FEBRUARY
THE LADDER TO SUCCESS 4 HOURS IN TEL AVIV WINTER ESCAPES PLUS Dimitris Manikis charts the regional growth of Wyndham
Art, architecture, food and stunning coastal views
Witnessing the true appeal of Seychelles and Maldives
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22 THE DESERT’S SECRET
AlUla’s hospitality, transport and cultural ecosystems are working in tandem to create new experiences in Saudi Arabia
26 A BALANCING ACT
Can the world’s largest hotel franchising company expand responsibly and sustainably?
38 RISKING IT IN REYKJAVIK
Wild beauty and a sense of danger are now attracting groups to explore Iceland’s sustainable MICE o erings
42 NAVIGATING OSLO
Striking architecture, magni cent museums and glorious gastronomy in the Norwegian capital
How Abu Dhabi is rapidly transforming itself into a regional MICE powerhouse
46 WINTER ESCAPES
e hidden appeal of the Indian Ocean’s islands of Seychelles and the Maldives
50 STEP INTO TOMORROW
A closer look at Abu Dhabi through the lens of key upcoming projects across its retail, transport, cultural and hospitality sectors
TRIE D & TESTED RESTAURANT 65 iptara, Dubai 3
Abu Dhabi has an abundance of cultural and tourist attractions, but the message that it is increasingly sending out is that it is ready to become a regional hub for the MICE sector too. The capital of the UAE has developed a robust infrastructure to augment its case. In 2019, Abu Dhabi licensed over 13,000 events in the city with an estimated total of 23,700 speakers. Now, with lockdowns and travel restrictions fully lifted in most countries, the emirate seems poised to build on its pre-pandemic efforts as it strives towards its Abu Dhabi Vision 2030 goals. To better understand how different entities within the emirate are working cohesively to realise that vision of growing Abu Dhabi into a leading MICE destination, turn to our cover story (pg16).
Also in this edition, we take a look at updates from AlUla in Saudi Arabia which has seen high-profile hospitality
projects recently open at this UNESCO World Heritage Site (pg22), as well as speak with Wyndham’s Dimitris Manikis (pg26) who explains the plans that the world’s largest hotel franchising company has for the Middle East – 25 additional properties to its existing number of 67, if you were wondering.
Looking beyond the Middle East, we have a few stories for outbound travellers such as exploring a rather unconventional city for MICE – Reykjavik (pg38) – as well as things to do when you head to Oslo and Tel Aviv. Finally, if you are already pining for a short winter break amidst a hectic first quarter of this year, turn to our winter escapes feature (pg46) to see how the Seychelles and Maldives will be able to remedy your travel blues.
Enjoy your upcoming business, leisure – or even bleisure –trips, enjoy the issue.
Business Traveller Middle East is jointly published by Motivate Media Group and Panacea Media Ltd
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Inside Wyndham’s plans to expand sustainably within the Middle East (Page 26)
Discover the city’s stunning art, architecture, and coastline views (Page 34)
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The Seychelles and Maldives offer more than just picture-perfect views (Page 46)
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THE RAS AL KHAIMAH TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY has reported its highest-ever annual visitor numbers, with over 1.13 million overnight arrivals in 2022, a 15.6 per cent increase over 2021. Last year, there was also a 40 per cent increase in international visitors to Ras Al Khaimah, with key source markets being Kazakhstan, Russia, the UK, Germany and the Czech Republic.
Several new hotels and resorts opened in Ras Al Khaimah last year, thereby raising the emirate’s hospitality inventory by 17 per cent to reach over 8,000 keys. There are 19 upcoming properties, from brands including Marriott, Millennium, Anantara and Sofitel. One of the biggest projects will be the addition of the multibillion-dollar integrated resort development by Wynn Resorts in 2026.
WIZZ AIR HAS RECENTLY begun operating several new routes between Europe and Saudi Arabia. In January, it started ights between Bucharest and Jeddah, Budapest and Jeddah and Rome and Jeddah. e twice-weekly services from these three European cities to Jeddah o er one-way tickets starting at €29.99. Also last month, the carrier initiated twice-weekly ights between Budapest and Riyadh and Bucharest and Riyadh. ese new services follow a commitment by Wizz Air last year to establish 20 new routes to the kingdom from Europe. Wizz Air has previously signed an MoU with the Ministry of Investment for Saudi Arabia to support the kingdom’s Air Connectivity Programme and its Vision 2030 initiative that aims to triple the country’s passenger tra c by 2030.
QATAR AIRWAYS HAS CHANGED the rules on Avios earning allowing members of its Qatar Airways Privilege Club to spend the currency at Hamad International Airport (HIA). The move means that travellers at all departure points will be rewarded with Avios points upon check in which will be credited up to 120 minutes before the flight’s departure. The points can now also be collected and spent at almost 200 outlets at HIA in partnership with Qatar Duty Free. The airline added that Avios can be used in conjunction with cash, thereby working as a part payment option. Avios can be earned by flying with Qatar Airways, Oneworld airlines, plus QR’s airline partners too.
THE CHEDI TROJENA hotel has been announced for the giga project of Neom in Saudi Arabia. General Hotel Management (GHM) has signed an agreement with Neom Hotel Development to manage the upcoming property. The Chedi Trojena will be located within the Slope Residences in Trojena’s Relax Cluster which focuses on rejuvenation and wellness programmes. A specific date for the opening of the new hotel hasn’t yet been confirmed. However, construction on Trojena commenced in December 2022 and the destination is slated to welcome its first guests in 2026. Trojena will feature 30km of ski slopes, a collection of ultra-luxury and wellness hotels and resorts as well as over 100 indoor and outdoor experiences available year-round.
DUBAI DUTY FREE (DDF) accrued annual sales of US$1.74 billion in 2022, a 78 per cent increase year-on-year. It recorded over 17.3 million sales transactions overall, or an average of 46,912 sales transactions per day, with 47.302 million units of merchandise sold last year. Perfume contributed 18 per cent of total sales at US$310.66 million and retained its position as DDF’s highest-selling category, followed by liquor, gold, cigarettes and tobacco, and electronics. Sales in Departures across DDF’s operation totalled US$1.53 billion representing 88 per cent of its total annual sales.
A NEW ULTRA-LUXURY
e Royal, was unveiled in a Grand Reveal event held last month in Dubai and attended by over a thousand select guests including a number of A-list celebrities. e highlight of the weekend was a 60-minute performance by Beyoncé – her rst live show since 2018. Some of the high-pro le restaurants that will be a part of the property include Nobu, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Jaleo by José Andrés, and Ariana’s Persian Kitchen. Guest bookings have opened for the 795-key resort which spans 406,000 sqm. e rst guests will be able to check in to the property starting February 10.
ETIHAD AIRWAYS will launch routes to the Danish capital of Copenhagen and the German city of Dusseldorf. Both routes will commence in October 2023, with ights to Copenhagen operating four times a week and those to Dusseldorf operating thrice a week. e two European destinations will be served by the carrier’s two-class B787 Dreamliner aircra .
DUBAI-BASED SUNSET HOSPITALITY GROUP (SHG) will launch its Azure Beach and Attiko hospitality venues in Vietnam. Scheduled to open in Q3 2023, it is the fourth Azure Beach location worldwide a er venues opened in Dubai and Beirut, with another scheduled to do so in Doha. Attiko meanwhile will open its third global venue in Vietnam a er Dubai and Bodrum.
Azure Beach and Attiko will both be situated at Bai Tien in the Vega City coastal development within Nha Trang. e complex will be constructed by Vietnamese investment rm KDI Holdings, and will consist of a collection of 168 ocean-view shophouses, luxury villas and ve-star hotels.
In November last year, SHG secured US$35 million in funding from Goldman Sachs Asset Management to help support its global expansion
HYATT HOTELS CORPORATION has debuted the second property under its Hyatt Regency brand in Türkiye. The Hyatt Regency Izmir IstinyePark, located in the Balçova district, features 160 guestrooms, including 16 suites, and has a number of dining options such as The Bay which serves Aegean and Mediterranean cuisine and The Park Bar which serves light bites. The new hotel has an events space that spans more than 1,997 sqm. In addition to six meeting rooms, the Istinye Ballroom overlooks the pool. The expansive Regency Ballroom meanwhile is one of the biggest halls in Izmir, with 696 sqm of space, accommodating 750 guests in a theatre-style configuration.
SAUDI ARABIA’S FLAG
CARRIER, Saudia, has appointed reigning ABB FIA Formula E World champion Sto el Vandoorne as its ambassador for the new season. Saudia is already the o cial airline partner of the all-electric racing series.
e 30-year-old Belgian driver began the ninth season of the Formula E championship with a new team, DS Penske. Formula E travelled to Mexico City as well as the street circuit in Riyadh’s Diriyah district last month, and will travel to India, South Africa and several other countries before concluding in London in July.
In addition to his Formula E role, Vandoorne has also been appointed as a test and reserve driver for the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One team for the 2023 season which begins next month.
NOBU HOSPITALITY opened its rst property in Morocco last month. Located in Marrakech, it also marks the brand’s debut in Africa. Nobu Hotel Marrakech features 71 suites with a design that blends Moroccan cra smanship and contemporary Japanese elements. Facilities include the city’s rst Nobu restaurant, a roo op garden with a circular pool deck, a 2,000 sqm spa and three swimming pools. e hotel brand launched in 2013 with a property in Las Vegas, and is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. It currently has a portfolio of 32 hotels around the world in locations including Malibu, Marbella, Miami, London and Palo Alto, among others.
LAST MONTH, Emirates confirmed that it had completed the retrofitting of the first of 67 A380 aircraft earmarked for the upgrade. The retrofitted superjumbo entered into service on the Dubai-Heathrow route and now features 56 of the airline’s premium economy seats, as well as refurbished first and business class seats. Work is slated to be completed on all 67 A380s by 2024. Engineers will work on two aircraft at a time, with one A380 withdrawn from service every eight days. Once work on the A380s concludes, Emirates will then turn its attention to its B777 fleet. In total, Emirates will retrofit 120 A380 and B777 aircraft by 2025 at a cost of US$2 billion.
THE RED SEA development in Saudi Arabia will begin welcoming guests this year, when the first hotels open. Phase one, which includes the opening of 16 hotels in total, will be completed next year. While the Nujma, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve (one of just five Reserve properties in the world), the St. Regis Red Sea Resort and Six Senses Southern Dunes are expected to open this year, there will be a number of other hotels which will open by the end of next year from brands including Rosewood, Jumeirah, SLS, Fairmont, Ra les, Hyatt and Intercontinental, among others. However, one of the projects that has been creating a significant buzz recently is the Sheybarah Resort (pictured here) which will also open in the first phase and will be located on its own island. Renders from Killa Design reveal plans for 73 pod-like futuristiclooking beach and overwater villas. The property will also feature a centralised solar farm that will power the resort, with fresh water supplied from a solar-powered desalination plant.
New routes where the A380 will commence flying to this year from Dubai:
■ Glasgow (March 26)
■ Christchurch (Linked service via Sydney from March 26)
■ Hong Kong (Daily from March 29)
■ Casablanca (April 15)
■ Nice (June 1)
■ Birmingham (July 1)
SAUDI ARABIA’S CROWN PRINCE, Prime Minister and Chairman of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, has designated Diriyah in Riyadh as PIF’s fifth giga project. Diriyah is a US$63.2 billion mixed-use development and features the UNESCO World Heritage site of the mud-brickwalled At-Turaif District. PIF is the country’s sovereign wealth fund and the other Saudi giga projects in its portfolio include Neom, Red Sea, Qiddiya and Roshn.
In December, Diriyah became the first of the five giga projects to open up the initial phase of its development. That came by way of its 15,000 sqm luxury dining destination of Bujairi Terrace (pictured here). There are a total of 20 restaurants that have opened initially in Bujairi Terrace which range from Michelin-starred restaurants and homegrown brands to all-day cafès and casual-premium o erings.
LONDON-BASED HOSPITALITY brand Yotel has signed its first hotel deal in Saudi Arabia.
Scheduled to open in 2025, the yet-unnamed Yotel property will also be the first hotel to open in Oxagon, a carbon emissions-free industrial city “floating” on the Red Sea as part of the Neom giga project in the kingdom.
The hotel will be located within Oxagon’s Research and Innovation district, and as such will focus heavily on technology. The 300key hotel will showcase Yotel’s signature robotic concierges, motorised SmartBeds, and other fully integrated technologies. Yotel said that it plans to grow both its management and franchised projects in the Middle East to reach 50 hotels by 2025.
UAE-BASED DC AVIATION AL-FUTTAIM (DCAF) has added a Bombardier Global 7500 aircra to its managed eet. e new aircra will be based at DCAF’s home base at Al Maktoum International airport in Dubai. It takes the total number of aircra under its management to nine.
e Global 7500 has a range of 7,700 nautical miles, which means it can travel from New York to Hong Kong or Singapore to San Francisco without having to stop to refuel. It can carry 19 people and has a top speed of 0.925 Mach. It also has a master suite with a full-size bed, a kitchen as well as a dedicated crew suite.
1 United opens new Club lounge at Chicago O’Hare
United Airlines has opened a new 1,600 sqm Club lounge at Chicago O’Hare’s Terminal 1. Located close to gate C10, it is double the size of the lounge it replaces, with seating for over 400 guests. It features handcrafted artwork from local artists, including a mural by Kate Lewis.
2 Delta to restart twice-daily ights to Cuba
Delta will resume services to Cuba this year, following a three-year hiatus as a result of the pandemic. It will now o er twice-daily services between Miami and Havana from April 10, 2023. It had previously restarted flights to Cuba in 2016 after a gap of 55 years.
3 Envi Lodges announces ecotourism project in Costa Rica
GCC-based Envi Lodges will make its international debut in Costa Rica. It has partnered with The Islita Developments to operate ENVI The Islita in Punta Islita. It will comprise of 31 units made from canvas and wood, as well as 26 low-impact villas.
4 Heathrow welcomed 61.6 million passengers in 2022 Heathrow’s 2022 tra ic ended at 76.6 per cent of pre-pandemic 2019 levels, with a total of 61.6 million passengers. More than 5.9 million travellers passed through the airport in December – an increase of over 90 per cent year-on-year – with New York JFK being the busiest route.
5 JW Marriott opens second German property
Marriott has added the second hotel under its JW brand in Germany. It has reflagged the former Hotel Berlin Central District on Stau enbergstrasse. All 505 guest rooms of the hotel will be renovated between now and 2025. Marriott’s first JW German property is located in Frankfurt.
6 Kenya Airways debuts nonstop service from Mombasa to Dubai
Kenya Airways has launched a nonstop service, four times a week, from Mombasa to Dubai. This is in addition to its 10 weekly flights between Nairobi and Dubai. Its total frequency of services to DXB has increased to 14 weekly round trips.
