The Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) has announced the commencement of ground works on the Al Bait Hotel project, a traditional hotel located in Shurooq’s Heart of Sharjah, which is due to be complete in December this year.

Shurooq announced its plans to develop Al Bait Hotel, a luxury five star hotel – the first traditional Emirati hotel – in the Heart of Sharjah, the region’s largest heritage tourism development, in March of this year in collaboration with General Hotel Management (GHM).

Al Bait Hotel will feature 54 guestrooms, including standard, deluxe, junior suites and suites, a spa and health club, dining areas. Other facilities will include an Arabic tea and coffee house, an Arabic restaurant, and all-day diner, a deli, and staff facilities and utility blocks.

Souk Al Arsa, one of the oldest souks in the region, will be also be included in the Al Bait Hotel development.

Situated on Sharjah creek, the AED100m (US$27.2m, €21.2m, £18.3m) project is set to spread over an area of 10,000sq m (107,640sq ft) and will provide Arabian hospitality with a focus on preserving Emirati culture.

Yousif Al Mutawa, manager of the Heart of Sharjah, said: “One of the most important aspects of Al Bait’s development is the renovation of all of the traditional Emirati houses that form part of the project. Guests staying at Al Bait hotel will have the opportunity to experience living in these traditional Emirati homes, giving them a far richer and immersive experience of the region’s history and heritage than any other available.”

Al Bait Hotel will also include a number of houses and buildings, five of which are heritage houses such as Bait Ibrahim Al Midfa, Bait Eissa Al Midfa, Bait Abdul Rahman Al Midfa, Bait Abdullah Al Mahmoud, and Al Midfa Majlis, which are currently under renovation.

The project will also incorporate a number of other houses that will be built in accordance with the standards and designs of the traditional homes of the region, and will keep the names of their original owners. The surrounding streets and courtyards will be landscaped, revitalised and resurfaced.

Al Mutawa said that the Al Bait Hotel development aims to make all details of the region’s traditional lifestyle available to visitors, ensuring the transfer of cultural understanding from one generation to the next.

He added that the project is in line with the Shurooq’s vision of supporting social, cultural and heritage development.