Business | Investment
Armani Hotels will showcase Casa luxury
The world's first Armani-branded hotel is currently under construction at the site of the Burj Dubai tower in what will come to be known as Downtown Dubai, when the development is completed in 2008.
- By Mark Johnson, Business Editor
- Published: 00:00 December 5, 2005
Dubai: The world's first Armani-branded hotel is currently under construction at the site of the Burj Dubai tower in what will come to be known as Downtown Dubai, when the development is completed in 2008.
Giorgio Armani said the shift into the hotels business was a logical next step in the development of Armani Casa, the company's brand of luxury interior furnishings.
"We started the Armani Casa brand about five years ago and in that time it has evolved quite a bit, and what better publicity could we give the Casa range than to show it in a hotel room designed completely with Armani Casa products," he said.
Armani said there was one very good reason behind choosing Dubai as the site for the first hotel.
"Dubai is the new New York. It's the New York of the 21st century," he said.
However, he said a critical factor in sealing the deal was the having a local partner who was willing to give the designer a free hand in the look and feelof the hotel.
"We were very fortunate to be given a white slate from the construction partner, as far as the design was concerned, and to me that was extremely attractive," he said.
Another attraction of going into partnership with Emaar, was that it wanted to develop more than just hotel, he said.
"The offer was extremely interesting because it was not just one hotel, but a series of hotels and resorts across the world with very strong partners."
In all, Emaar and Armani plan to develop eight branded hotels and two resorts under the Armani banner. So far plans have been announced for hotels in London, New York and Shanghai.
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