7 IHG rolls out Voco brand in India
IHG will convert Corbet Aamond Spa and Resort into India’s first Voco hotel. The new Voco Jim Corbett will be rebranded by July 2024, adding 100 rooms to IHG’s premium portfolio in India. Voco is IHG’s seventh brand introduced in the country. The Voco brand launched globally in 2018.
8 China now no longer requires incoming travellers to quarantine
China has removed mandatory quarantine measures for travellers arriving from overseas. However, visitors will still have to furnish a pre-flight negative PCR test. These tests must be taken a maximum of 48 hours before their departure to China.
9 Emirates to return to Tokyo-Haneda
Emirates will restart flights to Tokyo-Haneda from April 2, 2023. This route will be in addition to its daily A380 service to TokyoNarita and daily Boeing 777 flight to Osaka. As part of its codeshare with Japan Airlines, Emirates also o ers passengers access to 26 additional Japanese cities.
10 Accor unveils refreshed M Gallery hotel in Sydney
Accor has recently unveiled the $30 million refurbishment of its 213-key beachfront Manly Pacific Sydney M Gallery hotel. Originally opened in the early 1900s as Hotel Pacific, it previously traded under Accor’s Novotel brand, but has now joined the group’s boutique M Gallery o ering.
Emirates has undertaken the ground testing of one of its GE90 engines on its Boeing 777-300ER using 100 per cent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The objective was to demonstrate the capability of the GE90 engine to run on the specially blended SAF without affecting its performance, while requiring no modifications to the aircraft systems, or special maintenance procedures either on the jet or the engine.
The testing activities involved running one engine on 100 per cent SAF and the other on conventional jet fuel to analyse the fuel system’s behaviour and performance under each fuel type, and compare specific outputs of each engine. The latest tests follow an MoU signed between Emirates, GE Aerospace and Boeing at the Dubai Airshow 2021 to develop a programme to conduct a test flight using 100 per cent SAF. SAF is reported to reduce carbon emissions over the fuel’s life cycle by up to 80 per cent.
JAL GROUP has signed an MoU for the procurement of sustainable aviation fuel with Wyomingheadquartered Raven which produces renewable fuel from waste, and Tokyo-based Itochu which is an investor in Raven. The SAF is planned to be supplied in California starting in 2025. The agreement with Raven and Itochu will help JAL to replace 1 per cent of its overall fuel with SAF by 2025, and further increase that proportion to 10 per cent by 2030. Additionally, JAL has struck agreements with Aemetis to have SAF made from tallow supplied in the US West Coast by 2024, and to acquire SAF made from inedible corn by 2026 from another company called Gevo, aiding JAL towards realising its goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
THE H DUBAI HOTEL recently installed the Power Knot LFC-100 Biodigester machine that can be used by kitchens to reduce and manage food waste in-house. It decomposes food waste including fruits, vegetables, seafood, rice, cheese, and bread, among other items within 24 hours. The machine can decompose waste weighing anywhere between 35-300kg, and the decomposed food is released in the form of wastewater. Also, the device is connected to the cloud and the data generated enables users to identify areas where they can reduce wastage. At the H Dubai, the machine was installed on November 27, and as of Jan 18, it had already ingested and decomposed 1,830kg of food waste, thereby resulting in a 3.9-tonne reduction in carbon emissions. The hotel was recently awarded the Green Key Certification by the Emirates Green Building Council.
We’re playing catch up in our e orts to keep 1.5 [°C] alive. We need to reverse emissions while moving economies forward. We are determined to make COP28 a COP of action. A COP where the Global North and Global South really listen to each other. And a COP where we deliver a new deal on
WIZZ AIR HAS LAUNCHED its design competition to encourage talents from around the world to create the sustainability livery for one of its Airbus A321neo aircra . e winner will receive €2,000 in Wizz vouchers value. e competition opened on January 20, and will remain open until February 12.
It comes as the airline has already committed to reducing its CO2 emissions intensity by 25 per cent by 2030. As part of its sustainability e orts, it has previously signed an MoU with Airbus to explore the potential for hydrogen-powered aircra , as well as with OMV to supply sustainable aviation fuel between 2023 and 2030. Furthermore, it has been replacing the older aircra in its eet with the new Airbus A321neo. e A321neo reportedly has a nearly 50 per cent reduction in noise, a 20 per cent decrease in fuel consumption and a 50 per cent reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions compared to the previous model.
climate nance”
Dr Sultan Al Jaber, COP28 president-designate and UAE’s special envoy for climate change
As Abu Dhabi becomes a powerhouse in the region’s MICE sector, here’s how it is building a holistic ecosystem that appeals to both domestic and international businesses
Examine the numbers. e 2022 edition of ADIPEC, reportedly the world’s largest annual assembly of energy industry professionals, gathered 15,000 attendees and generated an estimated US$8.2 billion in business from the approximately 2,200 exhibiting companies. e previous edition of the biennial International Defence Exhibition and Conference held alongside the Naval Defence Exhibition and Conference –the 2023 edition of both will be held this month –attracted 62,000 visitors and 900 local and international companies from 59 countries, with the UAE Armed Forces signing deals worth US$5.7 billion overall. Last year’s edition of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair meanwhile witnessed the participation of over 1,130 publishers from more than 80 countries and 650 cultural, educational and artistic events carried out on the sidelines of the week-long event. e evidence of a Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) industry in Abu Dhabi being in rude health is abundant.
A 2019 report from UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, found that the exhibitions sector generates more than US$81 billion in direct GDP, ranking as the 56th largest economy in the world. In 2019, Abu Dhabi licensed over 13,000 events in the city with an estimated total of 23,700 speakers and 1,300 entertainers involved.
e decision to focus on the MICE industry is central to Abu Dhabi’s Vision 2030 which aims to diversify the emirate’s economy beyond oil and into a knowledge-based
economy. e emirate is actively engaged in attracting businesses and events to the capital of the UAE.
e ripple e ects of developing a robust MICE industry reverberate across various economic verticals. “Business events generate positive nancial outcomes not just through the spending of visitors, but also through the trade and foreign investment opportunities that follow the event. ey also contribute to the skill and opportunity development, attracting talent to host cities, strengthening existing networks and collaborations, and forging new partnerships,” said Genevieve Leclerc, co-founder and CEO of Meet4Impact.
To help streamline, organise and facilitate the emirate’s MICE industry, in 2013, the Abu Dhabi Convention and Exhibition Bureau (ADCEB) was set up as a division within the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) to focus on building the capital of the UAE as a prime destination for this sector.
Mubarak Al Shamisi, director of Abu Dhabi Convention and Exhibition Bureau at DCT Abu Dhabi, said: “We at ADCEB work tirelessly to attract international conventions and global business events to Abu Dhabi. We are strongly committed to o ering valuable guidance and support to organisers through various nancial and non- nancial programmes. Abu Dhabi sees MICE as a catalyst for the recovery of the tourism sector and the overall economy. Hence, we developed a 10-year strategy to grow and position the emirate as a global business events hub and our goal is to double the sector’s size by 2030.”
OPPOSITE PAGE: Abu Dhabi’s Vision 2030 aims to grow a knowledge-based economy
BELOW: Abu Dhabi licensed over 13,000 events in 2019Senthil Gopinath, CEO of the International Congress Convention Association (ICCA), referenced research which showed that 64 per cent of the association’s representatives are considering expanding their events calendar by at least two additional events annually. Gopinath predicted that by 2023, the events industry will be pressed in terms of the infrastructure available to meet this demand.
Abu Dhabi has ensured that it has managed to skip ahead of the curve and brace itself for the expected surge in demand by laying the groundwork of a robust infrastructure across its exhibition spaces, hospitality and aviation verticals.
For example, ADNEC Group is an international venue development and management company. Its portfolio includes the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) which is spread out over 153,678 sqm and houses 1,827 hotel rooms on site, 21 meeting rooms and 13 halls.
ADNEC Group also owns the Al Ain Convention Centre in the UAE, as well as ExCeL London which is the UK capital’s largest exhibition and conference venue.
“Our tourism business, catering business and Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre all work together and attract international and local event organisers to host major forums and gatherings across a range of sectors. This onestop-shop approach makes it easy for local, regional and international organisations to come to Abu Dhabi and run an event,” says Graham Stephenson, director of Sales at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
“The ADNEC Group has just finished a major infrastructure project, with the opening of Marina Hall, the largest multipurpose hall in the Middle East. Marina Hall was created in direct response to demand from the market for a large flexible space. Beyond Marina Hall, ADNEC Group’s Capital Events also organises some business events within the region. For example, last year ADNEC Group organised the Global Media Congress, the only event of its kind in the media sector taking place in the region, and the Abu Dhabi International Food Exhibition (ADIFE), which witnessed the signing of 55 deals and 26 MoUs valued at more than Dhs3.2 billion.”
To help make the process of narrowing down on a venue to host events easier, the Visit Abu Dhabi website has a nifty online Venue Finder tool that allows users to filter through over 120 listings based on the meeting room size, the venue type and exhibition space requirements. To aid the process, once you’ve booked the venue, the website has also listed a number of destination management companies and professional conference organisers who
[A] one-stop-shop approach makes it easy for organisations to come to Abu Dhabi
GRAHAM STEPHENSON, director of Sales at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre
can be contacted to organise the venue and facilitate the event itself in Abu Dhabi
As for the hospitality industry, there is a breadth of options that include budget and ultra-luxury as well as short- to long-term stays. According to figures shared by DCT Abu Dhabi, in H1 2022, the emirate’s hotels received 1.84 million visitors, an increase of 22 per cent year-on-year, while occupancy rates rose to 70 per cent, with the average length of stay being recorded at about 3.2 nights per guest. Hotel revenues also rose 30 per cent in the first half of 2022 to Dhs2.4 billion.
The MICE sector is heavily focused on building the emirate’s hospitality sector. “ The ADNEC Group has invested strategically in its hotel portfolio, particularly to support its venues in Abu Dhabi and London. We have two hotels on-site at ADNEC in Abu Dhabi –Aloft Abu Dhabi and Andaz Capital Gate. At ExCeL in London, we have Aloft London ExCel and DoubleTree by Hilton London ExCel. The location of these hotels allows business travellers to transition quickly and easily between their hotel and the events. The other hotels in our portfolio – Anantara Sir Bani Yas Island Abu Dhabi and Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara – enable us to showcase Abu Dhabi as a leading destination to international business travellers looking to either extend their work trip, or return to Abu Dhabi in the future for leisure,” says Stephenson.
Abu Dhabi’s aviation industry meanwhile comprises a mix of full-service (Etihad) and budget airlines (Wizz Air Abu Dhabi and Air Arabia Abu Dhabi) and is supported by the Abu Dhabi International Airport which was recently fitted with facial recognition and biometric technology to help expedite the movement of passengers within it. The UAE’s national airline, Etihad, which uses the airport as its hub has also played a pivotal role in building the local MICE sector.
ABOVE: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
RIGHT: The Wahat Al Karama war memorial
BOTTOM: Etihad’s Martin Drew signs an agreement with Mubarak Al Shamisi, director of ADCEB
OPPOSITE PAGE: The ADNEC facility in Abu Dhabi
We’re actively engaged in growing Abu Dhabi as both a business and leisure destination
MARTIN DREW, SVP global sales and cargo at Etihad Airways
“As the UAE’s national airline, we’re actively engaged in growing Abu Dhabi as both a business and leisure destination. To showcase the strength of Abu Dhabi as a destination for business meetings, conferences and events, we work closely with DCT Abu Dhabi to organise trade familiarisation trips from emerging MICE-focused markets. We also work closely with hotel partners and other hospitality stakeholders, Tourism 365 and international destination management companies,” says Martin Drew, senior vice president of Global Sales and Cargo at Etihad Airways which was awarded the World’s Best MICE Airline at the World MICE Awards 2022.
“Etihad also has a partnership with the Abu Dhabi Convention and Exhibition Bureau to support the Advantage Abu Dhabi initiative which incentivises MICE business,” adds Drew.
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Etihad collaborated with ADCEB on the Advantage Abu Dhabi Meetings and Incentives
2.0 programme; Cityscape Abu Dhabi discussed the emirate’s real estate sector; ADIPEC is among the world’s largest gatherings of energy industry professionals
The Advantage Abu Dhabi Meetings and Incentives initiative that Drew references is one of the emirate’s most important programmes to support its MICE sector and all its stakeholders. DCT Abu Dhabi announced the launch of an enhanced Advantage Abu Dhabi Meetings and Incentives 2.0 programme last year. As part of a revamped programme, ADCEB has collaborated with Etihad to incentivise corporate clients to select Abu Dhabi for their MICE events. For example, when 30 airline tickets are booked, one complimentary economy class ticket is provided.
Similarly, hospitality partners on the programme have schemes speci cally for the MICE sector. If 25 rooms are booked, one room is o ered complimentary, and one can be upgraded to a suite. Also, there’s a 25 per cent spa discount o ered on select hotels.
Intermediaries who step in to further the MICE industry in Abu Dhabi are also suitably rewarded. ADCEB launched the MICE Agency Reward Scheme to incentivise both international as well as local intermediaries for bringing business to the UAE’s capital. For example, intermediaries based outside of the UAE who bring an event with a cumulative of 500 participants to Abu Dhabi, will receive two international air tickets (which will increase to four if the event has 1,000 participants, and six
■ IDEX and NAVDAX
■ World Cargo Summit
■ Emirates Society of Ophthalmology Conference
if there are 2,000 participants), as well as accommodation for themselves for two nights in a ve-star property. As for UAE-based intermediaries, they will receive shopping vouchers and accommodation in ve-star hotels based on the number of participants they bring to the event. “Our dedicated inbound groups’ department also works closely with all Abu Dhabi stakeholders to support group travel into the region. is makes the journey as seamless as possible for travellers visiting Abu Dhabi for conferences and events, and we can tailor experiences based on group requests,” notes Drew from Etihad.
ADCEB has been engaged in forming strategic partnerships with various entities, as it has done with Etihad. Last year, it teamed up with Abu Dhabi-based Miral to create the Business Event Fund that aims to attract business events and corporate groups of over 500 attendees. It has also partnered with the likes of global MICE associations including the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI), the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) and Meeting Professionals International (MPI).
To help grow the sector despite the pandemic, in 2021, ADCEB launched the Abu Dhabi Business Events Week which was designed as a platform for MICE industry professionals to collaborate and exchange best practices via panel discussions, workshops, and networking sessions. e topics for the event are determined by an advisory committee that consists of key MICE professionals. e second edition of the event was held between September 26-27 last year and covered topics including bidding strategies, sustainability and digital disruption.
