United Arab Emirates Travel Guide
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Dubai's Paramount Pictures Hotel Will Be a Movie Lover's Heaven
A few months ago, we told you about the new Paramount Pictures movie-themed hotel coming to Dubai. And now, we have a few more details on that project thanks to a recent interview in Hotelier Middle East.
In it, the CEO of Paramount Hotels & Resorts (keep in mind, this will be the company's first-ever hotel) explains that while Paramount Pictures is one of the biggest movie studios around, and its films are very well-known, people usually aren't able to connect the actual movies to the company (Grease, The Godfather, Titanic, Saving Private Ryan, and Forrest Gump were all Paramount movies, in case you were wondering).
Thus, the hotel will attempt to kill two birds with one stone: create the ultimate movie-lover's hotel experience, and by doing so, educate people on the impressive Paramount Pictures back catalog.
The CEO told HME:
"In-room entertainment will be home theatre surround systems inside the guestrooms as a minimum because I’m convinced that this will be a top expectation from all our guests.
We’ll look at themes for the entertainment throughout the year; give each month a theme, so in February with Valentine’s Day it could be love films. The hotels will also have a screening room; a high-end luxury theatre with lounge seating, a multi-functional environment."
Luxury Hotels / Dubai Hotels / Hotel Amenities / Hotel iPads / Hotel News / → All Tags
But Will The Burj Al-Arab's Golden iPads Make The Internet Work Faster?
The answer is: of course not! But this is The Burj Al Arab and whatever their high-paying guests want, or think they might want, they will get. Hence the new 24 carat gold iPads that are now available in all guestrooms. (No doubt, these will show the Emirates Palace just how silly their gold Christmas tree was!)
The iPad will be loaded with the Burj Al Arab's own virtual concierge software, enabling guests to order up whatever they wish through the iPad. The glittering iPad is just one of the latest high tech amenity additions to the Burj which already has iMacs in each room, plasma TVs and private butler service. Fortunately, the WiFi is free.
The golden iPads are also another attention getter for the attention-seeking hotel which also has $7,250 ashtrays, the fanciest concierge desk ever and a helipad tennis court.
But as Business Insider points out--the starting room rate is $1,500 so perhaps offering up gold iPads is the least the Burj could do.
[Photo: @BurjAlArab/Twitter]
Hotel News / Dubai Hotels / Viceroy Hotels / → All Tags
Can Dubai Squeeze Another Hotel Onto the Palm? Viceroy Thinks So
Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi generally gets most of the attention when it comes to Viceroy hotels in the Middle East. But that's all about to change, as word got out last week that Viceroy is planning to build a 481-room beachfront resort on the Palm Jumeirah.
We kinda figured one 1,500-room mega-resort would be enough, but we guess we were wrong.
Set to open in 2017, Viceroy Dubai Palm Jumeirah will be a mixed-use development, with an adjoining 220 pre-furnished luxury residences, a spa, private beach club, 3 outdoor swimming pools, and the hotel itself. Of course, plenty of this already exists in Dubai, but this is a city practically founded on the concept of one-upmanship, so there's always room for something bigger, better, and more bombastic.
Sweet Suites / Hotel News / United Arab Emirates Hotels / Dubai Hotels / → All Tags
Raffles Dubai Unveils the Middle East's "Most Luxurious Floor"
Raffles Dubai put the world's most expensive dress on display last fall, and leave it to them to outdo themselves in a matter of months (who else could, really?). This spring Raffles is introducing what they call the Middle East's most luxurious floor - a 21,500 square-foot "space" that takes up most of the 14th level of the hotel. That's right, a private floor with six rooms, a spa, hair salon, majlis (that's meeting room, in basic terms), three private kitchens and a cinema that seats nine. Damn! (but watch your language if you see it, ok?)
Not impressed, you snort? Pfft. Fine. How about access via a private elevator, 24-hour check in, a private limousine service and chauffeur, customized linens, a private chef, and a dedicated butler? Sound good? Sounds like another case of Dubai being as flossy as they wanna be. Don't hate!
"A lot of the hotel guests travel with a big entourage and sometimes book half a floor," a hotel employee has said. "The Dubai Floor is perfect for this type of guest as they'll have a whole floor for themselves and privacy. This what makes it unique."
You bet your as bippy it does.
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Atlantis, The Palm Proves Too Extreme For DJ David Guetta
It's never been a secret that Atlantis, The Palm likes to do things on a big scale. Its grand opening party alone coast $35 million.
So we wonder why celebrity DJ David Guetta received such a shock when he checked into his suite at the hotel recently. He griped to 7 Days In Dubai:
"My room is so crazy I’ve never seen anything like it. They gave me a room where the bedroom is under the aquarium. I’m sleeping with sharks and stingrays and I had to close the curtains because I couldn’t sleep, it was freaking me out."
Hotel News / Hotel Openings / Rosewood Hotels / Abu Dhabi Hotels / → All Tags
Say Hello To The New Rosewood Abu Dhabi
Seems like there's a lot of action going on in Abu Dhabi is the these days. If it's not the Ritz-Carlton opening, it's the St. Regis. And if it's not Le Bristol, it's the budget-oriented Ibis.
And here's another one to add to the list: last Wednesday, Rosewood Abu Dhabi opened as the first Rosewood property in the UAE (though there are three others in the Middle East, with a Dubai property on the way). The 189-room hotel no doubt hopes to profit from an expected influx of visitors to AUH thanks to the opening of Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2015, and the Guggenheim in 2017 (both designed by Frank Gehry).
Dubai Hotels / Hotel News / Paramount Hotels / Movie Hotels / → All Tags
Paramount's First Movie-Themed Hotel Will Open In Dubai
Though we had initially reported that Paramount Pictures' first batch of movie-themed hotels would pop up in places like Brazil, the UK, Russia, and Qatar, it looks like the brand's premier hotel will actually be in Dubai.
