Two Hotels Refurbish Around Wynn Al Marjan Island
Rixos Al Mairid Ras Al Khaimah is refurbishing 323 rooms in its main building and moving to a more premium position in December. Pullman Resort Al Marjan Island is refurbishing 300 rooms and reopens as an adults-only property in the second quarter of 2027.
Both properties sit on Al Marjan Island, where Wynn Al Marjan Island opens in September 2027. Marjan Hospitality is the hospitality arm of Marjan, the island's master developer. Alison Grinnell, its chief executive, gave the details to Skift on 1 October 2026.
Grinnell Ties the Work to a Ten-Year Lifecycle
Some Ras Al Khaimah hotels are reaching their ten-year lifecycle, Grinnell said. "When you've new, shiny hotels coming into the market, neighboring hotels want to make sure that they have done a normal lifecycle upgrade," she said. The programme predates the casino schedule. "We always had a plan to make sure our existing hotels had their renovation process gone through before the Wynn opened," she said.
Fewer All-Inclusive Packages Near Wynn
Grinnell expects hotels near Wynn to cut back on all-inclusive packages in favour of bed-and-breakfast and half-board. She tied the shift to guest spending at the 22 restaurants that make their UAE debut at the resort. Gaming takes 3% of the resort's 1,543 keys. Dining, entertainment and accommodation fill the rest.
Occupancy Fell 15.9 Points in August
Ras Al Khaimah occupancy fell to 60.5% in August from 76.4% a year earlier, a drop of 15.9 percentage points. Average daily rate rose 3.8% to $137.70. First-half visitor growth reached 2.4%, carried by domestic travellers, whose numbers rose 47%. Average length of stay across the Marjan portfolio fell from 3.5 days to 2.4.
Business on the books for the fourth quarter sits 10% to 20% below expectations, Grinnell said. Short booking windows from Russian and CIS markets could move that figure quickly, because those guests book close to arrival.
8,197 Rooms Open and 5,470 Under Construction
Ras Al Khaimah holds 8,197 hotel rooms with 5,470 under construction. Grinnell expects the destination's key count to double by the end of 2030. She tied the renovation programme to that supply wave and to the trading year that precedes it.
The Skift report carries no value for either refurbishment, no rate card for the reopened Pullman, and no breakdown of the Rixos property beyond its main building. It sets the Rixos repositioning in December and names no day inside the month.