■ Abu Dhabi Wound Care Conference
■ RESOLVE
■ FlyPharma
■ EVIS - Electric vehicle innovation summit
■ IATA Ground Handling Symposium
■ World Utilities Congress
■ Sigma Theta Tau International 31st International Nursing Research Congress
Given a global outlook scenario whose pressure points include the international con ict in East Europe, in ationary worries coupled with precautionary cost-cutting measures by multinationals around the world, the MICE industry is compelled to rethink its value proposition and go beyond just the business aspect. It has had to, for example, appeal to the leisure aspect too – hence the rise of bleisure (business plus leisure) – in order to convince corporates to book destinations outside of their resident countries for their events. Mindful of responding to these evolving needs, in November, DCT Abu Dhabi created a list of seven authentic Emirati cultural experiences that visitors to the emirate are recommended to try. e experiences, created in collaboration with Emirati tour guides, are featured on Airbnb, and include the likes of visiting the local sh and date markets, sampling a homemade Emirati breakfast and even visiting a local ranch.
For MICE meetings with a de nitive bleisure component at its doorstep, entities such as Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and Yas Marina Circuit also feature well-equipped business centres. Other unconventional o erings for business events in Abu Dhabi include Louvre Abu Dhabi, Manarat Al Saadiyat and Qasr Al Watan. For high-end gatherings where privacy is vital, there are venues such as the private resort of Zaya Nurai Island too.
MUBARAK AL SHAMISI, director of ADCEB at DCT Abu Dhabi
As Abu Dhabi’s MICE industry grows, sustainability is of paramount necessity especially considering that the UAE has committed to a Net Zero target by 2050. “We were the rst in the Middle East to sign the Paris Agreement. Abu Dhabi is home to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Abu Dhabi’s agship carrier, Etihad Airways, is recognised for its industry-leading strategies to improve aviation sustainability for both the airline itself and the entire industry. ese are all testament to our commitment to combating climate change,” says Mubarak Al Shamisi, director of ADCEB.
Etihad’s Drew, also outlines the airline’s commitment to sustainability, by adding, “For corporate clients, we o er Corporate Conscious Choices, our environmentally focused loyalty programme o ering corporates the
■ Middle East Design and Build Week (MEDBW)
■ Future Hospitality Summit 2023
■ Abu Dhabi Sport and Fitness Expo
■ Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference (ADIPEC)
opportunity to o set corporate travel, invest in sustainable aviation fuel and promote sustainable activities.”
As the MICE industry grows in Abu Dhabi, a skilled workforce will be essential to maintain momentum. Abu Dhabi has ensured local representation remains a priority in that workforce. Miral, for example, has a two-year Maharaty talent development programme and the three-month Ambassador training programme to ensure that Emiratis are trained with the necessary skills and represented across the emirate’s MICE sector. Separately, in June 2022, ADCEB signed a strategic partnership with the Society of Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) to enable employees and stakeholders to receive a professional certi cation and year-round access to SITE’s dedicated incentive travel events and conferences.
Abu Dhabi’s MICE sector is on a solid footing already. All it needs to do now is hold a steady line.
Source: (01) ADCEB Performance Tracker, Jan 2023 - Dec 2023
■ Abu Dhabi Air Expo
■ Abu Dhabi International Boat Show
■ Abu Dhabi International Food Exhibition
■ Abu Dhabi International Mental Health Conference
Abu Dhabi sees MICE as a catalyst for the recovery of the tourism sector and the overall economy
As the development of AlUla into one of Saudi Arabia’s leading tourist destinations continues in earnest, here’s how its hospitality, transport and cultural ecosystems are working in tandem
Located in the northwest of Saudi Arabia, AlUla is a sprawling 22,561 sq km location which features an oasis valley, sandstone mountains and cultural heritage sites that date back thousands of years to the reigns of the Lihyan and Nabataean kingdoms. More recently, the area came into renewed prominence two years ago when representatives from the six GCC countries met at a historic summit in AlUla, and were photographed against the stunning backdrop of the Maraya structure which is the world’s largest mirrored building.
Phillip Jones, chief destination marketing and management o cer at e Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), is tasked with creating awareness of this destination in Saudi Arabia – a country which is in the midst of an expansive and aggressive expansion of its tourism industry. “AlUla is the destination that is focused on the premium luxury market. It’s a destination that has been around continuously for the last 7,000 years. It’s a cultural heritage destination, with an emphasis on wellness and adventure experiences,” Jones told Business Traveller Middle East recently along the sidelines of the World Travel and Tourism Council’s Global Summit conducted in Riyadh. e number of the destination’s hospitality o erings is deliberately modest, prioritising luxury instead. Jones reveals that AlUla has around 700 hotel keys at present. Accor has a signi cant presence in AlUla having taken over the 121-key Shaden Resort in 2019. More recently, in October 2022, Accor opened its all-tent Banyan Tree AlUla resort with a performance headlined by Mariah Carey. Habitas AlUla is another high-end property that opened back in 2021 with a strong emphasis on sustainability and is surrounded by palm groves and imposing sandstone cli s. Meanwhile, Aman Resorts is building three properties in
BELOW: The Maraya structure is the world’s largest mirrored building
OPPOSITE PAGE: Maraya hosts events, performances and VIP experiences
AlUla which includes a luxury tented camp, a resort inspired by the local architecture and heritage sites as well as a ranch-style desert resort. e rst of the three Aman properties is scheduled to open this year. “In addition to those three Aman hotels that have been announced, we have six other hotel projects that are in development. At the end of the rst phase – which will conclude at the end of 2025 – we should have roughly 2,000 keys. e [hospitality o erings here are] never going to be mass. It is much more focused on a premium audience that can a ord to stay in these hotels and who want a unique experience that they can’t nd anywhere else in the Middle East, in an unparalleled setting,” says Jones.
While the hospitality portfolio falls into place, the destination is also building an infrastructure to support the growth in visitors. In November last year, the RCU inaugurated a new 3,000 sqm hangar for private aircra at AlUla International airport in Saudi Arabia. Many among the premium audience that Jones says are the destination’s prime target
audience, will make their way there via private jets. To support larger groups, the RCU has coordinated with the country’s Civil Aviation Authority to increase AlUla’s airport’s capacity from 100,000 to 400,000 passengers annually, while its total area has also been expanded to cover 2.4 million sqm. Commercial airlines have ramped up international services to the airport too over the last few months. Saudi carrier Flynas began operating twice weekly direct ights between Cairo and AlUla last year. It also resumed services from AlUla to Dubai. In December, Saudia began ying between Paris and AlUla, while last month, Royal Jordanian started services from Amman to AlUla.
“We’re going to have a tram system that will take you from the airport to Old Town and from Old Town to Hegra, with stops along the way where you can hop on and o . Phase one of this project will connect the Old Town to Hegra, and phase two will connect the airport to Old Town, all of which should happen between now and 2026,” notes Jones.
AlUla’s biggest draw is its natural
heritage. e 52-hectare ancient city of Hegra (at one point the southernmost outpost of the Roman Empire) with its 111 tombs, elaborate facades cut into the sandstone outcrops and walled urban settlements was Saudi’s rst lcoation to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bringing that into the consciousness of a younger and more
technologically-savvy audience, the RCU recently introduced a to-scale and completely immersive 3D model of Hegra’s Tomb of Lihyan, Son of Kuza in the metaverse. Virtual tourists can undertake a 360-degree tour of the tomb, set amidst a realistic rendering of the destination’s desert landscape. “I think as we evolve the metaverse experience, it’s going to be more popular, particularly with the younger generation of travellers who want to see something rst before they experience it in real life… and that’s the goal of the metaverse experiment,” explains Jones.
To encourage a steady ow of visitors to the location, apart from
focusing on its heritage sites, the destination is also focusing on other cultural activities with a special focus on the arts. For example, a new permanent art installation was announced last year for Wadi AlFann in AlUla. Wadi AlFann, translated as Valley of the Arts, spans 65 sq km and is scheduled to open in 2024. e rst ve artists commissioned to create permanent artworks at the destination include Saudi artists Manal AlDowayan and Ahmed Mater alongside American artists Agnes Denes, Michael Heizer and James Turrell. is month, the Fame : Andy Warhol in AlUla exhibition is launching in collaboration with
Arts AlUla and e Andy Warhol Museum. ere is a constant stream of arts and heritage events being held in AlUla. In the 2022 winter season, AlUla recorded 130,000 ticket buyers for its events. It expects ticket sales in the 2023 season to exceed 200,000.
As for its contribution to the kindom’s economy, AlUla also expects to deliver SAR120 billion to Saudi’s GDP by 2035 and create 38,000 jobs by then while attracting two million visitors annually. “We’re spending billions every year – we’ve spent probably US$10 billion so far, with another US$25 billion to go. We have a lot of development and construction across the destination. And when you come, you can see the physical changes to the destination from season to season each year,” says Jones. He acknowledges that there are stumbling blocks along the way that the team are countering as they build awareness of the destination. “ ere are still perception issues with Saudi Arabia in the global market. e best way to convert folks into ambassadors is to have them come experience [the destination] for themselves. e other issue is supply chain issues that we’ve had during Covid, but overall we’ve been able to manage that fairly e ectively,” says Jones.
AlUla is being developed in parallel to several giga projects in the kingdom including the Red Sea Project, Neom and Diriyah. “We collaborate with them. We compete with them in some ways too,” says Jones about AlUla’s coordination with the giga projects. “But we all have di erent market segments. I think we have the most potential for collaboration between AlUla and the Red Sea [Project] because of the very di erent experiences each o ers. A cultural heritage experience is what we o er. A sea-and-sand experience is what the Red Sea o ers. You’re going to see a lot more collaboration between AlUla and the Red Sea.
“We want people to visit the cities of Jeddah, Riyadh and the other giga projects, but of course we want them to start in AlUla.”
Can the world’s largest hotel franchising company expand rapidly, responsibly and sustainably within the Middle East? Wyndham’s Dimitris Manikis has the big picture
VARUN GODINHO
I’m Greek, and I think the Greeks said it rst: ‘A story is not a story unless it gets told,’ ” quips the energetic Dimitris Manikis (pictured below), president of Europe, Middle East, Eurasia and Africa at Wyndham Hotels and Resorts. Wyndham is touted to be the world’s largest hotel franchising company by the number of properties – it has over 9,1000 hotels and 800,000 rooms spread across more than 95 countries – which means that Manikis doesn’t have to resort to hyperbole when narrating the story of Wyndham’s scale. Sticking to the facts makes for a compelling enough narrative in itself. “We currently have 67 hotels, and around 12,000 keys operating across 11 brands in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. We continue to bring diverse accommodation options to the region, with more openings under the Howard Johnson and Ramada brands, as well as the La Quinta and Days Inn by Wyndham brands, the latter two being launched in the market for the rst time in 2021.”
As Manikis explains, last year was a largely successful one for the region’s travel industry with mega events such as Expo 2020, the football World Cup in Qatar and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, among scores of others, helping to drive inbound travel to the region by 4 per cent. “Mirroring the region’s success, these opportunities also gave us a chance to expand our room o ering by 4 per cent during Q3,” he says.
e key markets in the region where Wyndham’s growth has been
prominent include the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
In the UAE, Wyndham opened its 102-key Wyndham Residences e Palm which o ers laundry facilities, fully-equipped kitchens and connecting room options signalling the positioning of this property for long stays and one that appeals to families. e property has private beach access and two restaurants as well. at opening took Wyndham’s portfolio in the UAE up to 22 hotels, 14 of which are in Dubai.
Just before to the start of the World Cup in Qatar in November, Wyndham opened its 278key Grand Doha West Bay Beach hotel. e West Bay property takes its portfolio of operational hotels in Qatar up to three, with another two under development.
Saudi is a market that Manikis indicates has much potential. “As part of our expansion plans in Saudi Arabia, we opened Ramada by Wyndham Riyadh King Fahd Road, our 13th hotel in the country, in November 2022. is latest opening will help us to further expand in this high-potential market, where there is a signi cant need for high-quality midscale hotels,” notes Manikis. Contrary to most hoteliers who are pushing luxury developments in Saudi, Manikis says that there is a sizeable appetite lower down the price chain. “ e midscale and budget hotels for Saudi are going to be the trend in the next couple of years. Everybody talks about luxury [hotels in Saudi], but the economy and midscale are going to be extremely important in the next phase of development for Saudi Arabia.”
For an operation the size of Wyndham’s that has several thousand properties worldwide, defining its ESG targets is no easy task . “We have used the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a guide to set our first-generation performance targets for 2025, with strong progress achieved so far. This includes the Wyndham Green sustainability programme, a five-level certification initiative designed to help hotels improve in areas such as energy efficiency, reduction of emissions, conservation of water, reduction of waste, and to also reduce their environmental footprint to protect their biodiversity,” says Manikis. Some of those 2025 targets outlined in Wyndham’s ESG report last year said that it aims to achieve usage of 100 per cent renewable energy at its owned properties, complete elimination of single-use plastics and a 15 per cent reduction in both water consumption per square foot and Scope 1/ Scope 2 emissions.
“What is important to us, especially in the MENA region, is how do we make sustainability part of the daily conversation. A very important message to all our franchisees and our managed properties is that this is not going to be a sprint. This is a marathon. We have Wyndham Green as a brand standard for all the hotels that we bring into our business. [Sustainability] is not just nice-to-have cocktail conversation anymore, this is the future of our industry.”
But as big as Wyndham is, for the hospitality industry to have its sustainability agenda make a real difference, collaboration is necessary. “A truly sustainable hospitality industry cannot be achieved alone. We work closely with partners, such as the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance (SHA). As an active member of the SHA, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts is part of a group with a combined reach of over 35,000 properties and 5.5 million rooms, representing 30 per cent of the global hotel industry by room count,” notes Manikis.
Wyndham’s global expansion has partly been realised via strategic acquisitions. Last September, it acquired European hotel brand Vienna House for US$44 million. That acquisition resulted in the addition of around 40 mid and upscale Vienna House properties equating to over 6,000 rooms, to Wyndham’s portfolio. “Over the past 30 years, the Vienna House brand has built
a highly-recognised name for travellers in many European countries. We look forward to introducing it to new markets in the coming years and the MENA region has a strong opportunity for us especially as midscale lifestyle brands continue to grow in popularity,” observes Manikis. In November last year, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts unveiled the name of its 24th brand – Echo Suites Extended Stay by Wyndham, with Echo being an abridged version of ‘Economy Hotel Opportunity’. At the time of the unveiling in November, Wyndham said that Echo had become the group’s fastest-growing development pipeline brand with 120 hotels under development.
