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Work is underway to open the kingdom’s first transit hotel, operated by the Gulf Hotel Group, at the Bahrain International Airport (BIA). It will feature 24 individual sleeping pods, 17 compact rooms, 24 standard rooms, 17 family rooms and one room equipped with facilities for the physically challenged.
At the Bahrain Airport Hotel (BAH), the rooms and pods can be booked once checked-in and by transiting travellers for a minimum of two hours and a maximum of 24 hours, located on the airside, near the Duty Free and the Gulf Air lounge.
The BAH is part of the BIA’s new $1.1 billion (BD415 million) terminal, which is set to open this year with 104 check-in centres, 36 passport control booths and 24 security screening points, boosting the airport’s capacity to 14 million passengers per year.
According to the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunication, last year, nearly 9.6 million passengers passed through the airport, of whom 4.2 million were transfers and 23,048 were transit travellers.
The Bahrain Airport Hotel is targeted at this demographic while also offering lodging options to those who want to freshen up after checking in or have an early flight and want to catch a few hours of sleep at the airport beforehand.
Each of the pods at the BAH will include Wi-Fi, power outlets, dimming lights and soothing music to assist those who would like to grab a power nap as well as a safe to store valuables. Guests utilising the pods will have access to shared bathroom and washroom facilities. Each of the standard, family and compact rooms have private facilities.
In addition, an express laundry service will be offered for select garments that guests can have ready before boarding their next flight.
There will also be a mini-gym to help travellers stretch and stay active, instead of resigning themselves to a lazy layover.
“The whole concept is quite smartly built,” noted Fares Yactine, area general manager at the hotel. “We have creatively furnished the hotel with lots of space saving designs that help us offer 83 units for travellers of all kinds, from family units that accommodate four people, all the way to convenient pods. When passengers check in or arrive from a long flight, they can either get a pod or room at the hotel, shave, shower and refresh themselves or check out our five-star spa.”
The BAH, slated to open before the end of the year, will have two separate entrances – one for the lodging facilities and the other for the five-star spa.
The spa service, operated by Gulf Spa, will offer massages and hairdresser services for male and female travellers to rejuvenate and relax. These will be open to all travellers, regardless of whether they have booked a room or pod.
Fares added: “The concept of a five-star spa that offers both quick chair massages as well as longer therapy sessions has been quite popular internationally at several airports, especially among guests coming off long-haul flights. Our spa is the perfect way for travellers to either recover from a long flight or prepare their body for one.”
While the hotel does not plan on offering in-house food and beverage options at this time, the range of F&B outlets nearby as well as the two lounges will offer options for flying foodies, who can also bring food back to their hotel rooms.
Construction continues with plans to unveil the terminal and the kingdom’s first pod hotel before the end of the year, attracting more passengers and positioning Bahrain’s tourism sector for a much-needed comeback.
