Best Western International (BWI) has signed a contract with Maple Leaf Hotel & Resorts for a new hotel located adjacent to the international airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Currently under construction, the hotel near the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport will operate under the upscale Best Western Plus product when it opens in the second quarter of 2014.

All the 56 rooms will include international amenities such as comfortable beds, flat-screen TVs with satellite channels, minibars, tea and coffee making facilities and complimentary Wi-Fi.

The hotel will feature an all-day restaurant serving local and international dishes, a bar, fitness center, sauna, steam room and spa. There will also be a rooftop barbecue outlet.

BWI’s vice president of International Operations for Asia and the Middle East, Glenn de Souza, said the new hotel was perfectly positioned to cater for Bangladesh’s rising number of inbound and outbound travelers.

“With a population of more than 160 million people – the eighth largest in the world - and a fast-growing manufacturing industry, Bangladesh is becoming an increasingly important regional and global player,” de Souza said.

“We are delighted to be able to offer a brand new international hotel located on the doorstep of the country’s main air gateway. I am confident that this exceptional new property will be extremely popular with the rising number of local and international air travelers flying in and out of the country,” he added.

Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport handled 5.6 million passengers in 2012, but this is expected to rise rapidly in the coming years, with new airlines entering the market and more international carriers targeting Bangladesh.

For BWI, the new Best Western Plus hotel will be its second in Dhaka, following the 51-room Best Western La Vinci Hotel. The company expects to expand further across Bangladesh in the coming months and years, with plans for at least three hotels in the coastal destination of Cox’s Bazar, a statement said. – TradeArabia News Service