An as yet unnamed Spanish group is planning to build a major hotel in Oman, according to The Times of Oman newspaper. The hotel is expected to be a 500-room property and will be located in Jebel Sifah, a lifestyle community being developed by integrated tourism project developer Muriya.

Muriya is a joint venture between Egypt’s Orascom Development Holding (70% shareholder) and master developer Oman Tourism Development Company (Omaran).

Jebel Sifah is set over five kilometers of Omani coastline and spans 6.2m sqm. The development will include residential properties, a nine-hole golf course, restaurants and other hotels. A 200-room hotel is currently being developed by the Al Barwani group, and is said to be a key part of the first phase of the Jebel Sifah development.

“We are in quite an advanced stage of discussion with a Spanish group, which has several hotels in Europe and North America, for them to come and build more than 500-rooms,” Ahmed Dabbous, chief executive officer of Muriya Tourism Development, told the Times of Oman.

The Spanish group is said to be a developer, owner and operator of hotels across the world, and has its own hotel brand. “They have prepared the preliminary design and now the challenge is to structure the investment. We have already built the (basic) infrastructure in Jebel Sifah,” added Dabbous.

As per Jebel Sifah’s website, there are plans for several other hotels to be built within the development.