The city is hardly in need of yet another flashy, Western-themed resort, but Dubai is also exactly the kind of place where something like this would take off. And we're not just saying that. Last week, when the first phase of residences went on sale (the 540-room tower will include both a hotel and luxury residences), they sold out within hours, according to Arabian Business.
Paramount Hotel & Residences is set to open around the end of 2015, and will be part of a complex featuring four 820ft-tall towers. In the center of the complex will be a multi-level plaza featuring restaurants, meeting and event facilities, a screening room, a fitness center, pool, kids club, and retail outlets.
A Paramount Pictures merchandise shop will be a necessary part of this equation too, so if it's Raiders of the Lost Ark* t-shirts you're after, then you're in luck.
Hotel Design / Dubai Hotels / Hotel Restaurants / Hotel News / Hotel Art / → All Tags
Giant 'Snow Wall' Proves Kempinski Dubai Thinks It's In the Alps
It's a known fact that Kempinski likes to do things big. Who got chosen as management for North Korea's most-famous-hotel-that's-never-opened, the Ryugyong Hotel? Kempinski. Whose property opened last month with the Dalai Lama's blessing? Kempinski.
Even when their employees are extorting money from guests' credit cards, they still manage to do it in style.
So it kinda makes sense that one of the brand's most iconic hotels, Kempinski Dubai Mall of the Emirates has decided to cement their renegade status by installing an 18 foot high "snow wall" along one side of Aspen, the hotel's cafe. As you can see in the above photo, the surface looks like it could be the lower strata of the iceberg that sank the Titanic, or possibly just some beautifully textured abstract wall art.
Not that the hotel is short on conversation pieces. The Middle East's first and largest indoor ski resort, Ski Dubai, is attached to the hotel; hence the 'snow' theme of the brand new installation. In fact, the snow wall's designers, London-based Solomon&Wu, built the shimmery wall out of glass-reinforced plastic in order to simulate "snow drifts and rock formations." Looks like they pulled it off.
Hotel Openings / Hotel Restaurants / Dubai Hotels / Marriott Hotels / JW Marriott Hotels / Marriott Marquis / → All Tags
JW Marriott Marquis Dubai's Second Tower Won't Open Until 2014
By now an inseparable fixture of the Dubai skyline, the 77-story twin tower JW Marriott Marquis Dubai is gradually introducing itself into the city. After an initial November opening, this month, the hotel begins service at its nine restaurants and five bars, including Vault, a cigar lounge and bar occupying the 71st and 72nd floors of the hotel.
Think that's too many restaurants and bars for one hotel? Think again. Guiness Book of World Records officially recognized the JW Marriott Marquis as the world's tallest hotel, with a current total of 804 rooms.
And don't forget: that's still only half of the hotel. Though we expected the final unveiling sometime this year, the second tower isn't expected to open until late 2014.
That will bring the hotel's total room count to a whopping 1,600, allowing major conventions and meeting groups to house their attendees all under one roof. Like a giant slumber party, only instead of making popcorn and watching Sixteen Candles, guests will be gobbling steak at Prime 68 and whiling away their evenings soaking in the tub overlooking the twinkling lights of Business Bay.
Rates start at $217/night.
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Pullman Got Pulled From the Mall Of the Emirates
We're only one month into 2013 but already there's drama brewing in the form of a hotel takeover, this time in Dubai. Hotelier Middle East reports that Pullman (which falls under the Accor brand) has been ousted as the management for Pullman Dubai Mall of the Emirates, which henceforth is to be known as the Sheraton Dubai Mall of the Emirates.
'So what?' you're thinking, 'hotels change management all the time.' True.
What's interesting about this re-branding, though, is the method in which the owners will implement the new changes. According to a tipster in Dubai, the switch will take place during the night, meaning guests will go to sleep in one hotel and, for all intents and purposes, wake up in a new one.
The basic structure will remain exactly the same, but with all new signage, branding—not to mention new staff—it might feel a little Twilight Zone-y coming down to breakfast in a different hotel than the one you had dinner in the night before.
Two for the price of one! Not that we'd expect anything less from a hotel inside a mall...
Hotel Delays / St. Regis Hotels / Abu Dhabi Hotels / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags
Another Abu Dhabi Delay of the St. Regis Kind
Well, it was supposed to happen today, but it looks like the St. Regis Abu Dhabi's opening will be delayed--this time until April 15th.
Guess you shouldn't rush what promises to be one glam piece of property with 283 gussied-up guest rooms including 40 grand suites, including one actually located on a bridge that offers second-to-none Arabian Gulf views. Then there's the 24-hour butler service that each guest is entitled to.
Hotel Openings / Dubai Hotels / Abu Dhabi Hotels / Marriott Hotels / Starwood Hotels / St Regis Hotels / Ritz-Carlton Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
2013 Is Shaping Up To Be a Pretty Good Year For UAE Hotels
Things are most definitely not slowing down over in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. After announcements on forthcoming hotels by Le Bristol and the budget-oriented Ibis, it looks like the 395-room Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi is now taking rezzies for stays beginning on Jan 1, 2013. Whoopie!
Marriott's luxury brand already has quite a strong presence in neighboring Dubai, with two properties—the beachfront Ritz-Carlton Dubai Marina (which happens to be undergoing some major renovation/expansion work), and the snazzy Ritz-Carlton DIFC—attracting plenty of luxury-seekers in an already luxury-saturated market. But further down Sheikh Zayed Road, this will be Ritz-Carlton's first Abu Dhabi location.
But that's not all! Read on to find out about more UAE openings coming up around the corner!
