Marriott International is preparing to open a luxury hotel in Minsk, Belarus within a wider sports and leisure complex developed by the investment fund of Qatar's Ministry of Defence.

The five-star Minsk Marriott Hotel will be located alongside a 4,500 capacity sports arena and a health club featuring a gym, wellness centre and spa.

The complex, called the Falcon Club, has been designed by Belarusian studio Varabyeu Partners – who described it as “one of the most ambitious and challenging projects developed in Belarus.”

The project has been developed by contractor Magnus Group for the Falcon Investment company – a subsidiary of the Qatar ministry – and is designed in the shape of a falcon: Qatar’s national bird.

The hotel, which will have its soft opening on 1 February 2016, has 217 guest rooms, a Mediterranean restaurant with an open kitchen and an aqua-fitness centre, featuring its own spa, swimming pool, gym, sauna and massage rooms.

Interiors have been designed by a number of local designers and feature paintings and pictures created by the Belarusian Union of Artists.

“The designers have tried to highlight the richness and diversity of Belarusian nature,” a hotel spokesperson told CLAD . “Only natural materials have been used for decorations and furnishings, emphasising the landscape. Interior trees represent the country’s forests and elements in the walls evoke streaks of water; symbolising our rivers and lakes. Finally, panoramic windows and balconies give most rooms a beautiful view of the River Svisloch.”

Guests at the hotel will be able to use the other leisure facilities of the Falcon Club, including a cinema, wellness centre and the sports arena; which has public tennis, squash and football facilities designed for local and international sport teams.

The Falcon Club project was approved in June 2012 and has now entered the very final stages of construction. Dr. Thani A. Al-Kuwari – the director of Falcon Investment, and Qatar’s deputy minister of defence and financial affairs – has said US$200m (€183.5m, £137.5m) has been invested in the development.

“The club and the Minsk Marriott Hotel is just the start of many investment opportunities in Belarus and we already have lots more new ideas for the future,” he said.

The Falcon Club is the second ongoing project whose design has been inspired by a national bird. CLAD recently reported on the construction of the Panama Center for Events and Performing Arts, which is intended to evoke a Harpy Eagle.