May 2, 2010
Giorgio Armani in Dubai: Haute hotel
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What, no artwork? What you pay for at the Armani Hotel Dubai is the Italian fashion label’s serene, minimalistic style. – Bloomberg photos
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DESIGNER Giorgio Armani’s first signature hotel opened on Tuesday as the first landmark tenant in the world’s tallest skyscraper in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), hoping to entice the wealthy Gulf region’s image-conscious big spenders with Italian runway style.
The 160-room Armani Hotel Dubai is the fashion legend’s project with the Burj Khalifa’s developer, Emaar Properties. They plan to open the next hotel, Armani Hotel Milano, in the Italian city next year. Other projects include Armani’s first resort, in Marrakech, Morocco, and villa residences in Marassi, Egypt.
The designer brought his trademark minimalist style to a city famous for excess, with the new five-star hotel designed with an understated palette of cream and earth colours.
Armani said Emaar chairman Mohamed Alabbar described Dubai as “Las Vegas in the desert”.
“I am a minimalist, less is more ... and when I looked at what was happening here, it was the opposite,” he said at the hotel launch. “But he wanted me and I wanted him.”
A key selling point is that the hotel was designed by Armani himself, right down to even picking the chocolates sold in the gift shop.
It occupies space on the ground floor of Burj Khalifa and on floors one to eight, with the luxury suites on floors 38 and 39.
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The enoteca (wine shop) of the hotel’s Italian restaurant offers private dining in a spectacular space.
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The hotel has no paintings on the walls in an attempt to “keep it simple and elegant”, employees said. The corridors feature low ceilings and are designed to resemble a fashion show catwalk, a guide said.
The hotel also has fine restaurants and a spa, which is restricted to 300 members.
The luxury does not come cheap. A standard room, which does not have a single picture on its walls, will cost 4,000 dirhams (RM3,590) a night, while the best suite has a price tag of 40,000 dirhams (RM35,900).
A table at the Prive lounge, a nightclub with the world’s biggest LCD screen, will cost at least 3,000 dirhams (almost RM2,700) a visit, as guests can feast their eyes on Armani shows and videos.
“What they’re after is the aspirational traveller.... It’s trying to make a statement to a certain type of luxury consumer,” comments Alex Kyriakidis, who heads the global tourism division at professional services firm Deloitte. “Will that work? Time will tell.” – Straits Times Singapore/ANN
Other interesting interior designs:
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