Dubai-based Jumeirah Group has announced the soft opening of its ninth domestic property, Jumeirah Creekside Hotel.

Welcoming its first guests earlier, the luxury hospitality group said from the start of 2011 to the end of 2012, Jumeirah Group will have more than doubled the number of hotels it manages and almost quadrupled the number of countries in which it operates.

Located at the heart of ‘Old Dubai’ and overlooking the Dubai Creek, the new hotel is minutes away from the airport and within walking distance of some of the city’s most important landmarks and shopping centres.

In the coming six months, Jumeirah expects to open Jumeirah Bilgah Beach Hotel in Baku, Azerbaijan and Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel and Spa, Kuwait.