A new hotel brand centered around sports and fitness will open its first location in Dubai next year, instead of in Montenegro, as initially planned.
Siro, from the company behind the ultra-luxe One&Only chain, says it will focus on guests’ physical fitness, mental health, nutrition and sleep. It’s like a high-end gym with hotel rooms attached. Or maybe a wellness retreat: Instead of relaxing, you’re working out.
Philippe Zuber, CEO of parent company Kerzner International Holdings Ltd, says he is postponing the Montenegro opening of Siro (pronounced “SIGH-row”) because of “usual delays” in construction to second quarter 2024. And Dubai is a natural fit: Kerzner is based there and runs two of the city’s most recognisable hotels, Atlantis the Palm and the forthcoming Atlantis the Royal, a $1.4 billion property.
Zuber expects 40 per cent of guests at Siro in Dubai to be staycationers from around the UAE, with the remaining 60 per cent coming from abroad. With about 130 rooms, he expects an annual occupancy rate of 75 per cent.
It’s a reasonable target for Dubai, which has more than rebounded from the Covid-19 pandemic travel halt. Over the past year, its tourism industry has benefitted from Expo 2020 Dubai that ended in March and now from spillover visitors to the FIFA 2022 World Cup being held in Qatar.
The hotel will be in a development called One Za’abeel, which also includes apartments, offices, retail and a One&Only resort.
Room rates at Siro Dubai will start from $400 to $500 a night and include breakfast, studio workout classes and access to the gym, which will spread across more than 1,000 square meters on two floors. Guests can also hire trainers, nutritionists and other specialists. The all-important recovery programme will include cryotherapy, infrared and oxygen therapy, physiotherapy, acupuncture, assisted stretching, breathing, mediation and visualisation.
The clean, minimalist-designed rooms will have projectors, not televisions.
Its sleep-focused amenities -- perhaps a hotel’s core function -- are the most intriguing on paper. Moments before a guest’s alarm clock goes off, a timer will slowly open the curtains to gradually let in light, theoretically inviting a gentler awakening. The hotel says the alarm will somehow also be timed to the guest’s circadian rhythm, or natural sleep cycle, which should help counter jet lag.
Siro Dubai has a target open date of the fourth quarter 2023.
