Twelve stand-out hotels in the Middle East have made the cut in HotelsCombined’s inaugural “Stellar Stays” list for 2014, with 10 in the United Arab Emirates (seven in Dubai, three in Abu Dhabi) and two in Jordan (see detailed list below).
According to the hotel price comparison site, the chosen properties include the crème de la crème in the region. It explained “Stellar Stays” is not a ranking list, but a group of outstanding hotels judged on a strict set of criteria.
All the listed hotels rate 9.0 and over, with a minimum of 250 customer reviews on its site, have a significant community or environmental programme, and have received at least three major industry awards within the past year.
Pictured left: The Palace Downtown, Dubai
Hotel ratings on the site are aggregated from over 38 million reviews from multiple travel and review sites. Hotels are ranked out of a potential score of 10 – making a score of 9.0 or higher quite a feat.
Amer al Halabi, Middle East regional manager for HotelsCombined, said based on the detailed criteria the hotels not only have a high satifsfaction rating with guests and travel industry experts, but they also strive to make a positive difference with dedicated environmental and community initiatives. These are also in tandem with HotelsCombined’sGreen Hotels and Responsible Tourism Initiative.
“Dubai clearly took the lion’s share of awards, and in determining this year’s winners it was interesting to note that UAE properties are growing increasingly socially-conscious compared to those in other countries. It will be interesting to see how properties in other regions will follow the UAE’s lead and implement more corporate social responsibility initiatives in the coming year,” he added.
Full list of “Stellar Stays” in the Middle East 
Note: WIT Middle East will be held at Sofitel The Palm Resort & Spa, Dubai from March 26-27. See programme here.
