UAE’s first Armani property sets new standard in luxury living
Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani launched the first of his collection of designer hotels with the opening of the Armani Hotel Dubai in the world’s tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa, in April 2010. The hotel’s landmark location and Armani’s crafted design has set a new benchmark for luxury in the Middle East and the rest of the world.
Every aspect of the hotel was designed and planned by Armani himself, with a lot of influences from the aesthetics of Armani/Casa, his luxury interiors collection. True to his inimitable style, the Armani Hotel Dubai is all about minimalist opulence with clean lines, soft colours and elegant finishing.
“Seven months since opening, the feed back from our guests has been phenomenal,” says general manager Oliver Key. “Guests walk into the hotel expecting to find something very different, very unique in terms of both design and service and the hotel has delivered that. We have worked very hard to make sure that the people are warm, engaging, welcoming and real.”
The Armani philosophy is to offer every guest a home-away-from-home luxury lifestyle experience. From the moment a guest checks-in, he is assigned a personal lifestyle manager who will become his personal contact and host, ensuring every need and interest is met during his stay and beyond. Personal requests from business and transportation arrangements, shopping, entertainment and meal recommendations to childcare can be handled by the Armani lifestyle managers. Every guest staying at the Armani Hotel is attended to as a guest of Giorgio Armani himself.
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There has been a very positive energy around the hotel because we have not overpriced ourselves, says Key |
“Our lifestyle managers or brand managers, as we call them, are trained in an Armani fashion to deliver a service level that is relaxed yet formal and connect with customers to create a relationship that goes beyond. This develops the loyalty to the hotel and the brand,” adds Key.
For Dubai, a market that was affected by the global recession, the opening of the Armani Hotel was seen with great optimism. The hotel expected to see initial slow growth, especially going into the peak summer months. However Key stressed that the first seven months have surpassed all expectations and bookings in Q4 have proven the potential of the property. “We are experiencing high demand from the GCC but are also seeing a large US and European contingent of guests,” he explains. “I think there will always be enough guests expecting the highest level of luxury and they are prepared to pay for it – as long as we deliver on the service level. Dubai, at a certain stage, could charge almost any price but the service quality was not at par. Just like the Maseratis and Ferraris, there will also be a demand for that level of luxury and the Middle East is no exception.”
At Dh3,400 ($925) a night for an Armani Classic Suite, Key adds that the perception that Armani Hotel Dubai is unaffordable because of the name association is not true. “There has been a very positive energy around the hotel because we have not overpriced ourselves. We want to be seen as luxurious, but also affordable.
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“Personally, luxury is an emotion and a service level that goes beyond the physical product – which will continue to evolve and change. Our guests will aspire to be here because of the high level of service we provide. That is the future of luxury, to redefine service levels and to get them better and better,” he adds.
Looking ahead, Key is constantly thinking about change and developing areas within the property. “Our latest addition is the opening of our cocktail lounge Armani/Oasi overlooking the fountains. This is something we will continue to do into the future,” he continues.
The hotel occupies floors concourse to eight and levels 38 and 39 of Burj Khalifa and features 160 luxurious guest rooms and suites, eight innovative restaurants, offering a myriad of cuisines from Japanese and Indian to Mediterranean and Italian, the Armani/Prive nightclub and the Armani/Spa. The property also boasts three exclusive retail outlets: Armani/Galleria, a by-invitation-only haute couture boutique and the first and only place in Dubai where the Armani Prive collection is showcased; Armani/Dolci, a luxurious confectionery and Armani/Fiori floral boutique which offers arrangements in vases by Giorgio Armani.
Complementing the hotel and located on levels nine to 16 of Burj Khalifa are the Armani Residences featuring 144 luxurious private residences, which, like the hotel, have been personally designed by Giorgio Armani reflecting his smooth, understated style.
The opening of the hotel marks Armani’s entry into the elite club of luxury hotel-owning designers such as Salvatore Ferragamo, Missoni, Ralph Lauren, Karl Lagerfeld, Oscar de la Renta, Louis Vuitton, Elie Saab, Diane Von Furstenberg and Christian Lacroix. The property is the first in a series of Armani Hotels planned as a joint venture between Giorgio Armani and Emaar Hospitality. The next Armani Hotel is scheduled to open in 2011 in Milan, followed by an Armani resort in Egypt.