United Arab Emirates Travel Guide
JW Marriott Hotels / JW Marriott Marquis Hotels / Dubai Hotels / Hotel Hype / Hotel News / → All Tags
JW Marriott Marquis Dubai to Be Tallest Hotel in the World
Well it looks like Marriott Hotels won't be relinquishing their title of "World's Tallest Hotel" anytime soon. Though that distinction belongs currently to the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong come later this year, it will be wrested away by the JW Marriott Marquis in Dubai.
Marriott made the announcement today saying that the two towers of the 1,608-room hotel will stand 1,164 feet tall, making them just 85 feet shorter than the Empire State Building. And unlike other hotels in buildings this tall, the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai will be entirely dedicated to hotel operations.
Hyatt Hotels / Abu Dhabi Hotels / Hotel Architecture / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
The Leaning Hyatt of Abu Dhabi Has Finally Opened!
While we once thought that the Leaning Hyatt of Abu Dhabi, or, The Hyatt Capital Gate Abu Dhabi, would open by the end of 2010, it turns out the hotel needed an extra year to get things tilted just so.
But now the hotel, which is located on the top floors of the purposely 18 degrees leaning Capital Gate Building, is officially open for guests. The hotel has 189 rooms and suites, all featuring floor-to-ceiling glass windows with killer views of the Arabian Gulf and the city.
Even crazier than spending the night in a leaning tower is because of the way the building is constructed, guests cannot actually see the ground below them, making them feel as if the hotel room is floating in mid-air. We're guessing the vertigo-challenged might have some issues staying here. However, guests can see the ground below them from the hotel's inner atrium.
Hotel Christmas Trees / Abu Dhabi Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Holiday Hotels / Hotel Lobbies / → All Tags
On Second Thought, An $11 Million Christmas Tree Might Be Going Overboard
We think the Emirates Palace has gotten the message. Rather than strive to top last year's $11 million Christmas tree monstrosity, the hotel has graciously toned things down for the time being.
This month, guests at the gold-loving hotel won't be blindsided by a tree that's wearing more expensive jewelry than they are. Adorning the tree instead are custom-made Christmas balls from the Netherlands, and gold and silver foil ribbons. For good measure, the hotel also threw in some Christmas carolers. Who sang from gold-plated manuscripts atop gold podiums with gold plates on their teeth. A modest affair, really.
Hotel Openings / Park Hyatt Hotels / Abu Dhabi Hotels / Westin Hotels / → All Tags
Sneak Peek at The Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi
The Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel and Villas opened on November 1st and just in case some of you jetsetters out there have not made it to the new hotel, we've got a couple of interior snapshots to drool over, starting with that bedroom view.
The hotel is located on a nine-kilometer stretch of beach on Saadiyat Island, so most views from the rooms offer views of the beach. If you don't have a beach view, then you're probably looking out over the Saadiyat Beach Golf Club or the hotel's own gardens but no matter the view, each room has its own balcony or private terrace.
Elsewhere on the property is a the two-level Atarmia Spa, the Park Bar and Grill, the Library Bar (which serves tea and coffee specialties) and The Beach House, the beachfront restaurant which serves Mediterranean cuisine.
Cool Hotel Jobs / Ritz-Carlton Hotels / Dubai Hotels / Hotel Employees / → All Tags
The Ritz-Carlton Dubai Now Has a Hookah Sommelier on Staff
If you've ever wanted to smoke a hookah but were afraid of looking like a novice, the Ritz-Carlton Dubai International Finance Centre now has an expert on hand to ensure that every puff you take is perfect.
The Shisha Sommelier is a part of the hotel's Shisha Terrace. Shisha, also called hookah, is just smoking tobacco in a glass-based waterpipe but the Shisha sommelier is there to help guests choose the shisha flavor that will compliment their food and beverage or simply, their preference of tobacco flavor.
So who is this man tasked with such a cool hotel job? Sadek Zeineddine, a Lebanese national, who has worked in a food and beverage capacity in several different areas of the Middle East like Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates. Most recently, he was at another Ritz-Carlton hotel, the Sharq Village and Spa, before joining the Ritz Carlton Dubai on the pre-opening team.
Hotel Swag / Dubai Hotels / Hotel Gifts / → All Tags
The Case of the $7,250 Burj Al Arab Ashtray
The Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai. It's world famous and ranked seven stars with four-digit nightly room rates, so naturally people get curious. For one, we're curious about what makes their hotel so worth that money, and what perhaps they might sell in the gift shop (cause you know they have one).
Well, the latter question has somewhat been answered for us by a weird little website called Opulent Items. Specializing in over-the-top luxury gifts, they'll sell you anything from a $7,500 inflatable "iceberg" to a $20 shower curtain, as Racked discovered yesterday. What they also dug up is this ashtray, priced at $7,250 and embedded with three diamonds.