With a portfolio of properties spread across 95 countries, challenges faced by Wyndham in one region can be dramatically different from what it faces in properties at the other end of the world. But there are universal issues such as a squeeze on discretionary spending due to rising living costs that would put pressure across its global properties. “The reduction in non-essential spending is the direct result of a financial crunch. This is understandably concerning for our industry, as decreased tourism is a frequent consequence of financial instability. We already possess the insight to anticipate what will happen. Now, what
matters is how we adapt to the situation and respond.”
One of the ways that Manikis suggests adapting and responding to the situation is by summarily dismissing five-year plans and instead choosing an agile model. “It is important to have the outline of growth –what we want to do, where we want to grow – and to then be very agile. Over the last twothree years we have learnt that agility, speed,
and the ability to read the terrain and what is happening around you are going to be critical to growing your business and will make or break the future of the company,” he says.
As for trends emerging within the hospitality industry, he says that while bleisure is something that the industry must address, business travel will return strongly. In 2021, Wyndham debuted The Meeting s Collection as part of the Wyndham Business
programme. The Meeting s Collection is a network of meetings-focused hotels that offer coordinators incentives through multi-year bookings. In the Middle East, the properties which are part of the programme include Wyndham Grand Istanbul Kalamis Marina and Wyndham Dubai Deira in the UAE. “Leisure is definitely the first to rebound. But business is going to come back. People still need to connect not in the way they did in the past, but business travel will still come back. Companies will still need to bring their employees together. Also, you cannot stay working from home for the rest of your life,” states Manikis.
He reveals that over the next three years, Wyndham plans to bring 25 additional hotels and around 4,000 rooms to the MEA region, adding to its current portfolio of 67 properties. Wyndham’s range of properties spans economy, budget, midscale, upperscale, soft brands, and all-inclusive. “The good news about the Middle East is that there’s room for all those brands and for every type of traveller.” True story.
Accor’s Rixos brand is a familiar name within the UAE’s hospitality sector. Rixos opened its first outpost within the country in Dubai back in 2012, leading the way for an all-inclusive concept of hotels that quickly found a wide audience. In 2014, it expanded into Ras Al Khaimah and then into the UAE’s capital of Abu Dhabi in 2018. More recently, Rixos opened its second Abu Dhabi property, and unlike the other three existing properties within the UAE, this one offers a unique “multiboard” where guests can choose whether they prefer a bed and breakfast package, halfboard or all-inclusive deals to suit their specific requirements. Much like many other structures in the city, the towering façade of the Rixos Marina Abu Dhabi still exudes character, warmth and heritage. This property is writing a new story in the city's hospitality industry, and guests are encouraged to be active participants within that narrative.
There are a total of 563 rooms and suites at this property. Recognising that Rixos is a concept that appeals to a diverse clientele ranging from solo backpackers and couples to families as well as corporates who book it for large offsites that often involve the families of the employees, there are myriad room options.
The new Rixos Marina Abu Dhabi offers a unique multiboard experience that cannot be found at any of its other properties in the UAE. With the added advantage of extensive dining and leisure amenities, it is a property that is already well-received
There are seven room types. There’s the Superior room with either courtyard or sea views, both of which feature floor-to-ceiling windows. Then there are the Deluxe Room and the Premium room, both of which also have either corniche or sea views too. The top-end room category is the TwoBedroom Family room which has a king-
sized bed in a room that is connected to another bedroom with parallel twin beds, ideal for families with children.
There are six suite categories too. The Junior suite has views of the Arabian Gulf while some Senior suites have a balcony. The Executive and King suites have dedicated lounge and bedroom spaces. The top two suites at the hotel include the Presidential and Royal suites. The former features an on-suite kitchenette, separate bedroom and lounge as well as a balcony. The latter has a separate living space that offers a private lounge and dining area, and two luxurious guest rooms fitted with a sauna and a steam spa too.
There are 10 signature dining outlets at this resort. Turquoise is an all-day dining experience that offers a wide variety of flavours from worldwide cuisines served in an open-buffet concept.
Vero Italiano is a classic Italian restaurant that brings authentic and traditional flavours of different parts of Italy to Abu Dhabi. Godiva Café located in the lobby is a Belgian chocolatier that offers an assortment of hot and cold beverages, patisserie bites and indulgent chocolate creations. People’s Restaurant is a casual all-day dining restaurant where the menu
is inspired by seasoned travellers who have travelled the world. The Bakery Club is surrounded by lush greenery. For some of the best views of the city, head to Privé Lounge on the 37th floor which has a menu inspired by China and mixed with Peruvian flavours. The upscale lounge is set amidst designer art collectives.
Isla Beach Bar is a Havana beach club that serves both hot and cold tapas with a great selection of cocktails and mocktails. Anti-dote Bar creates experimental cocktails, while Cuba Cigar Bar is the ideal place to relax and unwind as you sample a selection of world-class rolled cigars. The Flame Steakhouse meanwhile offers some of the finest cuts from Argentina. If all you want to do is to rather just stay in your room, you can opt for the hotel’s in-room dining service too.
The Nauturelife Spa facilities include traditional Turkish Hamman, steam rooms, a sauna, and well-appointed treatment rooms, as well as a bespoke couples suite. The Turkish-inspired spa offers treatments including a Royal Ottoman Foam Massage, a Gold Turkish Hammam, a Candle Massage and also a four-hand Sultan massage where two therapists work together to execute the massage.
If you’re travelling with kids, the Rixy Kids Club is available for children between the ages of 4-12 and has a range of fullysupervised activities including interactive games and engaging shows.
For fitness enthusiasts, the Exclusive Sports Club has expert trainers and state-of-the-art facilities, and offers daily activities and classes including TRX, CrossFit, Zumba, yoga sessions, as well as water sports activities.
There are a total of three swimming pools, a separate kid’s pool area, and a white sand beach with private cabanas too.
Rixos Marina Abu Dhabi offers multiple venues, including a grand ballroom, spacious meeting rooms, and an expansive outdoor garden and beach venue too. There are 10 private meeting rooms with top-of-the-range audiovisual equipment. The grand ballroom can seat up to 1,000 guests and is a great space for recreational events as well as large MICE-focused gatherings. There’s a dedicated events team too to attend to the requirements of those booking the venues. From business to pleasure, the transition at Rixos is seamless. rixos.com; +971 2 498 0000
Kuwaiti heritage meets modern, luxurious hospitality at our newly opened Grand Hyatt Kuwait – a project that has been a long time in the making, and for good reason.
Situated in the heart of the 360 Mall extension, the hotel grants direct access to one of Kuwait’s most immersive mixed-use social, retail and entertainment destinations. At this prime hospitality development, our guests can enjoy elegantly designed guest rooms complemented by a vibrant culinary scene.
Taking inspiration from the waves, dhows and mashrabiya elements, the hotel was designed to pay homage to the country’s location and traditions. A legacy of sailing, dhow-building, trading and pearl diving inspired the narrative of wonder, exploration, and beauty while presenting contemporary aesthetics.
The 302-key luxury urban property, with its impressive design and unobstructed views, features a distinctive room configuration. Choices include 21 guestrooms and suites uniquely designed with private landscaped garden terraces, 34 Grand Club suites with breathtaking views, eight Junior suites and one magnificent Presidential suite.
Our hotel lobby is a majestic, open space buzzing with energy. The plush interior of our Lobby Lounge
is accentuated by a distinguished feeling of grandeur through a bespoke collection of luxury furnishings. Large-scale artworks were commissioned specifically to fit the theme at Grand Hyatt Kuwait. It offers the traveller an opportunity to experience and engage with some remarkable pieces of art in a way that could be more intimate than at a museum or gallery.
Cuisines from different corners of the world come together under one roof at Grand Hyatt Kuwait. At ’Stambul, a Turkish lifestyledining venue celebrating the famed influences of Ottoman cuisine, we reinterpret classic dishes and deliver them theatrically. Mei Li in turn is inspired by the diversity of Asian
cuisine and heritage. There is also Liberté, a modern brasserie that is rooted in classicism.
An integral part of the hotel’s experiences is its Noor Spa. Its design is modern, abstract, and fascinating. Noor Spa was created with a sense of mindfulness and serenity, serving as the ultimate wellness retreat.
Moreover, Grand Hyatt Kuwait encapsulates several elegant multifaceted event spaces, each dynamically configured. The hotel has a multipurpose Grand Ballroom, with a capacity to host up to 1,560 guests. It features a central atrium, complete with a sprawling skylight and decorative screen, allowing natural light to filter into the hotel’s interior spaces while simultaneously reducing visibility for more private events such as weddings, conferences, grand galas, and cocktail receptions.
If you wish to explore the area next to the hotel, you will find that it is connected to the 360 Mall extension which comprises 130,000 sqm of retail space, a 5,800-seater multi-purpose Grand Arena, a 1,600-capacity tennis arena and 15 tennis courts operated by the Rafa Nadal Academy Kuwait.
The Grand Hyatt Kuwait manifests the luxurious qualities of a global hospitality brand, while presenting contemporary Kuwaiti excellence.
Business Traveller Middle East gives Federico Mantoani, general manager of Grand Hyatt Kuwait, five minutes to pitch his property to prospective guests“Large-scale artworks offer travellers an opportunity to engage with some remarkable pieces in a way that could be more intimate than at a museum or gallery”CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Largescale artworks in the lobby of the hotel; The Mei Li restaurant; The property has 312 rooms and suites; Federico Mantoani, general manager of Grand Hyatt Kuwait
e author, hospitality veteran and founder of e Cutting Edge Hospitality Agency is on the cusp of returning to the Middle East
You’ve created more than 200 hospitality concepts in the region. Which one is your most memorable? I would have to say the biggest and most memorable was Cle Dubai. It brought together Michelin chef Greg Malouf, Cirque De Soleil and a launch party that included guests with the surnames Hilton and Kardashian. MasterChef the TV Experience is certainly another as it was a passion project of mine for many years.
When did it get the toughest for you over the last three decades you have spent in the industry? I would have to say that was the last three years due to the pandemic. I witnessed many of the incredible outlets created over the years having to shut down and retrench sta . I’m glad to see most are now back to their full complement. I returned to Australia in May 2020 and as Melbourne was coming out of its initial lockdown, we bought a restaurant. Su ce to say, weathering seven lockdowns over the next year was one of the toughest experiences in my hospitality career.
How much time do you spend travelling for work and do you have any travel coping mechanisms? I would say 30 per cent of my
time is spent travelling for work. Adapting to the new time zone is key for me. e minute I get to my destination, going for a swim seems to help calibrate the senses.
What’s your choice of in-flight entertainment? Having been a loyal Emirates customer over the last 15 years, I would have to say it’s ICE. e depth of o erings available means that a 14-hour ight from Australia to the UAE goes by in a heartbeat. Aside from the visual o ering, TV shows and movies, ICE has an incredible music selection.
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What’s the one travel experience you’d rather forget? Meeting for a family gathering in Bali, the only way my wife and I could get there was by ying a low-cost carrier out of Melbourne. My seat was directly next to the lavatory and so every time someone would open the door, it would bang into my shoulder. A memorable seven hours, only to be outdone by the accommodation at our destination which had gaps between the balcony door and the wall measured in inches allowing all of the 36-degree heat and humidity inside.
What are the three things that you always pack in your suitcase? Music is key to surviving travel for me, so there will always be a portable speaker and noise-cancelling headphones. ere is always swimwear, no matter what the destination. Finally, [I always pack] a good men’s fragrance that I associate with the destination I am going to.
How do you spend your air miles? For me, since they have been earned on travel then I redeem them on travel. Previously they have been used to y family members over for vacations, but most of the time they are used to assist in turning le on the plane instead of right.
Where’s the one location that’s still on your bucket list and why? San Sebastian in Spain. What an incredible melting pot of culture, cuisine and Michelin stars.
The one global culinary concept that you weren’t involved with, but wish you had been a part of. I wish I had been part of the ‘Fusion’ movement. I am not just referring to Asian/Californian cuisine, but I am seeing concepts now that have pushed the boundaries of fusion whereby people are looking at a menu with a selection of dumplings, sushi, curries, Korean BBQ and wagyu beef. I have always said that one should never try to be everything to everyone because all you will succeed in doing is being nothing to no one, but this blend of avour pro les just simply works.
Munch your way around Tel Aviv’s markets before feasting your eyes on art, architecture, and coastline views
e food in Israel is outstanding, created from the freshest fruit and vegetables and catering for sweettoothed locals and tourists alike with favourites like baklava and halva Avoid your hotel breakfast and head o to Carmel Market. Once there, weigh up whether your luggage has room for a selection of dried fruit –dates, prunes, gs, apricots, raisins, cranberries, peaches and mangoes are all good, then get distracted by a dozen-plus varieties of olives. While you decide, have a boureka, a baked pastry with a variety of llings though most o en a combination of cheese, spinach, potato and mushrooms. You can buy for take away and eat while you walk or nd
a café – Kiortosh (11 HaCarmel Street) is a good bet, and you can watch the baking taking place through the window. kiortosh.co.il
Close to Carmel is another market, running along Levinsky Street. It o ers a similar range of produce to Carmel market, but with perhaps a greater emphasis on spices – check out the Tavlinsky store (tavlinsky. co.il) – as well as Iranian food. If you are thirsty, try Gazoz Cafe at 41 Levinsky. ‘Gazoz’ means sparkling water, but here it is taken to a di erent level, with a range of so drinks created by charismatic entrepreneur, Benny Briga. Fizzy water (soda or seltzer, in other words) combined with fruits – both fresh
and fermented, plus spices, herbs and homemade syrups, served over ice. bennybriga.com
3 YEMENI BREAD
Yemenite Jews immigrated to Israel in various waves throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, eventually numbering 400,000 in Israel. e largest in ux was in 1949 when a series of airli s – eventually known as Operation Magic Carpet – brought some 50,000 Yemeni Jews to Israel in just a few months. Today the area where many settled is known as the Yemenite Quarter (Kerem HaTeimanim), and there is nowhere better to taste some lahoh, a sort of spongy Yemeni bread, not unlike thick pancakes, baked on the spot with a variety of llings. Aim
for the Yemeni Bakery, and if you want an expert guide for these markets, try local company the Eager Tourist. eagertourist.com
Tel Aviv is a modern city, with origins in the 1920s and 1930s and with a noticeable Bauhaus and International Style to its central commercial and residential area. Visit the Esther Cinema, now the Cinema Hotel, on Dizengo Square. is was designed by female architect Genia Averbuch (born in Ukraine), who won a competition for the design of the square and surrounding buildings in 1934. Tel Aviv was declared a UNESCO site in 2003, and ever since the ‘White City’ has been marketed as the place where European
architects came to create a new world free from persecution. It’s actually a more complicated and political story, so drop into the Bauhaus Center. ey have guided and self-guided audio tours, books, maps, posters, tea towels and models – perfect for presents for those back at home. bauhaus-center.com
Tel Aviv has a burgeoning art scene, and a visit to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art is a must. ere are also dozens of private galleries where you can view art for sale, with more opening every year. One new gallery is Nassima Landau, established by a former curator of both the Israel Museum and the Tel Aviv Museum, and Steeve Nassima, a collector and
expert on the works of Yayoi Kusama. Its exhibitions present contemporary international art in several rooms, a short walk from the shaded cus tree-lined Rothschild Boulevard. nassimalandau.com
Tel Aviv is best known for its beach, and whatever the time of year a walk along Shlomo Lahat Promenade is a real eye-opener. ere are openair gyms on the beach, but better to watch others playing beach volleyball while you nd somewhere serving drinks to watch the sun set into the Mediterranean and plan your next day. If you still have energy, you could head ten minutes south and check out the night markets of Ja a, or perhaps leave that for another day…
The end of last year saw a series of historic milestones for Saudi Arabia, ensuring tourism fulfils its enormous potential as a driver of sustainable and inclusive development.
