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Hospitality fit out Dubai: cost and scope guide
A hospitality fit out in Dubai costs AED 550 to 900 per sq ft for a mid market four star hotel, which lands at roughly AED 180,000 to 320,000 per key. Scope, approvals and how much of the property keeps trading decide the final figure.
Why work with Monde
- Own workforce of 50 plus specialists under Monde's own licence
- Project manager led delivery with one point of contract
- Commercial only: hotels, resorts, serviced apartments and hotel F&B
- One licensed contractor covering structure, MEP, joinery and finishes
- Google rating 5 from 3 reviews
- UAE wide delivery including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah
What counts as hospitality fit out in Dubai
Hospitality fit out covers every physical change to a hotel or resort, from a soft goods refresh of 40 keys to a full CAT B handover of a new build property. The scope you sign sets the budget far more than the location does.
Soft goods refresh
Carpets, curtains, bedding, upholstery, artwork and loose furniture, with no building work. Usually 2 to 4 weeks per room block and AED 60 to 120 per sq ft. No DET fit out permit is needed while walls, plumbing and wiring stay untouched.
Partial refurbishment
Guest bathrooms, corridor finishes, joinery, lighting and part of the MEP, with furniture kept or replaced selectively. Budget 25 to 45 percent of a full refurbishment.
Full refurbishment to CAT B
Strip out, new partitions, wet areas, complete MEP, fire and life safety, joinery and FF&E installation. This is the scope most four and five star owners in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are pricing.
New build CAT B handover
You take shell and core from the developer and deliver a finished hotel. Partitions, ceilings, MEP distribution, kitchens and lift finishes all sit in your contract.
Hotel restaurants, bars and lobby cafés fall inside the same scope but carry their own kitchen and licensing requirements, so a restaurant fit out in Dubai often runs on a separate programme from the guest room blocks.
Hospitality fit out cost in Dubai: AED per sq ft and per key
Budget AED 550 to 900 per sq ft for a mid market four star hotel and AED 900 to 1,600 per sq ft for a five star resort. Per key, that is AED 180,000 to 320,000 for the business hotel and AED 450,000 to 900,000 for the resort.
| Property type | AED per sq ft | AED per key |
|---|---|---|
| Mid market business hotel, 3 to 4 star | 550 to 900 | 180,000 to 320,000 |
| Five star resort, full refurbishment | 900 to 1,600 | 450,000 to 900,000 |
| Serviced apartment block | 400 to 700 | 120,000 to 260,000 |
Worked example. A 120 key four star hotel in Dubai with rooms averaging 380 sq ft gives about 45,600 sq ft of guest area. At AED 700 per sq ft that is AED 32 million for rooms and corridors. Most owners spread the spend like this.
- Guest rooms and corridors: 60 to 65 percent of budget
- Lobby, all day dining and bar: 15 to 20 percent
- Back of house, kitchens and laundry: 8 to 12 percent
- MEP and life safety upgrades: 8 to 15 percent
A realistic all in total for that property is AED 23 million to 32 million over 7 to 9 months. The same room specification costs more on an Abu Dhabi resort, where civil defence rules on large kitchens and pool plant are heavier, and less in a Sharjah serviced apartment block with no F&B outlet. For office and retail bands, our guide to commercial fit out costs per sq ft covers them separately.
hospitality fit out in Dubai" loading="lazy" decoding="async" /> Metal stud framing and drywall go up ahead of MEP first fix on a hotel fit out.
Approvals: DET, DTCM, civil defence and fire
A hospitality fit out in Dubai normally needs a DET fit out permit, Dubai Civil Defence approval on the revised fire and life safety drawings, and DTCM confirmation where the classification or key count changes.
- Submit the tenancy contract, trade licence and title deed to DET with the fit out permit application.
- Issue the drawing set: architectural, MEP, fire and life safety, kitchen ventilation and grease trap details.
- Route fire and life safety drawings through Dubai Civil Defence and close all comments before mobilising.
