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IHG’s new voco brand to open in Dubai, rebranding the Nassima Royal Hotel

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voco is IHG’s latest hotel brandWe discussed it in this article when it launched.

Voco is to be an ‘upscale conversion’ brand, allowing existing luxury hotels to switch to IHG without needing to undertake expensive changes to meet the brand standards demanded by Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza etc.  It only seems to require the hotel to put in a lot of yellow furnishings 🙂

You can learn more about the brand here.

One of the first voco hotels is the St David’s Hotel in Cardiff, which IHG acquired when it bought Principal Hotels recently.  Here is the voco St David’s website.

voci has just added a new property in Dubai.  It isn’t one I’d ever heard of, although keeping track of Dubai’s ever-changing hotel scene is beyond the ability of mere mortals.  The Nassima Royal Hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road will soon be voco Dubai.

Looking at the Nassima website, the hotel looks very smart and very funky.  Don’t get too excited by the mention of beach views – that is mainly due to the fact that it is 51 stories high and not because it is near the beach.

voco Dubai is not yet bookable, and IHG is saying that rooms will be available from 1st April.  The voco Dubai website is here but, with little information, you should use the Nassima site instead for now.


IHG One Rewards news

IHG One Rewards update – November 2024:

Get bonus points:

Nights to do not need to be consecutive. Read more in our article here and click here to register.

IHG is running a second promotion for stays at five of its smaller brands. You will receive triple base points between 1st October and 31st December 2024 on stays at voco, avid hotels, EVEN Hotels, Atwell Suites and Garner Hotels. Read more in our article here and click here to register.

New to IHG One Rewards?  Read our overview of IHG One Rewards here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our article on ‘What are IHG One Rewards points worth?’ is here.

Buy points: If you need additional IHG One Rewards points, you can buy them here.

Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from IHG and the other major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.

Comments (100)

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  • Tony says:

    The Nassima Royal was a Radisson a little while back (but wasn’t for long). For me it’s memorable as when you walk past in the height of summer you can stand outside getting a waft of the chilled air as you walk from the metro to the pub.

  • JK says:

    Although I’ve never stayed The Nassima Royal, I can highly recommend the Tresind restaurant – fantastic Indian food, and we always go out of our way for the experience.

    The Movida club isn’t too bad either, for a post-meal club – but there are obviously much better places in Dubai.

    But Tresind – do give it a go!

  • SWwomble says:

    OT Bits- tried to get into the new MyLounge at LGW South with Priority Pass this morning, only to be told that they don’t accept it. I asked if this was temporary and it was suggested they hope to accept PP at some point in the future. Was directed to No1 but popped over to the Grain Store as usual.

    • Rob says:

      Their website specifically says they DO accept it – this is on the My Lounge South page.

      • SWwomble says:

        Indeed it does, which made it all a bit surprising… hoping others have better luck!

        • Ed says:

          I am also at LGW South and have just been turned away from MyLounge. I asked the agent about Priority Pass. They said no, despite acknowledging that their lounge in the north Terminal accepts it. I did point out that it shows on their website.

        • Shoestring says:

          We’ve been here before, it’s a shame for folks getting turned away as if the past is any guide, in a few days somebody complains to MyLounge, Mgr intervenes and MyLounge starts allowing PP in after all

  • Alan says:

    Are there restrictions with these LNER vouchers? I seem to recall something about only being able to spend them on purchasing Advance tickets?

    • Andy S says:

      yep, just checked in the nectar app, can only use on AP tickets.

      • Macca says:

        It says “LNER Advanced” tickets. Does this mean the e-vouchers are only valid on routes operated by LNER, and not, for example, Manchester to Euston Virgin trains?

        • Rob says:

          Correct. Added that in.

        • Rich says:

          Per a comment on Railforums, I believe they will also work on routes with a leg on another operator, as long as one leg is on LNER. So there could be some mileage there.

          No way I can see that working for London – Manchester though, unless you want to go via Leeds and can force the booking engine to price that up!

          The same comment also suggests they won’t work on sale fares.

        • RussellH says:

          Time was when King’s X – Sheffield – Manchester would certainly have been a valid LNER routing, but over Woodhead between Sheffield Victoria and manchester, which has long since been closed.

        • Sussex bantam says:

          I have no experience of LNER at all but am interested as my mum uses them when she comes to see us travelling Bradford to Haslemere.

          Can someone who knows about this stuff tell me how to find out if the vouchers will work for that trip ?

          Thanks

        • Rich says:

          It will certainly work on the direct Bradford – King’s X service, and quite possibly the ones with a connection at Leeds. Worst case, you’d have to buy the London-Haselmere ticket separately.

        • Sussex bantam says:

          Thanks rich

      • Alan says:

        Thanks Andy/all – may have some use for my folks.

  • Adam says:

    I wrote down every hotel price for Dubai for Radisson the night before dream deals. Unimpressed. The best discount is 7% from the prepaid rate the night before.

  • Victor says:

    OT: Grain Store at LGW. My wife and I have 2 Priority Pass cards each from Amex Platinum. Can we therefore get double the amount of credit? I.e. 8 x £15 to use.

    • Shoestring says:

      Yes in practice if you have a friendly cashier, by all accounts

    • Nick Burch says:

      Getting 4 credits from 2 people sat down can be done, but needs friendly staff

      Getting 2 credits (on 1 PP) from 2 people sat down is easy, then another 2 credits for takeaway (from the other card) is fine too. Do you need coffee and sandwiches and cake for your onward flight? 🙂

  • Jovanna says:

    I’ve just had a notification through from Award Wallet. My Nectar account has gone down by a number points. I’ve not redeemed anything.

    I checked my Nectar app and LNER have taken 96 points several times on 2 December. I can only see the last 8 transactions in the app and 5 are for a ‘redemption’ on LNER, for 96 points each time. I don’t know how many points until I can view my full account.

    I booked a ticket with LNER a few weeks ago. I entered my Nectar number but I didn’t redeem anything.

    Anyone any idea what’s going on?

    • Lister says:

      LNER tweeted a few days ago about a known issue with nectar points vanishing from accounts and that all would be returned.

    • Jovanna says:

      117 movements on my Nectar account on 2 December by LNER. There were 36 transactions of +96 points, 65 transactions of -96 points, 10 transactions of +480 points and 6 transactions of -480 points. I’m 864 points down.

      • Delbert says:

        LNER can’t run a railway let alone a simple electronic transaction. I can just imagine the intern going crazy with her Nectar administrator privileges.

  • @mkcol says:

    Cancelling the inbound if the outbound is missed is old news. Has been standard practice for decades (on most fare types).

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