Rixos Palm Jumeirah gets set for 1 January opening

The Rixos Palm Jumeirah faces a race around the clock to be ready for its January 1 opening

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The luxurious five star Rixos Palm Jumeirah hotel faces a race around the clock to meet its 1 January opening.

With the handover date just over two weeks away, it is all hands to the pump at the new addition to the prestigious Palm area of Dubai.

Workers have been organised into three shifts from 6.30am until 9.30pm – and working on Fridays - in order to meet deadline.

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“I keep dropping emails saying I’m going to get it open for 1 January and I’m confident we are going to do so,” said Burak Kizilhan, Business Development Manager at AE ARMA-ELEKTROPANÇ, the company providing the MEP work at the Rixos Palm Jumeirah and the combined shoreline apartments.

Kizilhan revelead the MEP work at the Rixos Palm Jumeirah is about “98% complete.”

“All of our projects have always made deadline and we want to make deadline for this one as well,” the British educated Turk said.

“We are confident of doing so.

“We are working so hard, seven days a week, with all the materials onsite and 800 labourers onsite.”

Turkish company AE ARMA-ELEKTROPANÇ, which has had a base in the Middle East since 2004, specialise in shopping malls, luxurious hotels and high-rises.

“We have 24 ongoing projects in three different continents and five ongoing projects in the UAE,” said Kizilhan.

“We’ve done a lot of projects, including Europe's tallest building, the 302 metre City of Capitals Tower in Moscow.

“All the hotels we have completed are five star and we have a seven star one in Turkey. Them and high-rise buildings are our hallmarks,” said Kizilhan.

And it it is that level of experience Kizilhan believes gives his company a distinct competitive edge.

“We are a grade A MEP contractor. We are doing projects all across the world, and that’s a very good thing to be able to tell a client,” he said.

For now though, the Rixos project ensures it is going to be a very busy Christmas period.

The plush five star resort consists of 234 rooms, a Turkish hamam, SPA, some restaurants, meeting rooms and a private beach.

The project footprint - which neighbours H.H. Sheikh Mohammad Al Maktoum's Palace and Sofouh Road - has an indoor area covering only 30% of the total available land.

The remaining 70% is dedicated to gardens and a beach promenade area.

The build signals the arrival of Rixos as a hotel in the UAE and the greater GCC region as a whole.

The lead contractor for the hotel is Sembol Construction Company (SML), a group company of Rixos.