I passed by the Kuwait Regency Palace today and managed to take some pictures of the construction thats taking place there. Many of you might remember Kuwait Regency from before the Gulf War, it was one of the best hotels in Kuwait and most school graduation ceremonies used to be held there, I’ve had two graduations there personally. They were also known for their incredible indoor tennis courts and during the Iraqi invasion the hostages from the British Airways flight 149 were even held captive at the Kuwait Regency. Well the place is getting a huge makeover and as you can see from the picture above the tennis courts are currently being used as offices. The hotel should be soft launching by the end of the year with the proper launch by early next year. I took some more pictures which you can see by clicking on continue below.
I think its really great that the place is getting a renovation instead of being completely demolished and rebuilt. I also love the way the name has progressed in time, when it first launched it used to be part of the Hyatt group of hotels and it was called Hyatt Regency, it then became Kuwait Regency and now with the relaunch it will become just The Regency. Sadly the indoor tennis courts will no longer exist once the renovation is completed.
26 replies on “Kuwait Regency Palace”
I remember we were all ”called to assemble” there during the invasion- most of us stayed away!!
After the war i joined the beach club and loved it. It was secluded and not busy, no overpowering English expats, just a quiet beach and some great staff. Lovely place, always a shame it never did better in recent years.
Thank you for these poignant comments about The Regency, the images are so moving. Do please contact us for a tour anytime after 18 March. We have done some amazing renovations costing millions and hope to ‘reintroduce’ ourselves to the Kuwait people for whom this property holds so many memories. I do hope you will see and experenece the wonderful standards of luxury, food quality and service that we have revived. And indeed, those sea views and the two private beaches we have redesigned are as beautiful as always…. Many thanks, please do get in touch!
wow, looks like they are doing a ”pretty” good job.
I hope they don’t turn this into another gaudy hotel…
They used to have a disco in the roof level in the 80s, didn’t they?
My graduation was there. It’s going to be weird seeing it all different, you know what everything that changes feels different at first.
Especially watching those old movies you had on VHS rather than DVD or HD Downloads.
unless this hotel is run by a decent international group,
it will remain a dead-beat : ( just like Safir..
That place has been a victim of long-time mismanagement for years, even decades… but it always had its own charm and and probably the best hotel beach in town. It has so much potential, and with the right professional management it could be a truly great hotel
Many of you may not remember this, but when it first opened it was actually a Hyatt but then the owners decided they could “easily” run it themselves and… well here we are now.
Btw, the new hotel being built where the old Messilah Beach hotel stood will be run by Jumeirah International. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I found out!!
Nobu… yes it did, but fat chance reopening it now!!
teach.. us over powering english expats are one of the reasons you could bloody go to that beach club, remember the war my friend without us i guess you would not be in kuwait right now!!! ass
we need some nice beach front ethnic huts in kuwait giving people reason to go to beach fronts.
i guess new breath of fresh air in terms of new hotels along that beach front will be great! i hope its run effectively.
Why would they get rid of the indoor tennis court!? that’s just ridiculous
Yes, it had also a 200 mts jogging track plus two squash courts and two racket ball courts and four indoor tennis courts
jo- not all English are over powering my dear, but you so obviously are………………… actually I believe the Americans had more to do with liberating Kuwait than the Brits, but let’s not get into that.And I would be here in Kuwait whether it had been liberated or not.
By the way, I am a Brit too, but have the foresight to recognise that the majority of the expat population here are right up their own arses.
Have a nice day.
I had my ceremony there too. amazing hotel
Mark, I agree with your last paragraph regarding the renovation vs demolition as well as the evolution of the hotel’s name.
Jo – get a life…. or leave!
Teach – I fully agree with your reply to Jo except for the final wish.
damn that’s old!
Ahlan wa sahlan Bu yousef 🙂
what ever check your history book.
bu yousef- leave where my friend? big words
my grandpa owns this hotel it is going to be nice
i was born here :)….my mom use to be a chef in the pastry kitchen in the 90’s…there construction goes all the way to the back….
I was employee on the late 1984 t0 86 nice hotel on that time .. indoor tennis court, big ballroom
nice hotel… nice to see well go back again…
my story with regency is different, i know kuwait through Kuwait Regency Palace hotel. Mr. Ahmed Bahlwan and Ms. Samar Qubti. i started there and got my experience from all staff there. i will not forget Mr. ronald “night Autidor” and Said Fathi and my great days with Mr. Razmic . i will not forget it
Ms.Samar Qubti how are you???? it’s been along while that I have waited for my visa since last year you’ve hired me as one of the housekeeping staff in Regency Hotel. And until now,I don’t receive any feed backs of processing my visa. Do I still have to wait for it or tell me some advises from you if I still have that chance or none???? Thank you so much and more power!…
It is wonderful to see Kuwait Regency Palace, where I have worked when it was Kuwait Regency Palace and then when it changed to Kuwait Regency Palace. Abdul Razak Al Sane being the owner and his son Jamil Al Sane, his daughters, Sharouk, Maha were well known to me, and Jamil himself was treating me very good. He was a nice person. I worked in the FATOUH FITNESS CENTRE named after the name of Jamil’s mother. Towards the end I was the supervisor of Swimming pool area and indoor tennis courts, two squash courts, two racket ball courts were looked after by me, very well. I had my manager Mark Andrew Holland, then Austin Graham, then Jassim Ramadan, and before I became supervisor, I had Onofre Butac as my supervisor. My colleagues Joe Macasaet, Tess & Beth Bartolome, Parameshwaran, Immanuel (Manny) Mandop. It was a lovely hotel that time and I loved the place. I spent almost 22 years in Kuwait and remember it very much. I began my career in KUWAIT HYATT REGENCY, during the fist GCC (Gulf Countries Conference). I miss that hotel very much.
Sorry the first line needs to be corrected to “It is wonderful to see Kuwait Hyatt Regency, where I have worked and then when it was Kuwait Regency Palace and then when it changed to Kuwait Regency Palace”