A new five star hotel and luxury terraces project in Rabat has been given the green light by the Planning Authority.

AX Group has been granted a permit to demolish the existing ‘dilapidated’ Grand Hotel Verdala and redevelop it into the The Verdala Hotel and Verdala Terraces Project in order “to achieve a better skyline and urban setting”, the group said.

The development will be spread over six floors above street level and two levels below, and will include facilities befitting of a five star hotel, including scope for both residential and retail use as well a garage.

The group said it was now looking forward to developing a “luxurious residential complex and a five-star hotel”.

“By reducing the overall height from the existing hotel by almost two storeys, the development will blend more harmoniously with the promontory. A system of terraces and voids on the ridge side of the building will mimic the natural forms of the rock strata, whilst the back elevations will have greater solidity to tie into the traditional façade typology found in the surrounding streets,” the group said in a statement.