Anantara The Palm Dubai resort, a luxury tree-shaped resort on one of the city’s famous islands, is close to being sold at AED1.1 bn ($280 mn), Invest-Gate reports.

Sources, who preferred not to disclose their names, told Invest Gate, “The property developer that owns the hotel, Seven Tides, based in UAE, is working with Grant Thornton on the potential sale.”

Anantara Resort features a 400-meter private beach overlooking the Arabian Sea, and a series of waterways between nearly 300 rooms and villas.

Sources, who did not identify the potential buyer, added that discussions are ongoing, and there is no certainty that the deal will go forward.

While Seven Tides representatives explained that no one was available to comment, while Grant Thornton refused to comment.

For his part, Taimur Khan, head of research, at CBRE, says, “The performance of beach properties has improved very quickly after the pandemic, and this is spurring huge interest in the few hotels available to investors.”

Khan adds, “This is the right time for asset owners to exit as valuations look attractive in the future.” It remains the strongest market we’ve seen in years.”

Khan continues, that investors expect visitor numbers to Dubai to rise further as it has not yet recovered to 2019 levels by saying, “There is very little supply going into the upper end of the market.”

Noteworthy that the news comes amid a tourism boom in Dubai that began as the city emerged as a haven during the pandemic, and has since attracted scores of wealthy expats and tourists.

It is also worth mentioning, the average hotel occupancy rates in the emirate were about 83% during the year to March, while the average daily room rates during the first quarter were AED783.8 mn ($213.45 mn), according to the real estate services company, CBRE Group.