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WWTC), one of the most influential travel and tourism events in our industry’s calendar, hosted its Global Summit in Riyadh for the first time. Hundreds of delegates from the public and the private sector convened to discuss the theme of ‘Travel for a Better Future’ and align on collaborative efforts towards a safer, resilient, and sustainable tomorrow. The forum’s action-packed agenda was a natural extension of the kingdom’s transformative strategies like Vision 2030, providing a crucial platform to connect government ambitions with private sector capacities. Players from across tourism, aviation, hospitality, business, and finance pledged to not just act locally, but create positive ripples well beyond the country’s boundaries.
Last year was also when great strides were made in addressing the climate emergency, with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Salman, announcing contributions worth US$2.5 billion to the Middle East Green Initiative over the next 10 years. As discussions at WTTC revealed, this endevour will be integral to promoting green investments in the tourism sector so that sustainability is no longer an afterthought but a top priority, and charting a future where innovative solutions in renewable energy, eco-hospitality, circular economy technologies, automated systems, and smart mobility become the new norm.
The announcement followed similar investments earmarked for the kingdom’s travel tourism sector valued at US$800 billion, providing even greater opportunity to realise the industry’s unique potential to drive the sustainability agenda. This rate of development, supported by plans to grow annual visitors to 100 million and accelerate revenues from 3 per cent of GDP to 10 per cent, not only reflects national ambitions to become one of the top five tourist destinations in the world, but also its accelerated and determined efforts towards responsible tourism.
This approach was most evident in recent mandates to target net zero emissions by 2060 – a steppingstone to not only ensuring we preserve and maintain the destinations we are developing, but also taking it a step further towards regeneration. The target helps place the
kingdom at the heart of international efforts towards environmental targets, including the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the circular carbon economy (CCE) targets to manage greenhouse emissions across the world.
Armed with these ambitions, particular attention is being placed on eco-conscious travellers who not only have a thirst for new experiences but are increasingly aware of their impact on delicate ecosystems and communities. Successful destinations of the future, as we explored at WTTC, must both meet these evolving demands and empower visitors through eco-education and hands-on experiences to help them understand their role in the bigger picture.
If we pivot and direct growth in the right way, we can help save the planet by identifying key sustainable values, having the right policies, governance, and measurement structures in place, while embracing technology and data.
With so many global uncertainties, it is all too easy for sustainability to slip down the agenda. But it is our collective responsibility that must prevent this from happening.
Particular attention is being placed on ecoconscious travellers who have a thirst for new experiences
How Saudi Arabia is implementing the WTTC’s Global Summit’s theme of ‘Travel for a Better Future’ within its growth strategyTRACY LANZA
Wild beauty and a sense of danger are attracting groups to explore Iceland’s sustainable MICE offerings
Headlights on, and nerves on edge, we clambered down the crevasse into the 900m-long dark underbelly of Iceland. We were visiting a 2,000-yearold lava cave located in the lunar-like landscape of the Reykjanes Peninsula. Its name – Leidarendi – translates as ‘the end of the road’, but thankfully our down-to-earth (pun-intended) tour guides from Iceland Travel were practised at putting us at ease. Soon enough we were confidently crouching and using our senses to navigate the jagged and slippery terrain, passing by stalactites and even a sheep skeleton along the way.
“We inspire awe when we bring people out here,” project manager Mathieu Tari explained, before convincing us to turn off our headlights and soak in the absolute blackness and solitude of the subterranean tunnels. Since the pandemic there has been an increase in such requests, with these experiences proving popular with incentive groups keen to distance themselves from screens and return to Earth’s roots. “It’s much more about experiencing the country as a natural object. People want time to breathe in the nature,” he adds.
FAR LEFT: Geothermal activity across the Reykjanes Peninsula
TOP LEFT: Exploring an ancient lava cave
TOP RIGHT: Soaking up the mineral goodness of the Sky Lagoon
We warmed our hands on steam rising from the moss while gazing silently at the landscape
We subsequently jumped on quad bikes and drove across the wild terrain (described as ‘the playground’) to reach Eldvorp, a 10km row of craters located northwest of Grindavik on the Reykjanes Peninsula, where we warmed our hands on steam rising from the moss while gazing in silence at the landscape. Our faces were clearly very expressive, however, with Tari telling us that “experiencing [Iceland] through visitors is amazing”.
If the notions of caving and being thrown around in a jeep don’t excite you, Reykjavik also has plenty to offer to the risk averse. With its volcanic terrain comes hot geothermal springs, where you can take a break from daredevil activities. Instead, enjoy a cleansing mud mask and a pint of Gull beer in the mineral-rich waters of the well-known Blue Lagoon, or its recent deluxe addition the Sky Lagoon, which offers a seven-step ‘Ritual’ – recommended for those recovering from one too many late-night shots of the Icelandic spirit Brennivin.
The jewel of the city Iceland is widely regarded as a bucket list destination, though the locals tell me that this interest blew up, quite literally, with the famous Eyjafjallajökull eruption in 2010 – Iceland’s best “PR stunt” yet, the tour guides joke in their typically dry Icelandic humour. Prior to this event, the country saw approximately half a million tourists annually, but by 2017 this figure had surpassed the two million mark.
This rapid growth in visitors begs the question as to whether Reykjavik is prepared for large-scale meetings, conferences and events. Harpa, the state and city-owned cultural and conference centre, has “really been a gamechanger” in terms of putting Iceland on the MICE map, according to its director, Svanhildur Konradsdottir.
Open since 2011, the scintillating geometric structure, inspired by the country’s basalt landscape, hosts approximately 1,200-1,400 events per year, 700 of which are cultural events. It is home to the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, Icelandic Opera and Reykjavik Big Band, and its post-pandemic calendar is looking incredibly busy. “There has really been an avalanche of events and we have a very strong booking position
throughout the year and next year as well,” says Konradsdottir.
As I toured the centre it became clear why this was the case. Aesthetically, it is mesmerising. Designed by Henning Larsen Architects and Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson, the façade features 10,000 glass panels in various shapes, pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle – the idea being that the exterior reflects different vistas as the atmospheric sky changes. It also has state-of-the-art acoustic technology (‘Harpa’ translates to harp) and there are a variety of spaces to choose from – whether that be the impressive concert hall, the ‘pizza slice’ rooms with mountain views, or the split-level space at the pinnacle of the building with views of the city’s lively harbour.
The challenge facing companies is the cost. How can businesses justify
such an expensive location for MICE? That’s where the country’s environmentally friendly credentials come in. Most companies are looking to reduce their carbon footprint and Iceland is a great destination to fulfil such criteria.
“I think Harpa is in a very strong position even though it costs a bit more to get here than having your event next door,” explains Konradsdottir. Harpa is entirely heated and cooled by geothermal energy, and recently received the Nordic Swan accreditation for its event operations. LED lights were installed in the halls and public spaces in 2021, while heat from the halls is rechannelled towards the front of the building to warm the open public spaces.
“We are looking at the situation in Europe and we are concerned like everyone else about the economic situation and the challenges when it
comes to energy costs. At the moment, at least, it’s not an issue that we have in Iceland,” explains Konradsdottir. The city is powered by 100 per cent sustainable energy, with all homes and businesses heated by hydro and geothermal energy. Its location between mainland Europe and North America also makes it a prime meeting place for international companies, with the added benefit of fewer air miles. “Iceland is definitely a very valuable and interesting location for international events that are transatlantic,” Konradsdottir tells me. Beyond this, the country ranks highly in matters of equality and human rights, achieving first place in the Global Gender Gap Index and the Global Peace Index among other important titles – further enhancing its attractiveness to high-level officials and businesses. Many of the events held at Harpa “are associated with issues close to the Icelandic heart”. This includes annual events such as the Arctic Circle Assembly, which sees 2,000 participants discuss the future of the Arctic and the planet, and The Reyjkavik Global Forum, which focuses on gender equality.
The final hurdle for the city is the provision of suitable accommodation. It has made strides in this department, with the recently opened Reykjavik Edition (a Marriott brand) marking a new era for luxury stays in the Icelandic capital.
Harpa is entirely heated and cooled by geothermal energy
This 311-room hotel is part of the Islands Hotel collection, which comprises 18 three- and four-star hotels across the country. This property offers over 1,950 sqm of event space, which includes 11 meeting rooms and a total capacity of 800 people. It is currently undergoing an expansion,
which will see the addition of 120 guest rooms and ten function spaces within a new eight-storey tower. The collection has six further hotels in the capital. islandshotel.is
This 251-room hotel in central Reykjavik has 17 function spaces with a wooden chalet feel, including a 530 sqm conference hall and a 440 sqm pre-function/ exhibition space. It can host meetings of up to 650 guests
in the main function space and banqueting area. Further facilities include an executive lounge, along with excellent seasonal Nordic cuisine –particularly the lunch buffet at Vox restaurant, and an on-site spa. hilton.com
This 163-room hotel opens on December 20, and is located next door to Althing, the Icelandic Parliament. The property offers over 790 sqm of event space across six meeting venues, while further facilities include an executive lounge, spa and restaurant. hilton.com
ballroom with a pre-function space and a separate entrance. The hotel’s maroon-hued Sunset nightclub is also currently for event-use only and offers a pool table, retro arcade machines and a photobooth.
Additionally, the hotel’s suites with floor-to-ceiling glass windows can also be used as meeting rooms – recommended is the Ocean View Corner Suite with views of a working harbour, a sure way to quell your writer’s block.
Located opposite Harpa, this is the first five-star hotel in the city, boasting a sleek Scandi-style design, the first hammam in the city, and a rooftop overlooking the harbour. It has played an important role in providing the conference centre with the opportunity to attract a new kind of clientele. “Icelanders initially thought that luxury [clients] would come and then we would bring the properties. But first you need to have the product and then the clientele will arrive,” the hotel’s director of group sales Sigrun Gunnarsdottir
explains. This required training, too, to bring staff up to speed on the standard expected by luxury clients, notably those from North America who are members of loyalty programme Marriott Bonvoy. “The biggest differentiator between us and the competition is the service we offer. Icelanders are quite informal, not used to much service, but the extensive training has taken the experience to a new level,” she adds. In terms of event venues, the property has over 500 sqm of space, including three studios, a boardroom and a
■ Meet in Reykjavik meetinreykjavik.is
■ Business Iceland businessiceland.is
■ Harpa harpa.is
“Iceland has everything to easily answer the needs of clients,” Tari concludes. As the trip came to an end, it was difficult to find flaws in his conviction. Experiences here don’t feel manufactured, but rather draw on the country’s natural resources all the while respecting them.
As put by one of our tour guides, “we’re on an island that seems ready to explode at any moment. It puts some salt on the experience”. Indeed, our visit came after the eruption of Fagradalsfjall in August, which marked the first of its kind in the Reykjanes Peninsula for almost 870 years. “We run towards danger,” Tari says. The only question left to ask is: will you? I certainly recommend it.
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE LEFT: Hotel Reykjavic Grand, Iceland Parliament Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton; Hilton Reykjavik Nordica
Wrapped around a ord and surrounded by lush forests – with ski elds just 20 minutes away –Oslo is a city with nature on its doorstep. And, as you would expect from one of Scandinavia’s capital cities, minimalistic design from the past and present intrigues and impresses, even if o en utilitarian. Over the past few years, investment has been pumped into major cultural attractions, from museums to the glacier-shaped opera house, while existing cultural attractions and landmarks remain pristine.
e ‘Hygge’ lifestyle – creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying the good things in life – is fully embraced in Norway, from the glow of candlelight and traditional woollen clothing and blankets to long and leisurely dining, at breakfast, lunch and dinner, not to mention ord-bound activities including kayaking, swimming and shing that are popular all year round, whatever the weather. Here are ve Oslo experiences not to be missed.
