Hospitality Design - December 2011 - 45

places: middle east

perspectives
By Alia Akkam

design spring
Sadly, political unrest has long marred the natural beauty and captivating architectural narrative of the Middle East and North Africa. This year’s Arab Spring, unleashed in Tunisia in January, inspired uprisings among its neighbors, from Yemen to Syria. As countries ﬁght to break free from oppressive dictatorships, the landscape changes daily— one day watching images of Gaddaﬁ’s death unfold on television, another contemplating suspending Syria from the Arab League, and the next seeing Egyptian protestors ﬁll Tahrir Square yet again. While the Middle East continues to be in ﬂux, it certainly hasn’t stopped developers from unveiling a number of new hotel projects—with plenty on tap. The snippets of violence shown on newscasts are just one of the latest hospitality projects that prove tourism is viable even in a precarious Middle East.

Abu Dhabi
For years, Abu Dhabi played second ﬁddle to Dubai, its ﬂashy, ex-pat-loving sister. Then quietly, the capital of the United Arab Emirates emerged on the scene as a hotspot in its own right, with the 2006 announcement of plans for the world’s largest Guggenheim Museum (construction is currently on hold) by Frank Gehry on Saadiyat Island, Zaha Hadid designing the Sheikh Zayed Bridge with curved arches referencing sand dunes, and Abu Dhabi Art becoming an Art Basel for the Middle East.

From left: A rendering of the pool at the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi; a glimpse into the newly opened grand Hilton Zamalek Residences in Cairo.

Tristan

Dowell,

director

brands for Hyatt Hotels, says of Abu Dhabi, “It’s a key central point in the Middle East for both business and leisure and luxury, especially with a number of events like the Grand Prix.” Striking design-forward hotels like Kempinski Hotel Group’s 7-Star Emirates Palace and Viceroy Hotel Group’s recently acquired— side to a story of shifting, empowered cultures. As Larry Traxler, global head of design services for Hilton Worldwide, says, “When you spend too much time in North America reading the papers and watching TV you get a myopic view—it’s not all doom and gloom. The Middle East is much easier and much busier than anyone forecasted. 2012 will be even stronger. We’re very bullish in our work in the Middle East, maybe even more than we are in some other areas. We’re not looking for signiﬁcant growth in France or Portugal or Spain.” Paul James, global brand leader for St. Regis Hotels & Resorts and the Luxury Collection, cites a ﬁgure from the UN World Tourism Organization: the number of tourists traveling to the Middle East is expected to reach 136 million by 2020 compared with 54 million in 2008. “Starwood’s luxury brands have been operating in the Middle East for almost 50 years, longer than any of our competitors. In fact, the Sheraton Kuwait was among the ﬁrst hotels to join the Luxury Collection portfolio,” he notes. “Because of our long standing presence in the region, we continue to view hotel development as a long term investment and look at our business growth 20, 30, and 40 years down the road.” From the United Arab Emirates to Kuwait to Iraq, here is a glimpse and renamed—Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi also help lure visitors to the city, and there’s more, from a 532-room Ritz-Carlton in the cards for 2012, to Accor’s new extended stay brand, Adagio, also due in the new year in conjunction with a Novotel. Hotelier Rocco Forte chose to venture outside of Europe for the ﬁrst time this fall with the Rocco Forte Hotel Abu Dhabi, a curved blue and green glass tower by WS Atkins & Partners headquartered in the UK, with interiors by Olga Polizzi, director of design for the hotel brand, that marry Middle Eastern artwork with marble and mosaics. Hyatt is soon to unveil its second property, the Hyatt Capital Gate that boasts a signiﬁcant design triumph: a building that leans 18 degrees. This comes on the heels of the November opening of the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi on Saadiyat Island, an urban resort with four restaurants and a bilevel spa by New York-based architects Perkins Eastman and Singaporebased designers Wilson Associates. Meeting LEED Silver standards, the hotel is set amid landscaped gardens and is appointed with a range of globally sourced materials including oak and black American walnut from Finland, Chinese lava wave marble, and white marble from Oman. “The Park Hyatt complements our Dubai property. It’s located on an

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - December 2011