Nobu on the menu in plans for luxury hotel

Japanese restaurant signs preliminary agreement to operate a Nobu-branded hotel and residential development in Reem Island, Abu Dhabi.

Plans to open a Nobu-branded hotel in Abu Dhabi could involve black cod and miso, the restaurant's signature dish, appearing on the room-service menu.

The upmarket Japanese restaurant chain, which is part-owned by the Hollywood actor Robert De Niro, has signed a preliminary agreement to operate a luxury hotel on Reem Island.

Set to open in 2014, the Nobu Hotel would include about 200 hotel rooms, 80 apartments and a branch of its restaurant, created by the celebrity chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa.

Reem Investments, the master developer behind the US$8 billion (Dh29.38bn) Reem Island development, reported it had "signed a non-binding letter of intent" with Nobu Hospitality to manage the planned hotel.

The move follows other agreements for Nobu-branded hotel openings in Las Vegas and Saudi Arabia.

Hotels represent the latest expansion move by the Nobu brand since its New York flagship restaurant opened in 1994. Since then, branches of the restaurant have appeared in locations across the world including London and Atlantis The Palm hotel in Dubai.

As for the Abu Dhabi Nobu Hotel, it will also include residential apartments, said Ho Kiam Kheong, the chief development officer at Reem Investments.

"You're talking about a 200-room hotel, with some restaurants and residential apartments as well," he said. "There will be a unique residential development - perhaps 80 apartments. It's not going to be mass-market."

While the letter of intent has been signed, a joint venture agreement is still pending, Mr Ho said. "Construction should take two-and-a-half years, which should take us to mid-2014 for the completion," he added.

Mr Ho declined to specify how much it would cost to build the hotel, but said Reem hoped De Niro would attend the grand opening.

Last month, Nobu Hospitality said it would open its first branded hotel in Las Vegas. It has also entered a joint venture with Dhaliliyah, a Saudi investment and development group, to develop Nobu-branded hotels and restaurants in Saudia Arabia and Kuwait.