- Start on site once the permit is issued, with inspections at structure, MEP first fix, ceiling closure and final.
- Close out with a completion certificate, then move to DTCM review if the star rating or room count changes.
Hotel back of house kitchens cause most of the delays. Grease trap sizing, stainless steel exhaust duct, make up air and suppression are reviewed together, and changing one drawing pulls the others. Our page on commercial kitchen fit out sets out the compliance set for hotel and resort kitchens.
Phasing a hotel fit out around paying guests
A hotel can keep trading if you work floor by floor and take rooms out of inventory in blocks. Most Dubai owners plan noisy work around Ramadan and the July to August low season.
That means 20 to 30 keys out of service at a time, noisy works between 9am and 6pm, sealed hoarding with dust screens and negative air pressure, and clean temporary corridor finishes on occupied floors. Service lifts are booked in windows and waste leaves between 11pm and 5am, so guests never meet a skip in the lobby.
The site was clean when they left. We needed them fast on a running job. They finished the renovation on time. Davranbek Tashbayev, 5 stars
How long a hotel renovation in Dubai takes
A partial room block refresh takes 10 to 20 weeks. A full property refurbishment usually runs 6 to 9 months from permit to handover, and a soft goods programme can finish in 4 to 8 weeks.
- Design and approvals: 6 to 10 weeks
- Procurement and long lead FF&E: 8 to 14 weeks, run in parallel
- Site works: 12 to 30 weeks depending on key count and phasing
- Snagging, commissioning and DTCM wrap up: 2 to 4 weeks
The programme compresses when procurement overlaps with approvals, when one room is signed off as the standard before roll out, and when joinery is cut off site while MEP first fix happens. A direct workforce shortens it further, because trades follow each other instead of waiting on a subcontractor.
A finished guest room after a Dubai hotel refurbishment, with joinery, lighting and FF&E installed.
Working with a licensed hospitality fit out contractor in the UAE
The main risk on a hotel job is a contractor who subcontracts everything. Check the licence, the workforce and who is actually on site every day before you compare prices.
Monde runs its own licence and an in house team of 50 plus specialists, led by project managers who stay on the job from mobilisation to handover. One contract covers demolition, MEP, joinery, tiling, painting and FF&E installation, so sequencing tightens and snagging closes faster.
The new ceiling looks clean and straight. I brought Monde to do the painting in the villa bathroom. They finished in one day and did not delay us. Muhammad Karim, 5 stars
We work on hotels, resorts, serviced apartments and hotel F&B across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. Send the key count, drawings and target opening date and get a hospitality fit out quote with a per key band.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a hospitality fit out cost in Dubai?
A mid market four star hotel runs AED 550 to 900 per sq ft, or AED 180,000 to 320,000 per key. A five star resort refurbishment sits at AED 900 to 1,600 per sq ft. A 120 key four star property usually lands between AED 23 million and 32 million all in.
Do I need a DET permit for a hotel fit out in Dubai?
Yes, for any work that touches structure, MEP, partitions or fire and life safety. The permit is submitted with the tenancy contract, trade licence and title deed, and Dubai Civil Defence reviews the fire drawings in parallel. A soft goods refresh with no building work normally does not need a permit.
Can a hotel stay open during a refurbishment in Dubai?
Yes. Most owners take 20 to 30 keys out of inventory at a time and work floor by floor, with noisy works limited to daytime hours. Ramadan and the summer low season are the preferred windows for heavy work, and sealed hoarding keeps dust out of guest areas.
How long does a hotel renovation in Dubai take?
A room block refresh takes 10 to 20 weeks on site. A full property refurbishment is 6 to 9 months including approvals and procurement. Approvals alone take 6 to 10 weeks, so submit the DET and civil defence drawings before you fix an opening date.
What is the difference between hospitality fit out and hotel refurbishment?
Fit out is the physical build scope: partitions, MEP, wet areas, joinery, finishes and FF&E installation. Refurbishment describes the whole project, including design, soft goods and reclassification. In practice the contract scope is what defines the price.
