The fast and the fabulous at The Yas Hotel

Walking into The Yas Hotel is an experience unlike any other. When you’ve lived in Dubai for nearly a decade, you are force-fed design from all major genres. A city of beautiful hotels and even more stunning resorts, from contemporary to glam, regional, stylish and ethnic, this city showcases the whole gamut.

It’s neighbour, Abu Dhabi, was not far behind, watching and observing over the years. Emirates Palace displayed tradition, class and grandeur with sophistication, but Abu Dhabi made its mark on the international arena with a phenomenal Grand Prix circuit and placed a glittering, egg-shaped jewel in its midst – The Yas Hotel.

In pictures: Inside The Yas Hotel

Much like the Burj Al Arab, The Yas Hotel has fast reached iconic status with its unique design, its creators none other than design stars Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture from New York’s Asymptote Architecture.

The hotel is known, recognised, talked and written about endlessly, and is representative of the region and the emirate, its design, shape and details familiar across the globe.

Surreal art wraps pillars and crawls on to the ceiling, immediately catching your eye as you enter. The spaces are fluid, organic, mostly white, and flow seamlessly. Our imagination kicks into high gear – this must be what it’s like when you enter a spaceship constructed by intelligent beings.

The all-glass façade shows glimpses of the sea glittering in the sunshine, veiled by the colour-changing grid that covers the hotel’s biomorphic shape. There are touches of racing culture everywhere, some subtle and others more prominent. The designers researched state-of-the-art automotive, aerospace and nautical design before creating this space-age interior. The curves and meandering corridors give the sensation of a futuristic race track.

We reach the sixth floor and follow coloured lines on the carpet to the presidential suite, a double-storey, open-plan, lofted space nestled within this madly cool piece of architecture. The two presidential suites, later additions to the original hotel, are prized dwellings, covering two entire floors. Inside, a floor-to-ceiling, double-height circular glass wall follows the curve of the living area.
 
Another side doorway leads into the kitchen and through to the dining room, which then connects to the main living area. Steps in one corner take you to the bedroom upstairs, which further shoots out to the study, a bathroom suite and an infinity pool on the top deck. Leaning over the railings from this deck would give vertigo to the weak – a straight drop into the sea below.

The doorless design keeps fluidity at all times, with all hard edges eliminated, and slanted, straight-lined and curvilinear furnishings and accessories constantly reminding you where you are. As you draw the living room curtains, there it is – the Yas Marina Circuit, home to the famous F1 race.

Lena Moosa is Features Editor of InsideOut magazine