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Sunday, 28 September 2008
Dubai’s New $35,585 a Night Hotel
It’s the latest word in Persian Gulf excess: A US$1.5 billion ($2.13 billion) resort boasting a $25,000-a-night suite and dolphins flown in from the South Pacific - all atop an island built in the shape of a palm tree. PDF
It’s the latest word in Persian Gulf excess: A US$1.5 billion ($2.13 billion) resort boasting a $25,000-a-night suite and dolphins flown in from the South Pacific - all atop an island built in the shape of a palm tree.
Environmentalists have long criticised both Palm Jumeirah island and some of the features of the Atlantis hotel, which opened on Wednesday. And analysts wonder if the global financial turmoil will crimp Dubai’s big hope for tourists.
Dubai is not blinking. The resort on the artificial island off the coast is among the city-state’s biggest bets that tourism can help sustain its economy once regional oil profits stop flowing.
‘You don’t build a billion-and-a-half dollar project just anywhere in the world,’ said Mr Alan Leibman, president and managing director of Kerzner International, the hotel operator that teamed with Dubai developer Nakheel on the resort.
Atlantis will have 1,539 luxury rooms as well as extensive meeting and convention facilities.
There are 17 restaurants, bars and lounges and the resort’s world renowned chefs share six Michelin stars between them, including Spanish chef Santi Santamaria and Mr Michel Rostang, one of Paris’ most creative chefs.
Much of the focus at Atlantis, modelled on a sister resort in the Bahamas, is on ocean-themed family entertainment.
Three-bedroom suite
The signature Bridge Suite - the most luxurious in the resort - measures 924 sq m and boasts floor to ceiling views of all of Dubai. One night’s stay in the suite costs US$25,000. It has three bedrooms and three bathrooms complete with a gold-leaf 18-seat dining table.
The resort’s two Lost Chambers Suites, whose bedroom and master bathroom windows look directly into the Ambassador Lagoon, stretch over three floors.
The viewing pane in the Ambassador Lagoon - which holds 11 million litres of seawater - is 10m long and 70cm thick.
The priceless Dale Chihuly sculpture in the Grand Lobby was created using 3,000 hand blown pieces that were individually placed by hand to create the 30m high entry centrepiece.
For years, the emirate - one of seven semi-independent states that make up the United Arab Emirates - has been feverishly building skyscrapers and luxury hotels.
A key piece of the strategy has been to cultivate an image in the West as a sun-kissed tourist destination despite its soaring summer heat, conservative Muslim society and relative dearth of historic sites.
Fuelling the interest are belief-defying projects such as an indoor ski slope, the as-yet-incomplete world’s tallest skyscraper and a growing archipelago of man-made islands such as the Palm Jumeirah. Meanwhile, Mr Donald Trump plans to open a hotel straddling the centre of the palm, and the QE2 ocean liner will become a hotel and a tourist attraction docked alongside the island tree’s ‘trunk’.
By 2010, Dubai aims to attract a staggering 10 million hotel visitors annually, up from about seven million in 2007. Atlantis alone will increase the city’s hotel capacity by 3 per cent.
So far, demand appears strong. The Middle East had the highest hotel occupancy rates in the world during the first half of the year, with Dubai leading the region at 85.3 per cent, according to professional services firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.
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Dubai’s New $35,585 a Night Hotel
By The New Paper
28 September 2008
It’s the latest word in Persian Gulf excess: A US$1.5 billion ($2.13 billion) resort boasting a $25,000-a-night suite and dolphins flown in from the South Pacific - all atop an island built in the shape of a palm tree.
Environmentalists have long criticised both Palm Jumeirah island and some of the features of the Atlantis hotel, which opened on Wednesday. And analysts wonder if the global financial turmoil will crimp Dubai’s big hope for tourists.
Dubai is not blinking. The resort on the artificial island off the coast is among the city-state’s biggest bets that tourism can help sustain its economy once regional oil profits stop flowing.
‘You don’t build a billion-and-a-half dollar project just anywhere in the world,’ said Mr Alan Leibman, president and managing director of Kerzner International, the hotel operator that teamed with Dubai developer Nakheel on the resort.
Atlantis will have 1,539 luxury rooms as well as extensive meeting and convention facilities.
There are 17 restaurants, bars and lounges and the resort’s world renowned chefs share six Michelin stars between them, including Spanish chef Santi Santamaria and Mr Michel Rostang, one of Paris’ most creative chefs.
Much of the focus at Atlantis, modelled on a sister resort in the Bahamas, is on ocean-themed family entertainment.
Three-bedroom suite
The signature Bridge Suite - the most luxurious in the resort - measures 924 sq m and boasts floor to ceiling views of all of Dubai. One night’s stay in the suite costs US$25,000. It has three bedrooms and three bathrooms complete with a gold-leaf 18-seat dining table.
The resort’s two Lost Chambers Suites, whose bedroom and master bathroom windows look directly into the Ambassador Lagoon, stretch over three floors.
The viewing pane in the Ambassador Lagoon - which holds 11 million litres of seawater - is 10m long and 70cm thick.
The priceless Dale Chihuly sculpture in the Grand Lobby was created using 3,000 hand blown pieces that were individually placed by hand to create the 30m high entry centrepiece.
For years, the emirate - one of seven semi-independent states that make up the United Arab Emirates - has been feverishly building skyscrapers and luxury hotels.
A key piece of the strategy has been to cultivate an image in the West as a sun-kissed tourist destination despite its soaring summer heat, conservative Muslim society and relative dearth of historic sites.
Fuelling the interest are belief-defying projects such as an indoor ski slope, the as-yet-incomplete world’s tallest skyscraper and a growing archipelago of man-made islands such as the Palm Jumeirah. Meanwhile, Mr Donald Trump plans to open a hotel straddling the centre of the palm, and the QE2 ocean liner will become a hotel and a tourist attraction docked alongside the island tree’s ‘trunk’.
By 2010, Dubai aims to attract a staggering 10 million hotel visitors annually, up from about seven million in 2007. Atlantis alone will increase the city’s hotel capacity by 3 per cent.
So far, demand appears strong. The Middle East had the highest hotel occupancy rates in the world during the first half of the year, with Dubai leading the region at 85.3 per cent, according to professional services firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.
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