Dubai developer Nakheel has awarded a AED160m ($43m) contract to the local United Engineering Construction (Unec) to build its new hotel at Ibn Battuta Mall.

The 372-room hotel will form part of Nakheel’s 28,000 square-metre expansion of the Ibn Battuta Mall complex. 

The developer recently signed a management agreement with UK-based Premier Inn to run the hotel, which will be directly linked to the Dubai Metro and Ibn Battuta Mall. Premier Inn at Ibn Battuta, scheduled to open in 2016, will have a restaurant, a swimming pool and a gym.

Nakheel is planning to open nine hotels across Dubai over the next five years. In April, the developer confirmed that France’s Accor will manage its 250-room hotel at Dragon Mart, due to open this year. In February, Nakheel launched more than 500 luxury residences at The Palm Tower, its 50-storey, five-star hotel and residential complex on Palm Jumeirah. Hotels are also planned for Deira Islands and International City.

The developer said it has also appointed Unec as the contractor for the new retail mall at the Dragon Mart extension. The 177,000 square-metre extension – comprising a mall, hotel and multi-storey car park – will double the size of the existing complex, bringing the total size of Dragon Mart to 335,000 square metres.