Master developer Nakheel and Spain’s RIU Hotels & Resorts’ AED670 million, 800-room beachfront resort and water park is taking shape at Deira Islands, with all accommodation floors almost complete, and roofing work under way.

Façade and installation work at the nine-storey property – the first international hospitality joint venture for Nakheel and the first all-inclusive 4-star family beach resort in Dubai – will begin early next year, the master developer said.

Inside the property, floor tiling in the corridors and 800 rooms is ahead of schedule while outside, the resort’s three swimming pools and restaurant and amenity buildings are well under way.

Under the joint venture, Nakheel and RIU Hotels & Resorts are delivering a new hospitality concept for Dubai: 4-star, family-orientated, all-inclusive beachfront accommodation. The resort, RIU’s first in the region, is one of the emirate’s largest in terms of rooms.

Located on a prime seafront plot at Nakheel’s new, 15.3 sq km Deira Islands coastal city, the resort features seven food and beverage outlets, three pools, a fitness complex, children’s club and water park. Two major new Nakheel projects – The Night Market and Deira Mall – are nearby.

Deira Islands, where Nakheel has invested more than AED8.8 billion in infrastructure and project construction so far, will add 40km of coastline to Dubai.  The development is expected to have a population of 250,000, and create 80,000 jobs.