Hyatt Hotels & Resorts has entered into an agreement with Badriah Investments to develop a Hyatt-branded hotel within a 16th Century castle in the southwest German spa town of Baden-Baden.

Scheduled to open in 2018, the Neues Schloss Baden-Baden castle will be restored to include 146 guestrooms, a bar, restaurant, fitness centre and meeting space. A modern extension of the property will feature a spa, pool and sauna area, with views of Baden-Baden and the Black Forest.

Famous for its ancient Roman baths and thermal spas, Baden-Baden is home to this castle, which comprises 590,000sq ft (55,000sq m) of historic grounds plus parkland and is located close to the borders of France and Switzerland.

Formerly the residence of the region’s margraves – military commanders that protected the borders of the Holy Roman Empire – and later the summer residence of the Grand Dukes of Baden, the Neues Schloss Baden-Baden will be the seventh Hyatt-branded hotel in Germany.

Badriah Investments, owner of the Neues Schloss and adjacent land – upon which 16 luxury residential units will be built for sale to national and international buyers – was a family business. Fawzia Mubarak Al Hassawi, leader of the Fawzia Mubarak Al Hassawi Group of investment companies, acquired Badriah Investments from the rest of his family.

“My father, the late Mubarak Abdulaziz Al Hassawi, was the visionary behind this project and he wanted to revive this unique landmark to allow people to share in both the history of Neues Schloss and its vibrant future as a luxury hotel,” said Fawzia Mubarak Al Hassawi.