Armani Hotel Dubai

Four months after the Burj Khalifa opened in January 2010, Giorgio Armani cut the ribbon on a hotel occupying its lower floors. Armani Hotel Dubai, in the Downtown district of Dubai, was the first hotel to carry the designer's name, and he oversaw its design himself, down to the lighting and the fabrics. The address is the tallest building in the world, 828 metres of steel and glass by Adrian Smith of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, developed by Emaar.

History

Emaar and Giorgio Armani signed their hotel agreement in 2005, before the tower had risen above the ground. The hotel opened on 27 April 2010, with Armani present. A second Armani Hotel followed in Milan in 2011. The Dubai house has stayed under Emaar's management, with the Armani Hotels & Resorts name, since the opening.

Architecture and design

The hotel takes the concourse, ground and first eight levels of the tower, plus levels 38 and 39. Because the tower's footprint is a three-lobed Y, the corridors curve and the rooms are wedge-shaped, wider at the window. Armani answered the geometry with curved walls, sliding screens and built-in furniture from the Armani/Casa collection. The palette is his: greige, taupe, bronze and black. Materials include Eramosa stone from Canada and zebrawood veneer, with fabric-covered walls in place of paint. Check-in is handled in the room by a 'lifestyle manager' rather than at a counter.

Rooms and suites

The 160 rooms and suites include the Armani Classic and Premiere rooms on the lower floors and the larger suites on levels 38 and 39, with the Armani Dubai Suite as the top category. Every room has a bathroom in stone with a separate rain shower, and most of the suites have windows onto the Dubai Fountain and the Burj Khalifa lake. Interiors are kept deliberately low in contrast, with concealed lighting rather than table lamps.

Dining

Armani/Ristorante serves Italian cooking in a dining room on the lobby level. Armani/Mediterraneo is the all-day restaurant. Armani/Hashi serves Japanese food, Armani/Amal Indian, and Armani/Deli works as a casual cafe and wine room. Armani/Lounge, under the lobby's double-height ceiling, is the meeting point for afternoon tea. Armani/Privé, on the podium, is the hotel's nightclub. The restaurants on the podium level open onto terraces above the fountain.

Wellness

Armani/SPA occupies a floor with treatment rooms, a hammam and relaxation lounges, and the outdoor pool sits on the podium with the tower rising above it. The fitness room looks over Downtown.

Weddings and events

The hotel holds receptions in its ballroom and on the Armani/Pavilion, an outdoor terrace facing the Dubai Fountain, with the restaurants available for private dinners. Meetings use the smaller rooms on the same level. Capacities and exact room names should be confirmed with the hotel, as the spaces have been reconfigured since opening.

Location

The hotel has a direct, air-conditioned link to The Dubai Mall and sits on the Burj Khalifa lake, with the fountain performing every half hour in the evening. The observation decks At the Top are reached from the mall. Dubai International Airport is about 15 kilometres away, a drive of 15 to 20 minutes outside rush hour, and the Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall metro station is linked to the mall by a covered walkway. A luxury hotel in Dubai that sits inside the city's landmark, it is also the easiest address from which to watch the fountain without a reservation.