On June 11 last year, the new National Museum opened in Oslo. e largest museum in the Nordics, it has a permanent exhibition of about 6,500 objects spanning design, arts and cra s, ne art, as well as contemporary art. Museum-goers can also see the most famous paintings by the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, including the iconic e Scream (1893) and Madonna (1894). Unlike most other European museums, it’s not at all crowded, so you can get close to these works without queuing. Close to the museum is the Nobel Peace Centre, a museum for the Nobel Peace Prize, revealing the ideas and thoughts of winners, as well as the imposing Oslo City Hall, decorated by great Norwegian art from 1900-1950, with motifs from Norwegian history, culture and working life.
nasjonalmuseet.no; nobelpeacecenter.org; oslo.kommune.no
From striking architecture and magnificent museums to sizzling saunas and glorious gastronomy, the Norwegian capital is a feast for the senses
A two-hour cruise of Oslo Fjord is a must – sightseeing tours depart from the city’s Anker Brygge area and sail past The Norwegian Opera and Ballet house, the Munch Museum and then navigate through sailboats, swimmers and kayaks around numerous pretty islands, some with beaches and another with the famous Dyna Lighthouse. There are plenty of photo opportunities, with every island dotted with wooden houses, large and small, as well as waterside huts. The boat also passes close to the peninsula of Bygdøy, housing the Maritime Museum and the impressive Fram Museum, housing the polar ship of the same name. Another option is to hop on a ferry to the main island, Hovedøya, with its lush forests, beaches and monastery ruins. It’s best to pre-book a fjord tour. I used the GetYourGuide app. getyourguide.com
The pine forests in eastern Oslo are ideal for skiing, cycling, hiking and swimming. Grünerløkka is a lively district on the river with charming shopping streets, cosy cafés and exciting eateries. Ekeburg Sculpture Park features works by artists including Salvador Dali and Damien Hirst as well as the highly recommended restaurant, Ekebergrestauranten. It overlooks the city and is where Munch found his inspiration for The Scream visitoslo.com
This trio of top attractions, on the doorstep of Oslo’s central station and virtually all next door to one another on the harbour, are cultural and architectural highlights. Take a walk on, around and inside the iconic Norwegian National Opera and Ballet house, designed in the shape of a glacier by the architectural firm Snøhetta AS. Winner of multiple international awards, its angled white exterior appears to rise from the water and visitors can climb onto its roof for panoramic views of Oslo and the fjord. Next door, The Deichman Public Library is a beautifully designed modern building worth visiting to relax, read, work, play chess, or have a coffee. It’s an Oslo gem where locals hang out. Another architectural masterpiece, the Munch Museum is the world’s leading destination for experiencing Edvard Munch’s life and art. You can also walk on top of its roof for a superb architectural experience, with wonderful city views to boot. operaen.no; deichman.no; munchmuseet.no
For a Norwegian foodie experience, book into Vaaghals for dinner, located in the Barcode area, serving traditional dishes and sharing platters with a cool and casual atmosphere (below). e restaurant celebrates ‘ski e’, an old tradition where food is passed around the table, with sharing plates made using fresh, locally sourced seasonal ingredients. e eight-course tasting menu is highly recommended. vaaghals.com
Whether you visit in summer or in the depths of winter, you can experience the urban sauna culture that has taken Oslo by storm. Get out your swimming gear and head to the promenade along the Oslo harbour for a oating sauna session followed by refreshing dips in the ord. Floating sauna operators include Kok Oslo. Finish o with a chocolate treat from Freia, located near Karl Johans Gate that inspired Norwegian-American author Roald Dahl’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. koknorge.no/kok-oslo/
Take a walking tour when you arrive to take in the main sights and buildings, get your bearings, and then decide where you would like to revisit.
Shop wisely because Oslo isn’t cheap. If you need to buy outdoor wear, you’ll find discount stores on the side streets around the main shopping area.
Try a classic Norwegian bun, Skolebolle, the Norwegian name for a type of sweet roll made from yeasted dough filled with custard and decorated with icing dipped in grated coconut. Wash it down with a co ee – the Norwegians know how to make a good one.
Considered as the place to stay, dine, relax and socialise in Oslo, this new five-star hotel, located in one of the city’s landmark buildings, is an urban retreat with a distinct design that pays homage to the Art Deco era
Those in the know stay and play at Sommerro, a new luxury hotel in the heart of Frogner, in Oslo’s West End. Since the property opened its doors in early September last year, it’s become the place to dine and socialise in the neighbourhood, with every venue packed with visiting guests ‘in the know’, as well as discerning residents. Even royalty love Sommerro, with the Norwegian Crown Prince, whose residence is close by, o en spotted hanging out at the property at the weekend, blending in with high-society gatherings where glasses clink, people chatter excitedly and live music entertains guests enjoying the good life.
With seven restaurants and bars and a café, it’s more a dining destination than a hotel, particularly as it’s housed in a treasured landmark – the former headquarters of Oslo Lysverker, the city’s original electrical company. is heritage has been beautifully preserved and revived, with the building transformed into an Art Deco masterpiece. e attention to detail is incredible – even the font used for signage is Art Deco.
e hotel features 231 rooms and suites, 56 branded residences, meeting and event spaces with a capacity for up to 150 people, a 100-seat gilded theatre, a wellness space and the city’s rst year-round roo op pool, sauna, and terrace.
In true Norwegian style, it is cosy and not pretentious, prioritising comfort, quality, simplicity, sustainability and above all, the feel-good factor. Here are some of the other highlights of the hotel:
Sommerro was designed as a community in its own right, which encompasses all aspects of its design. The hotel’s social spaces and six varied guest room categories, from snug Loft rooms to lavish Junior and Heritage suites, are embellished with opulent Art Deco details and lush textiles, including oak parquet flooring, custom-designed furnishings upholstered with 1930s Norwegian motifs, hand-knotted rugs, beds from innovative Swedish sleep brand Hilding Anders, and slick bathrooms with custom tiles. Rooms are practical too, featuring a handheld and rain shower – some have bathtubs – refillable glass water bottles, a steam press instead of an iron and an umbrella. Appealing to the GCC market there are plenty of suites with adjoining rooms.
Sommerro is home to the city’s only rooftop restaurant, Tak Oslo, a Nordic-Japanese venue by award-winning Swedish chef Frida Ronge featuring hyper-local, seasonal dishes using sustainable Norwegian produce and seafood. There are also outposts from local favourites Barramon, a Spanish tapas and wine bar, and Plah + Ahaan, one of the city’s most popular restaurants showcasing elevated cuisine by chef Terje Ommundsen. Ekspedisjonshallen, an all-day dining spot located in the former hall where the public once paid their electricity bills, comes to life with musical performances and a lively cocktail bar serving drinks inspired by the Roaring Twenties. Next door is the afternoon tea venue of Søstre where its tea is designed by British chef Jonathan Howell.
Sommerro is part of Nordic Hotels and Resorts, a collection of luxury properties, boutique hotels and conceptual resort destinations, as well as a member of Preferred Hotels and Resorts’ Legend Collection. Rates start from £215 per double room including breakfast. sommerrohouse.com
A wellness retreat with a difference
Vestkantbadet, one of Norway’s last remaining public baths from 1932, has been restored and reimagined as a subterranean urban wellness retreat. It features treatment rooms, original restored Roman baths, an infrared sauna, a gym, and a cold plunge pool offering a traditional Nordic thermotherapy experience. Sommerro is also reportedly the first hotel in the Nordics to offer specialist medical aesthetic treatments, along with a range of additional innovative therapies including laser therapy, Wim Hof-style cold water breathing technique sessions, nutritionist workshops, twoday electric sauna boat retreats on the fjord in partnership with Kok, masterclasses with a sleep expert, and a complimentary Why We Sleep book in the guestrooms.
Norway’s largest-ever preservation project
Sommerro has made a commitment to using quality green materials for products and services, sourcing sustainable seafood and local produce, and investing in relationships with some of Norway’s greenest businesses and creators. These include social entrepreneurship Sisters in Business which employs female immigrants who create textiles and repair broken items; sustainable footwear brand New Movements which provides shoes for all its staff as part of the uniform; and Røros Tweed which produces highquality wool products based on a centuries-old local crafts tradition. The hotel is powered by 100 per cent renewable energy, provides bikes for guests to rent, and offers EV parking with free charging – besides banning all plastic water bottles at the hotel.
Sommerro will open Villa Inkognito, an 11-suite retreat, in March 2023, housed in a former private residence dating back to 1870. It will have its own private entrance and offer the option to be rented in its entirety.
THE MALDIVES
Iconic scenes of overwater villas, turquoise-hued horizons that never end, curvaceous white beaches, and an unbelievable underwater world that leaves you feeling like you’re part of a David Attenborough documentary are all part of the appeal of the Maldives, but there’s even more to this country if you scratch beneath the surface.
People have been settling in the Maldives for 2,500 years, particularly from the Indian subcontinent, and the Maldivian language of Dhivehi has its origins in Sanskrit.
The garlanded islands sit on vital trade routes, making them a natural stopover for those transiting the world’s oceans. This includes Abdul Barakat Yoosuf Al Barbary, who introduced Islam to the island nation
in the 12th century, and whose tomb is a popular sightseeing spot in the small, densely-packed capital of Malé. As a Muslim country, the Friday Mosque in Malé is deemed the nation’s most important heritage site. It is one of the largest coral stone buildings in the world and has been in continuous use since 1658.
Over on the island of Kaashidhoo – about two hours from Malé by speed boat – one of the country’s largest archaeological sites reveals a Buddhist past, too. The excavated site of Kuruhinna Tharaagandu shows the ruins of an ancient Buddhist monastery complex, abandoned 900 years ago.
The place to tie everything together is the National Museum in Malé, built by China as a gift to the country. Among its treasures are examples of
the lacquer-work boxes for which the Maldives is famous, along with the minutes of the famous underwater cabinet meeting held by President Nasheed in 2009 to highlight the issues of climate change and its impact on the country – some predict it may even disappear by 2050, given the islands’ low-lying nature, with around 80 per cent of the landmass less than one metre above sea level.
The archipelago sweeps down 750km of the Indian Ocean with 1,190 coral islands lying within 26 ring-like atolls. Maldives’ population nudges in at just under half a million, and a third of its people live in Malé, with the rest of the population living on 200 ‘inhabited’ or ‘local’ islands – so-called to distinguish them from the 100 islands which house resorts. Nowhere else does the
Kuruhinna
Tharaagandu shows the ruins of an ancient Buddhist monastery complex
concept of ‘one-island, one-resort’ proliferate quite the way it does here, with everything from fun three-star options, to incredible ultra-luxury resorts with extravagant villas, top-notch dining, wow-factor wellness facilities and impeccable service, not to mention a plethora of underwater architectural feats – including suites, spas, wine cellars and restaurants.
As much as 99 per cent of the Maldives’ territory is water. Coral reefs provide natural protection for the islands, but they also bring the drama when it comes to diving and snorkelling, with brilliantly-coloured clownfish, triggerfish, lion fish and butterfly fish among the species darting in and out of these vast
underwater gardens. Resorts often have marine biologists onsite, who spearhead projects to monitor and protect underwater life such as coral propagation, which is something you can often get involved in.
The Manta Trust shows the Maldives is home to the largest recorded reef manta ray population in the world, and these stunning, graceful giants are best seen in Hanifaru Bay, a marine-protected area in Baa Atoll, now a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Or you might prefer the magical sight of spotting a hawksbill or green sea turtle, and several resorts collaborate with The Olive Ridley Project to help accelerate its work on turtle research and rehabilitation. One other magnificent sea-based pursuit is trying to witness bioluminescence, where the surf
They are some of the world’s most beautiful islands, but the appeal of the Seychelles and Maldives goes beyond picture-perfect views
sparkles and glows neon blue at night. The island of Vaadhoo in Raa Atoll is commonly named as one of the best places to witness this nocturnal phenomenon.
The Maldives might not be the first place you think of for surfing, but it is home to what’s billed as the “world’s most luxurious surfing event” – the Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy, held in August with a US$25,000 prize. The most popular surf spots are around North Malé Atoll, while Huvadhoo Atoll in the south also boasts some well-known surf points; it’s best to hit the surf between March and May, and September to November. December-April generally is the most reliable time weather-wise to visit the Maldives, but the country is also a year-round destination.
Fleets of seaplanes shuttle aweinspired travellers around the Maldives from a dedicated terminal in Malé to chosen resorts, usually
landing right next to the jetty of each; this scenic transfer can set you back anywhere from US$300 to US$900 for a round trip.
The country also has domestic airports serving various atolls, and while not as exotic, these scheduled flights can make for a more comfortable experience than the hot, cramped seaplanes. There are plenty of resort islands within an hour’s speedboat ride of Malé too, which makes for an easier arrival, so always consider the ‘getting there’ when you’re sizing up the myriad resorts and their locations.
These two destinations may share the Indian Ocean, but they offer very different experiences. The Seychelles is made up of much larger islands – 115 of them, either hewn from granite or built up from coral – and has a much more vibrant local vibe. There is a degree of ‘one-island,
one-resort’ here, but many of the country’s high-end hotels can also be found on the largest island, mountainous Mahé, which is home to the capital Victoria as well as the international airport.
The British named the city after Queen Victoria and it has enough hustle and bustle to warrant your attention for a short visit, including ‘Little Big Ben’, as the Clock Tower has become known – it’s actually a replica of one at Vauxhall Bridge in London – and the lively Sir SelwynClarke Market, with its colourful corrugated roofs, and stallholders selling everything from catch-of-theday to spices and souvenirs. Go there to mingle with the Seychellois who come to gossip and shop, or for an arty stop, make a visit to Kaz Zanana, a recently renovated gallery and café in a landmark 1900s building. Just as colourful as the market is the Arul
Mihu Navasakthi Vinayagar Temple, the country’s only Hindu temple.
Seychelles’ charm lies in its relaxed, laid-back way of life and its natural raw beauty, a landscape that remains largely untouched and barely discovered, with relatively few tourists compared to its regional cousins, and less than 100,000 people who call this piece of paradise home.
The second largest island is Praslin, home to several hotels and an airport, as well as one of Seychelles’ biggest claims to fame. It’s said to be where Arab merchants and pirates used to come and hide their treasure in the 18th century, but also where you will find the primordial Vallée de Mai, a UNESCO-listed natural wonder that is home to the coco de mer palms, known for their incredibly large seeds – the largest of all in
the plant kingdom, weighing up to 20kg. Another island, that is often considered sleepy, is La Digue: its laid-back, infinitely tropical vibe a magnet for those taking a break from the rat race. You might find yourself hopping on the back of an ox-drawn cart to get around, although this is slowly dying out with the introduction of electric buggies. Many countries may claim it, but Seychelles really does have some of the world’s best beaches, many looking as if a giant has dropped granite boulders into a bowl of flour and sprinkled them with bowing palms. Some of the finest examples on Mahé range from the ever-popular Beau Vallon, to the quieter Anse Intendance in the south, while one of the country’s most iconic is Anse Source d’Argent on La Digue.
Seychelles was not really settled by humans until the 18th century, and many of the islands are still uninhabited. Society here has its roots mainly in Africa, with French, Canadian, Chinese and Arab influences; locals speak English, French and Creole – greet people with ‘Bonzour’ in the morning, and you might win a smile in return. A fun time to see the country come alive is October, when Creole crafts, music, dance and delicious cuisine is celebrated during Festival Kreol. One of the many features of creole culture is Moutya, a dance that was added to UNESCO’s list of intangible heritage in 2021, becoming the first cultural tradition of the island nation to receive such recognition. Brought to Seychelles by African slaves who
arrived with French settlers, it was used as a psychological comfort in their harsh lives, as they would come together to dance, drum and sing at the end of a hard day’s work.
One prized place is Aldabra Atoll, home to as many as 150,000 eponymous giant tortoises, the world’s largest population of this reptile. Aldabra is around 1,120km from Mahé and, thanks to its isolation, has been protected from human influence with access to this UNESCO World Heritage Site still tightly restricted, but there are a few cruise options that could get you there. Also nearby, however, are the Astove and Cosmoledo atolls, which are achingly beautiful, like an other-worldly paradise, and more easily accessible. Beaches, culture and nature – the Seychelles has it all.
