Dubai: A five-star Dubai hotel has launched an investigation after raunchy pictures of Russian models posing on its premises appeared on social media sites.
The pictures on Instagram show models from an upmarket Moscow-based brand posing at the Waldorf Astoria Palm Jumeirah.
The Waldorf Astoria’s management called the pictures “unauthorised” and said that it was looking into the matter.
For example, a picture posted last week shows model Alina Akilova posing in front of the hotel wearing sunglasses and a beige bikini.
A second picture shows model Victoria Bonya posing in a blue silk dress in the hotel’s lobby. Another picture shows Alena Shishkova, one of the main faces of the brand, sitting on an ottoman at the end of a hotel bed, apparently modelling a pair of pyjamas.
A short video also shows Shishkova dancing on a double bed in one of the hotel’s rooms.
Other pictures on Instagram accounts show the models at nightclubs, and posing in sports cars.
A Waldorf Astoria spokesperson told Gulf News on Tuesday that “we are aware of an incident at our hotel over the weekend involving an unauthorised, branded photoshoot and images circulating on social media, and we are currently investigating. We appreciate interest in our hotel as a location for a commercial shoot, and we welcome requests in advance to ensure the necessary legal approvals are in place.”
UK newspapers had earlier quoted a source from the hotel saying that the pictures had resulted in complaints from guests, and that the pictures were damaging the hotel’s image.
The spokesperson said that the hotel was “unaware of the origin of the comment which… sources have attributed to the hotel”.
Photos posted on the Moscow brand’s Instagram account show that the models – along with several more - were on a shoot in Dubai at the time of the incidents.
According to its website, the brand D’Angel Ann that is based in Moscow, sells dresses and swimwear through its branches in the Ukrainian cities of Kharkov and Odessa.
Some of the pictures appear to have been taken as part of a photoshoot, while others seem to have been posted by the models themselves.
