arrival in November 2008, Nakheel says it is going ahead with its plan of converting the QE2 into a 200-room floating luxury hotel, even in a credit-starved environment.

“The plans for QE2′s full restoration and refurbishment are ongoing as we continue to investigate all our options for optimising this asset,” a Nakheel spokesperson told Emirates Business.

Asked if the QE2 hotel would open in 2012, the spokesperson said: “We cannot comment on a date. But we have not revised our schedule. We are still aiming for the same timeframe. We haven’t made any changes to our plans.”

“Once these plans are complete, she [QE2] will undergo refurbishment – including restoration of key historical areas – and become the focal point of an extensive, multi-faceted precinct off the trunk of The Palm Jumeirah. A heritage museum displaying artefacts from QE2 and of local maritime history is a key feature of the precinct,” the spokesperson said.

Nakheel, meanwhile, had said in November last year that it was in talks with major hotel operators over the running of the QE2 hotel, without divulging any names.

However, the company said it would most likely be a hotel operator that Nakheel already had done business with.

According to recent media reports, a consortium in the ship’s home port of Southampton is considering resurrecting a bid to buy the vessel. The daily quoted a Nakheel spokesperson as saying: “We have no intention of selling the ship to any party whatsoever.”

via B24-7

QE2 May Be Cut Up for Scrap Metal

Nakheel the owners of Southampton’s former liner QE2 are remaining tight-lipped over fears that the world-famous Cunarder could eventually be cut up for scrap.

The current economic downturn is so serious that it has hit even oil-rich Dubai, where the liner, is now awaiting conversion into a floating hotel.

Sources close to Dubai-owned Nakheel, which bought Queen Elizabeth 2 for US$100m, have indicated that the current world financial crisis and reduced numbers of visitors may have seriously altered or postponed the plans for the QE2 Hotel project on The Palm Jumeirah.

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It is rumoured that Nakheel is considering opening the liner to the public unchanged and just as QE2 looked when she left Southampton for the last time in November 2008.

Other options would include selling the ship for scrap, although not until public interest in the project has diminished.

Although Nakheel has yet to officially reveal any details of QE2’s transformation, it is known that the ship’s iconic funnel is destined to be removed and replaced by a glass structure containing luxury penthouse suites.