You might find yourself hopping on the back of an ox-drawn cart to get aroundCLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Beau Vallon beach in Mahé; Aldabra giant tortoise; Arul Mihu Navasakthi Vinayagar Temple
The future of Abu Dhabi through the lens of key projects across its retail, transport, cultural and hospitality landscapes
MUSEUMS
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
e stunning Louvre Abu Dhabi which opened in 2017 remains one of the emirate’s cultural highlights. ere are several other highpro le museums currently being built in Abu Dhabi. ese include the Natural History Museum and the Zayed National Museum. As of October last year, the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) and Miral said that around a fourth of the construction on the Natural History Museum was completed and it was estimated to open in 2025. Highlights at that museum include Stan, the 11.7m-tall Tyrannosaurus rex, and also the Murchison meteorite which contains particles dating back seven billion years.
e Zayed National Museum meanwhile will illustrate the story of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Founding Father of the UAE, and will also showcase the human and natural history of the UAE. A highly anticipated opening though is the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi which will be dedicated to modern and contemporary art and is expected to open in 2025. e US$1 billion museum is designed by Frank Gehry and will reportedly consist of 28 galleries spread over 11,600 sqm. e Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will also feature an additional 23,000 sqm of exhibition spaces within the cones and terraces that make up the structure of the building.
Of all the transport projects currently underway in the UAE, Etihad Rail which will serve as a national cargo and passenger rail network connecting the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, is perhaps the most eagerly anticipated. Operating at a speed of 200kph, the passenger services will connect 11 locations within the UAE including Ruwais, Al Mirfa, Fujairah, Sharjah, Al Dhaid and Abu Dhabi. e train can, in theory, travel from Abu Dhabi to Dubai in 50 minutes, and from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah in 100 minutes. By 2030, more than 36.5 million passengers are expected to use this railway network annually. In September last year, Etihad Rail and Oman Rail signed an agreement to build a US$3 billion passenger and freight railway line that connects Abu Dhabi with Sohar located to the north of Muscat.
In a country that has constructed some of the world’s largest and most architecturally impressive malls, it’s a tough ask to build a retail space that still amazes. But that’s the brief that the upcoming Reem Mall in Abu Dhabi seems to be following. Located on Reem Island, the US$1.2 billion Reem Mall will, upon completion, feature 85 dining options and over 450 stores spread across 2 million sq of retail space. Last year, while work was still progressing on the mall, a Carrefour hypermarket opened within it. e highlight of the mall though will be the Snow Abu Dhabi attraction which is being touted as one of the world’s largest snow parks. Expect 12 rides and 17 attractions spread across 10,000 sq . e temperature will be maintained at 2ºC, and the slopes will be covered in 500mm thick snow.
A total of 4.1 million hotel visitors stayed in Abu Dhabi hotels last year, a 24 per cent year-on-year increase. Hotel revenues climbed by 23 per cent from the previous year to reach Dhs5.4 billion in 2022. ere are several hotels in Abu Dhabi that cater to a wide variety of tastes – from island resorts and those located amidst wildlife, to themed hotels and others built next to some of the emirate’s most popular attractions. An exciting upcoming hotel which is scheduled to open this year on the private Al Nawras Island in Abu Dhabi is Hilton’s LXR Hotels and Resorts brand. e all-villa resort will o er 80 beach and water villas, as well as a 450 sqm, two-bedroom Royal Villa surrounding a golf course. Further down the line, in 2026, the Robert De Niro-backed Nobu Hospitality will be bringing its famous restaurant, beach club, branded residences and a 165-key hotel to the emirate. Aldar Properties has partnered with Nobu Hospitality to open this project on Mamsha beach on Saadiyat island, which is a part of Saadiyat Grove.
Sound and light installations, multi-media content and even curated cocktails will all feature as part of an upcoming exhibition by Jaeger-LeCoultre in Dubai that will explore the link between celestial complications and watchmaking
LEFT: Guillaume Marmin’s Passengers: Through Time installation
CLOCKWISE FROM BELOW: Guillaume Marmin; The objects which will be on display in The Stellar Odyssey exhibition; Jaeger-Lecoultre
Master Hybris
Artistica Calibre 945
There are several timekeeping complications that are inspired by what you’d find in the sky. The moonphase calendar is perhaps the one that we’re most familiar with, whereas there are other more complex ones such as equation of time watches.
Celestial complications aren’t new to Swiss watchmaker JaegerLeCoultre. Its Atmos clocks, for example, some of which feature complex sky charts as well as its wristwatches like the Reverso Hybris Mechanica Calibre 185 which has four faces, and 11 complications including incredibly complex lunar displays, demonstrate the maison’s robust familiarity and expertise in correlating celestial complications with watchmaking functions.
To enunciate its expertise in this space, the Vallée de Joux-based watchmaker is bringing its The Stellar Odyssey exhibition to Dubai this month. The exhibition debuted at Watches and Wonders last year, and
will now tour major cities around the world, with Dubai being its first stop. The exhibition will be held from February 4-23 on a floating pavilion at the Dubai Fountains with the Burj Khalifa as its towering backdrop.
“It is an important part of our mission at Jaeger-LeCoultre to share the secrets behind the art and craft of watchmaking with the wider world by bringing our manufacture from the Vallée de Joux to the public around the globe,” says Catherine Rénier, CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre. “The ancient cultures of the Middle East played a seminal role in the origins of time measurement, and we are therefore delighted that Dubai is where the world tour of The Stellar Odyssey makes its debut.”
The Stellar Odyssey’s main exhibition pavilion will explain astronomical-inspired watchmaking across eight distinct chapters
such as the origins of time and the impact of celestial phenomena on the way we measure it. The remaining chapters will also showcase rare historic watches as well as timepieces from recent collections that showcase how Jaeger-LeCoultre continues to reinterpret that theme in its current novelties. Furthermore, a geodesic dome in the main pavilion will display five episodes of an immersive digital show that attempts to unravel the origins of our universe.
Also within the exhibition space is Atelier d’Antoine, named after the Jaeger-LeCoultres’ founder Antoine LeCoultre, which will conduct handson workshops based on the themes of astronomical complications.
The Stellar Odyssey exhibition will be about more than just watches. It will showcase the work of two artists –French multi-media artist Guillaume Marmin and mixologist Matthias Giroud. These two artists collaborated with Jaeger-LeCoultre as part of the
latter’s Made of Makers programme which works with artisans and artists outside the field of watchmaking.
“Through Made of Makers we are looking for different perspectives on how the practices of watchmaking, art and other creative disciplines can bring value to lived experiences,” says Rénier, “We seek out artists from disciplines as diverse as gastronomy, music and digital art, who harness great imagination to meticulous artistic processes, creating works that expand our minds, challenge our senses and trigger strong emotions.”
For The Stellar Odyssey, Marmin created an entirely new chapter of his previous installation, Passengers The second chapter, Passengers: Through Time, focuses on celestial and astronomical observations, offering its visitors – or in this case “passengers” – a chance to explore the links between time, space and light, set against the fascinating concept of the theory of relativity.
The planning of Marmin’s Passengers: Through Time installation reportedly included extensive consultation between himself and the Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics of Grenoble to help identify and model the relationship between time and the cosmos.
Dubai will be where Marmin will debut this new installation which consists of a kinetic device within a walk-through capsule that offers up visual and sound cues as “passengers” question and understand the relationship between time and the cosmos. “With its focus on the future, Dubai is a remarkable city – and this is expressed in a vibrant local art scene, which is very open to new ideas, genres and forms of expression,” says Rénier on the decision to debut his work in the Dubai exhibition. “It’s hard to imagine a better place to present this work by Guillaume for the first time.”
Marmin’s exhibition will be kept relevant as it travels around the world. Following its debut in Dubai, as The Stellar Odyssey exhibition tours the world, its visual and sound content will be altered and aligned with the solar and lunar calendars as well as the geographical coordinates of the exhibition’s location to ensure the exhibition is tailored to that site
Alongside Marmin’s exhibition, mixologist Matthias Giroud has created a special menu of original soft cocktails which Jaeger-LeCoultre says are “inspired by the cosmos, taking his inspiration from the colours, temperatures and forms of the stars and planets, and blending familiar ingredients with intriguing scents and flavours from the Vallée de Joux.”
Open to the public for free, this multi-sensory exhibition is bound to add another dimension of intrigue and wonder to those fascinated with the relationship between watchmaking and the skies above.
Jaeger-LeCoultre will conduct
The Stellar Odyssey exhibition from February 4 to February 23 at the Dubai Fountain in Downtown Dubai
ABOVE: Mixologist Matthias Giroud
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EXCLUSIVE PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES, PHOTOGRAPHY AND TIMEPIECES FROM AWARD-WINNING INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS
Shadab Khan
Sculpture by Armin Shahhosseini
Photograph by Mahsa Namvar
BACKGROUND The Metropole opened in 1901, although it has changed names for substantial periods since then and has been completely rebuilt, albeit in the style of the original hotel, and subsequently expanded. As an example, the 135-room Opera Wing and an o ice tower were completed in 1996, with the o ice block converted into guestrooms in 2008, bringing the total to 364 rooms and suites. At present, however, the heritage Metropole Wing is closed until at least 2024 for renovations, and so the room inventory is currently 255. The ‘Legend’ part of the hotel’s title indicates it has an illustrious history, which it certainly does, complete with a bunker under the hotel dating back to the Vietnam War. A free 30-minute hotel history tour is conducted every afternoon at 5pm. It’s worth noting there are a lot of stairs in this hotel, and getting from one part of the hotel to another can be cumbersome.
ROOMS I was in a Premium room in the Opera Wing (32 sqm). The rooms need refurbishing, unfortunately. There are no USB charging ports and a power point on only one side of the bed. There was also no co ee machine, just sachets of Nescafe and teabags. On the plus side, the light switches were simple to operate with easily controllable master switches. There was also a sizeable desk for working, a walk-in wardrobe, and the windows could be opened (after deactivating the child lock). The rooms have air conditioning, but it was very slow to chill the room. The small bathroom had a shower accessed by stepping into the bath, but there were full-size Balmain toiletries on the wall. Executive rooms get access to the executive lounge also on the seventh floor, but compared to most executive lounges it is very nineties in both design and o ering, though I liked the atmosphere created by the pianist in the evening.
A bunker under the hotel dates back to the Vietnam War
WHERE IS IT? In Hanoi’s French Quarter and in the heart of the commercial and business district. Noi Bai International airport is a 45-minute drive away.
WHAT’S IT LIKE? Very traditional. Dark wood floors, rotating ceiling fans, liveried sta and lots of prints displaying fascinating stories from the past and famous former guests. There are two lobbies, though the Opera Wing lobby is the one (mainly) being used while renovations are ongoing. There are two banks of lifts either side of a stairway, though as one of these is for sta , you can sometimes wait quite a while. There are seven floors in the Opera Wing, with the Executive Floor at the top.
FOOD AND DRINK The hotel has an outstanding arsenal of restaurants and bars, and ironically, the refurbishment of these venues showcases what the hotel could be if it was thoroughly updated. Le Beaulieu o ers French gastronomy in a gorgeous room, while adjoining it is the Parisian-style pavement bistro La Terrasse for streetside snacks and refreshments. Breakfast in Spices Garden was sub-standard for a hotel of this tier. Angelina, formerly an Italian restaurant, now serves Australian and US food and has an impressive double-height bar. The Bamboo Bar by the pool is quiet, relaxing and feels like you could be at a resort instead of in the middle of the city.
MEETINGS There is a conference and business centre on the upper ground floor of the Opera Wing, with three boardrooms and secretarial services. The hotel also has larger event spaces, including Thang Long Hall (catering to 120), L’Orangerie and the 100 sqm garden Le Balcon.
LEISURE The Le Spa du Metropole has eight rooms decorated in “Indochine” style (treatments start from around US$95 for one hour). The SoFit gym is open 7am-11pm
but to get there you have to take a lift down to the lobby, walk past the restaurants and meeting facilities, back outside and then finally enter the spa – not easy in slippers and a robe. The outdoor pool is an idyllic setting.
VERDICT This hotel has an enviable history, but new renovations would be welcome. Until then there is the nostalgia and excellent service, as well as Le Beaulieu restaurant.
Tom OtleyBEST FOR
A meal at the refurbished Le Beaulieu restaurant
DON’T MISS
The complimentary tour of the hotel’s bomb shelter
PRICE
Internet rates for a Premium room with breakfast in February start from US$375 including tax and surcharges
BACKGROUND It’s Radisson’s first beach resort in Dubai and was one of the brand’s biggest openings in the UAE last year.
WHERE IS IT? On Palm West Beach, the entire neighbourhood has an eclectic buzz to it with several beach clubs, fivestar properties and restaurants lining the promenade. The hotel’s location at the entrance to the Palm means it’s a quick and (mostly) tra ic-free access or exit if you’re heading towards the mainland.
WHAT’S IT LIKE? The four-star property keeps it low-key and informal, though classy. To one end of the modestlysized lobby whose floor is fitted with homely Terrazzo tiles are the reception desks and to the other are co-working communal spots. In between are hanging wicker pod chairs, a sofa-seating area and a grab-and-go café if you want a quick co ee or doughnut on your way in or out.
ROOMS The 14-floor property has 389 rooms that range from Superior rooms that fit two comfortably right up to a One Bedroom suite that can accommodate an entire family. There are also connecting room options if you are coming in larger groups. We stayed in the Premium room with sea views. We had brilliant views of the skyline of Dubai Media City, Dubai Marina as well as Ain Dubai. The room had a sofa bed as well as a writing desk with a round mirror above it. The wardrobes have limited space, but su ice if you’re checking in for the weekend. The bathrooms are fitted with refillable shampoo and body wash
Views from the hotel’s higher floors which look out towards the city’s skyline and the sea
The bu et breakfast has great options of Arabic and Mediterranean o erings
Internet rates in February start from Dhs930 for a Premium sea view room
Palm Jumeirah, West Beach, Dubai; +971 4 217 5555; radissonhotels.com
There are brilliant views of the skyline of Dubai Media City as well as Ain Dubai
dispensers, thankfully doing away with the tiny plastic bottles. There is the fact that the beach clubs nearby turn up the volume at night and even though our balcony door was shut, we could still hear the bass from David Guetta creeping into the room.
FOOD AND DRINK There are a handful of quirky dining establishments within this property. They include the colourful and flamboyant Black Flamingo bar and restaurant in the lobby and the more muted Latin-inspired Esco-bar too. The rooftop has the Tonino Lamborghini Mare Nostrum al fresco restaurant which pays homage to the Italian carmaker. The property also has an all-day dining restaurant, Palm Lounge, where bu et breakfasts are served.
MEETINGS On the same level as the Palm Lounge, are three meeting rooms. Two of these can be combined to accommodate up to 24 people. Wireless charging stations on the table, TV projection capabilities and full conferencing facilities are available in the meeting rooms.