Hotel News / Hilton Hotels / Waldorf-Astoria Collection / Dubai Hotels / → All Tags
Hilton Plans a Waldorf-Astoria Resort For Dubai (But They Won't Let Us See)
Hilton just announced that a 324-room resort on Palm Jumeirah in Dubai will become a Waldorf Astoria Resort by the end of 2013. Hilton is teaming up with Al Habtoor Group, who had originally bought the land but ran into major delays when the economy went down the drain in 2008, affecting all imminent Dubai properites.
Not only is Al Habtoor now re-starting construction on the $272 million resort, they are funding the entire project out of their own pocket. Apparently, the city's banks are so hard-pressed that receiving funding is virtually impossible. Al Habtoor also told Arabian Business that it is working on "other projects, which we are going to announce soon."
Click below to see a (not very visible) artist's rendering of the upcoming resort.
Celebrity Scoop / Kim Kardashian / Dubai Hotels / Celebrity Hotels / → All Tags
Kim Kardashian Wants to Open a Hotel for Gorgeous People
Brace yourselves, the day's hotel news just got a lot more depressing. WSJ is reporting on a statement made by Kim Kardashian about opening her own branded hotel in the United Arab Emirates. In her words: "everything I think will be successful here."
Hmm, a self-obsessed reality TV star with delusions of starting her own hotel? Haven't we heard this one before? Also, Kim you might want to stop copying the Hilton sisters at some point.
Kim is currently touring the country solo, and was apparently so swept away by all the beautiful women there that she took to Twitter to make her feelings known. So, she's got millions of dollars, has already visited a few of the world's glitziest hotels, and has a thing for beautiful women? Judging from what we know of other well-known lady-loving hoteliers, Kim certainly seems to fit all the criteria. All we ask is that she lays off the houndstooth. That's not so much to ask, is it?
Twitter / Celebrity Scoop / Eva Longoria / Dubai Hotels / Armani Hotels / Death-Defying Hotels / Killer Views / → All Tags
Twitpic of the Week: Window Washing At The Burj
In the ever-expanding universe of Twitter, there is one particular trend @HotelChatter happens to quite enjoy: candid hotel room photos. These Twitpics range from stunning views to anti-views to celebrity tomfoolery and everything in between. And we can't get enough of 'em! Starting this week, we will begin featuring one "Twitpic of the Week" to commemorate our favorite hotel-themed snapshot. Got a favorite of your own? Want to show off your sweet suite? Send it in!
As we learned last month, the Armani Hotel Milan is still taking its time to get up and running. Meanwhile, in Dubai, the mega-solar-powered Armani Hotel Dubai in the Burj tower is enjoying a little daytime maintenance work. Namely, window-washing.
Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria shot this pic from her suite at the Armani Hotel with the following caption:
Odd Hotels / Hotel Architecture / Formula 1 Hotels / Abu Dhabi Hotels / → All Tags
Abu Dhabi's Yas Hotel is Looking More Phallic Than Ever
There are so many jokes we can make about a hotel shaped as the Yas in Abu Dhabi is, but we won't. Because we're classy like that. Regardless, we can't help but see the hotel's resemblance yet again to twigs and berries.
This snapshot comes from a full-page ad for Abu Dhabi, placed in one of the several seatback in-flight magazines on British Airways. It depicts a man (a well-manicured man) driving a boat (a well-manicured boat) head-on towards the hotel.
If you're not yet familiar with the Yas Hotel, it's the closest property to the new Formula One theme park. Perhaps the shape of the hotel is intentional, to reinforce the masculinity of the attraction? We're not so sure, but we are pretty positive that there are other angles this hotel could have been photographed from.
[Snapshot: HotelChatter]
Viceroy Hotels / Hotel Industry News / Abu Dhabi Hotels / → All Tags
The Yas Hotel in Abu Dhabi is Now a Viceroy Hotel
The Yas Hotel in Abu Dhabi, our favorite phallic racetrack side hotel is now officially a part of the Viceroy Hotels chain. The company put forth this statement today:
Viceroy Hotel Group is thrilled to announce that it has been selected as operator of the renowned Yas Hotel on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, the Emirate’s leading leisure and entertainment destination. The hotel, owned by Aldar Properties, Abu Dhabi’s leading property development, investment and management company, will officially transition to Viceroy management immediately.
Snapshot / Concierges / Dubai Hotels / Hotel Architecture / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags
This Might Be The Fanciest Concierge Desk Around
We love looking into our HotelChatter Flickr Pool and finding snapshots from hotels around the world, including hotels we'll never be able to afford like the Burj Al Arab in Dubai.
This being the world's only 7-star hotel, of course they have the fanciest concierge desk the world's ever seen. It looks like a mini Hollywood Bowl! Perhaps if our friend at ConciergeCorner worked here, he wouldn't be so grumpy.
[Photo: Corinna Witt]
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