DUBAI InterContinental Dubai Festival City has strengthened its conference arsenal, adding more options to its Event Centre and expanding the area to 4,210 sq m from a previous 3,800 sq m.
Released into the market on February 7 were Al Noor 1 (128 sq m) and Al Noor 2 (88 sq m), each larger than the usual standard function room and enjoying natural light with their floor-to-ceiling windows and a view of the Dubai skyline and Creek. They can be combined to create a bigger space (216 sq m).
Al Noor function space
There are also three boardrooms available: Al Thuraya 1 and 2 and Al Dana, along with a business centre and spacious foyer accessible by all. An outdoor terrace – perfect during Dubai's short but crisp winter season – allows a breather from hours in an enclosed setting.
Al Thuraya boardroom
The older hardware of the Events Centre takes up two floors and consists of two grand ballrooms, Al Baraha, on the ground floor facing the Creek and the Al Ras, on the second level. Both can be sectioned into three. According to Patria Puyat, the hotel's director of conferences and events, business boomed last year "so it made sense for us to look at expanding to meet increasing demand".
Al Ras Ballroom pre-function area
The adjacent Crowne Plaza, a corporate sibling of the InterContinental under the IHG umbrella, also has use of the Events Centre, but will get 115 sq m of new conference facilities later this year.
For more details, visit www.intercontinental.com/dubai
Margie T Logarta