LEISURE You could head to the hotel’s private stretch of beach just outside the hotel or the pool which is on the terrace outside the Palm Lounge. But the property’s highlight is its skypool with breathtaking views of the sea and which is an extension of the rooftop Tonino Lamborghini Mare Nostrum restaurant. Entry to it is chargeable for external as well as hotel guests. On the floor below is the gym which is open 24 hours a day as well as the spa which has six treatment rooms including a Moroccan bath.
VERDICT This is a functional hotel and one which is a great value proposition. Staying here, you get the feeling that this hotel feels very comfortable in its own skin and isn’t attempting to be anything but itself. It’s muted, classy and relaxed.
Varun Godinho
BACKGROUND One of Isrotel’s boutique brands, Isrotel Design, Alberto is quintessentially Tel Aviv. Opened just last year, it is also one of the brand’s newest properties and, without a doubt, its coolest as well in Israel’s ‘city that never sleeps’.
WHERE IS IT? In the heart of the city, the hotel is within reach of popular points of interest including the stock exchange, the beloved Carmel Market, the upscale Neve Tzedek neighbourhood and the magnificent Great Synagogue – a must-see for architectural design fans. Everything is on the hotel’s doorstep from bars, restaurants and cafés, to the beach too which is only a ten-minute walk away. It is located on Nahalat Binyamin, which is home to the weekend art and crafts market. On Friday and Saturday, tables spill onto the pedestrianised street which gets closed for Shabbat.
Luxurious and chic, the hotel with 98 rooms has an Art Deco feel to it
WHAT’S IT LIKE? Set in one of the city’s beautiful-renovated period properties, it is designed to recreate the sense of old meets new. Luxurious and chic, it has an Art Deco feel to it. With 98 rooms, it’s hard to feel the scale of the hotel which feels cosy, tucked between the small buildings of Nahalat Binyamin Street. With luxurious carpets, dark tones that add warmth to the property and elegant finishings, there has been much attention paid to details down to the paintings and even the beautifully tiled balconies with wrought iron railings.
ROOMS I stayed in the double room with a balcony, with a view straight across the street to the Great Synagogue’s iconic dome. The space in the room was small for two people and it had little floor space – typical of older buildings – but the room had a surprisingly large bathroom with a massive
shower and luxurious marbled finishing. One thing I loved was the toiletries in the shower were all in refillable dispensers, eliminating the need for single-use plastic bottles.
FOOD AND DRINK The hotel only o ers breakfast, which is a typically Israeli a air. The most important meal of the day in Israeli culture, it is always a colourful display of cheeses, salads, fresh breads and pastries and, of course, eggs. On Saturday, a vast bu et o ers a huge selection including cheesecake and smoked salmon, while during the week guests can have small tasters of the essentials (refillable) with à la carte options. The adorable hotel bar is also
Convenience – everything is on the doorstep making getting around very easy.
A walk down to Carmel Market, the city’s vibrant food market where fresh produce and cuisines from all over the world are available
Internet rates in February start from US$184 for a Double Room with a balcony
46 Nahalat Binyamin Street, Tel Aviv; +972 3 717 1515; isrotel.com
open all day until 9pm, a space reminiscent of the 1920s with a wide array of cocktails.
MEETINGS A small meeting room in the hotel (it can seat 12) makes for a convenient location to conduct business. Meetings held there can be catered for from the hotel bar.
LEISURE Guests have plenty to choose from including the Asfari spa and gym, as well as the rooftop pool and bar in the summer months. The spa has a wide range of treatments conducted across three rooms. The nearby beach is great for outdoor walks and runs. It comes alive with people running, walking and cycling every day from the early hours, and for those of us who run, is a must to feel the atmosphere as well as take in the views from the coast.
VERDICT I was extremely surprised by how much I loved this place. The location is fantastic and it has a huge amount to o er as far as the boutique concept goes. Isrotel really has done the homegrown brand proud. For people sensitive to noise, it may be busy due to its location, but I found the sound insulation in the room very good.
Melanie Swan
BACKGROUND The Waldorf Astoria opened in 2014. It was a completely new hotel at that date, although it is behind the façade of the former Palace Hotel, which opened in 1929 and closed in 1935. The Palace Hotel had just three storeys, while this one has a larger block behind it which is nine storeys high, and with three storeys beneath, including one for parking. In a passageway on one of the subterranean levels you can see some ‘before and after’ pictures to appreciate the extent of the rebuilding. Across the road is another building with 30 Waldorf Astoria residences.
WHERE IS IT? On the corner of Gershon Agron and Ben Shim’on streets near Malmilla shopping mall, which gives access to Ja a Gate and the Old City. It is a ten-minute drive from the train station, from where there are fast trains to Tel Aviv airport.
WHAT’S IT LIKE? When you enter the hotel the reception desk is to the right and is smaller than you’re expecting. Instead there’s a lobby then a circular staircase, similar to the one in the old Palace Hotel, with some original marble on the floor. There is also a central free-standing clock with four faces, with di erent numerals (Hebrew, Arabic, English and Roman) to reference the di erent faith traditions and architectural styles in the city. The hotel is arranged around a central atrium which is designed to do the same, as the balconies
Rooms have dark wood furniture, crystal chandeliers and a very comfortable bed
giving on to the room corridors have di erent style arches. The first storey balcony has rectangular arches (Jewish), then ‘Christian’style arches and then Arabic ones as it rises towards the glass roof. Throughout the hotel there are some impressive chandeliers and bespoke glass ornamental sculptures from Czech design firm Lasvit, though the ones in the Grand Ballroom are from Swarovski.
The sta are extremely well-trained, both in terms of language (including excellent English) and with unrivalled levels of patience with a minority of guests who were, on the evidence of my stay, very rude.
ROOMS The hotel has 226 rooms in total with 27 suites and two presidential suites. There are a few rooms at 37 sqm but the majority are 40 sqm, including 154 rooms which are either Deluxe or Superior in either a twin or king bed set up. All rooms have a 46-inch HDTV and complimentary wifi. Rooms have either Salvatore Ferragamo Tuscan Soul or Ahava amenities, although I think these are gradually being replaced by Aesop under a global deal signed this year. The rooms are traditionally furnished with dark wood furniture, crystal chandeliers, a very comfortable Waldorf Astoria bed with Serta mattress and lovely linen (the beds seem to get changed daily).
Bathrooms have heated Italian marble floors, a mirror embedded TV, a bath and shower stall with a marble bench. There are cotton bathrobes, an espresso co ee machine, and the bu et breakfast is included in the room rate.
The room categories then rise to the 40 sqm King Deluxe rooms (there are 40 of these) which,
with a balcony measuring another 20 sqm, are large and luxurious. King Grand Deluxe rooms are slightly larger at 42 sqm. Some family rooms (six of these) have connection options. Many of the suites have a separate bedroom and living room, two bathrooms and a balcony.
FOOD AND DRINK There are two main venues: King’s Court restaurant o ers lunch and has a bar with a good list of cocktails, while Palace Restaurant is where breakfast is served (a very extensive bu et) with the addition of an à la carte menu. In the evening this is the fine dining restaurant serving Mediterranean cuisine.
MEETINGS There are multiple meeting rooms one floor down from the main lobby, with seating of up to 500 for a banquet. There is a synagogue on a lower floor.
LEISURE There is a large swimming pool and a sauna as well as a Guerlain spa and a hair salon. There is also a fitness centre, although this is only open 7am-7pm daily (shorter hours on the sabbath).
VERDICT This is a traditional old-world luxury hotel with superb and attentive sta .
Tom OtleyBEST FOR
A step back in time behind the historic façade, yet with 21st century amenities
DON’T MISS
The bu et breakfast is opulent and delicious
Internet rates for a flexible stay in February start from US$810 for a King Deluxe room
BACKGROUND Fraser Suites is an extended-stay brand from Singapore-based serviced apartment and residence company Frasers Hospitality. This Paris property opened in 2004 and was followed by the Le Claridge property in 2006 – see our review at businesstraveller.com.
WHERE IS IT? On the outskirts of Paris in La Défense, the city’s business district. It’s at the eastern end of the district, opposite the motorway (A14) connecting the western suburbs to the city, and a couple of minutes’ walk from the Esplanade de La Défense metro station (Line 1). Guests can reach the hotel by taking the Passerelle de l’Aigle footbridge and following the signs to Fraser Suites, which is down some stairs and on the immediate left.
WHAT’S IT LIKE? The property is in a large white block with translucent blue balconies, and is part of a cluster of highrise hotels and serviced apartments, with a Citadines directly behind it and an Ibis and Novotel next door. As the entrance is beneath the footbridge, it’s quite shabby and deserted. The aparthotel feels very secure, however, with a keycard-operated gate. This takes you into a landscaped garden, with a small bridge to the front door.
The narrow lobby features a reception straight ahead, with a quiet lounge to the left and the bar/breakfast room and business corner to the right. Check-in is from 2pm and check-out at 12pm. There is a 24-hour
complimentary laundrette on the first floor, with washing powder already built-in.
ROOMS The 134 apartments are in three categories: 38 sqm Studio Deluxe, 50 sqm One Bedroom Deluxe and 70 sqm Two-Bedroom Deluxe apartments. All apartments feature green and blue furnishings and include well-equipped kitchens with a microwave oven, Nespresso co ee machine (with pods), kettle (with teabags), toaster, induction hob, a small dishwasher, complimentary soft drinks, and a glass bottle of filtered water. Amenities include a safe, iron and ironing board, umbrella, hairdryer, L’Occitane products, and a toothbrush and toothpaste.
Most apartments have balconies, providing plenty of natural light
The configurations of apartments di er but my One-Bedroom Deluxe apartment was very spacious, with a decent-sized bedroom, a small galley kitchen, a separate toilet, bathroom with a hand-held shower over the bath, and a large living area with a dining table, desk and sofa with a co ee table facing a flatscreen TV. Most apartments have balconies, providing plenty of natural light, though these are a little run-down.
The apartments are well-designed for work, with an ergonomic swivel o ice chair and lime green desks with built-in UK and
European plug sockets and two USB points. There are signs about sustainability, but nowhere to recycle my goods. I put them in a separate bag and told the cleaners, but they just put them in the bin.
My apartment’s air conditioning unit was broken and despite putting a ‘do not disturb’ sign on my door, I was interrupted during a work call, with sta telling me I should have departed (this was not the case).
FOOD AND DRINK
A bu et breakfast is served daily from 6.30am-10.30am (7am11am on weekends) on the ground floor, which is also home to Harmonie Bar (open 6.30pm-11pm). The bu et costs €20 per adult and takeaways can be arranged for €12 the night before. There’s a filtered water machine for refilling in-room glass bottles.
MEETINGS A business corner includes a Mac and complimentary printing services.
LEISURE There is a small 24-hour gym on the ground floor, to the right of the lifts.
VERDICT This property is in a good location, with great amenities for working, though some of the tech needs to be fixed.
Hannah BrandlerBEST FOR
Financial industry travellers in need of a spacious and functional apartment for work
DON’T MISS
A lunchtime stroll admiring the contemporary public art amid the high-rise towers
PRICE
Internet rates for a flexible stay in February start from €200 for a Studio Deluxe
CONTACT
6 Boulevard de Neuilly, 92400, Paris; +33 (0)1 55 23 26 26; frasershospitality.com
BACKGROUND It isn’t the case that there aren’t some great Thai restaurants in Dubai, but it’s a fair assumption to conclude that Thai food doesn’t have the same representation as steakhouses, Indian, French, Arabic and Mediterranean fare enjoy in the city. Thiptara, a Thai restaurant that has been on the culinary scene for a while now and is located in the Palace Downtown hotel, was recently closed for a four-month renovation. At the end of last year, it reopened with a new menu and refreshed look to the venue.
WHAT’S IT LIKE? When you enter the reception lobby of the hotel, take the lift down two floors and make your way through a lush green garden with a narrow path to the restaurant. It isn’t straightforward to locate the restaurant, but finding it as you navigate multiple paths is part of the charm.
THE VENUE When you enter the restaurant, you will notice muted lighting and interiors with dark tones. You can turn left for a more lounge setting area or right for a formal dining setup. Our advice: turn right and then continue walking out onto the alfresco overwater podium. You will find yourself seated on the Dubai Mall lake with
Sunday-Friday 6.30pm-2am; Saturdays 12.30pm-4pm; 6.30pm-2am
LOCATION
Palace Downtown, Downtown Dubai, Dubai
CONTACT
+971 4 428 7961; addresshotels.com
the dancing fountain performance (it takes place every 30 minutes in the evening) unfolding less than 100 metres from your table. Also, you will enjoy magnificent unobstructed views of the Burj Khalifa while you eat your meal.
FOOD AND DRINK There is a sharing style set menu or an à la carte option in case you want to make your own selection. We chose the latter and ordered the Tom
Kha which is a comforting warm coconut milk soup with seafood. The mixed platter of starters consisted of four items, each of which was served with its own sauce. The excellent chicken satay was served with peanut sauce, crispy duck spring rolls paired with white vinegar, fish cakes with soy and vinegar (an item which was just added to the starters list as part of the refreshed menu) and vegetable dim sum with chilli sauce. For the mains, we ordered the Thai green curry that was aromatic and flavoursome with its sweet basil leaf, as well as Goong Mung Kurn which was stir fried lobsters with cashew nut which we asked to be done with a pepper sauce. The portion sizes are very generous, and each dish is plenty enough to be shared between two people. For dessert, we stuck to classic Thai favourites of sweet sticky rice with Thai yellow mango, as well as water chestnut with coconut ice cream.
SERVICE The menu is extensive and it can be di icult to make a choice – luckily the waitsta are on hand to o er excellent suggestions. Apart from their menu recommendations, they are keenly aware of the photo opportunities that dining against the Burj Khalifa presents. As a result, they are more than happy to step up and o er to take your table’s picture while you are dining.
VERDICT This is a restaurant that serves great Thai food and certainly ranks among the restaurants with the best Burj Khalifa views in the city. If you want a venue that impresses as much as the food does, head here.
Varun GodinhoYou will enjoy magni cent unobstructed views of the Burj Khalifa
The Saadiyat Cultural District houses some of Abu Dhabi’s leading cultural assets such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi alongside the under-construction Zayed National Museum, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and Natural History Museum. Now, add to that mix teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi. Construction on the 17,000 sqm multi-sensory space is expected to conclude next year. The project is the outcome of a partnership between the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, Miral and Tokyo-based art collective teamLab. teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi will redefine the relationship that we share with art and the environment. The artworks that will be featured here will reportedly be “created and shaped by the environment” and will “evolve freely and organically, as if they were life-forms themselves”, thereby providing visitors with the chance to witness something new on each subsequent visit.
