Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into an agreement with Ayla Oasis Development Company (AODC) for a 286-room Hyatt Regency hotel in Aqaba, Jordan. Hyatt Regency Aqaba Ayla will be the first hotel to open within the prestigious Ayla development, a master-planned, multiphase development on the northern shores of Aqaba. Expected to be operational in 2018.

The hotel will mark the second Hyatt hotel in Jordan, joining Grand Hyatt Amman, and will join more than 150 Hyatt Regency hotels worldwide in locations from Chicago to Mumbai. The hotel will further the Hyatt Regency brand's mission of connecting guests to who and what matters to them most, with a range of amenities for work or play, as well as spaces that will make the hotel a go-to gathering place for any occasion. Hyatt Regency Aqaba Ayla will feature smartly designed standard rooms of 141 square feet and five food and beverage outlets offering creative cuisine.

Guests will also enjoy a pool, fitness and spa facilities and a kids club. Superior conference and event facilities will be available, with approximately 3,200 square feet of meeting space, including a 1,870-square-foot ballroom ideal for social events and meetings. Hyatt Regency Aqaba Ayla has retained Arcadia Design as the hotel's architects and the firm of Yabu Pushelberg for interior design.

The hotel's location in the impressive Ayla development's Marina Village, situated between the city center and the international borders, will offer guests a myriad of retail, dining and entertainment venues as well as 17km of newly created waterfront. Guests will also enjoy Jordan's first 18-hole golf course, designed by Greg Norman, and a 9-hole golf academy, that has been built as one of the most eco-friendly Greg Norman courses in the world Additionally, the hotel will be situated in close proximity to major tourist attractions such as Petra and Wadi Rum.