Business Traveller Middle East - October 2023

OCTOBER 2023

businesstraveller.com

ACCESSIBLE RIGHTS

DESERT KITES

DEFINING TIMELESSNESS

PLUS

Facilitating seamless air travel for all passengers

Examining the mysterious structures in Saudi Arabia

CEO Jean-Christophe Babin discusses Bulgari’s strategy

Sustainable Traveller • Opinion • Technology

Hotel-branded residences you can own

COMING HOME

AIRSIDE

EXCLUSIVE PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES, PHOTOGRAPHY AND TIMEPIECES FROM AWARD-WINNING INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS

Photograph by Greg Newington

Painting by Ihab Ahmad

Sculpture by Ana Laserna Villa

CONTENTS

REGULARS

FEATURES

06 UPFRONT

22 ACCESSIBLE RIGHTS TAKE FLIGHT

The latest airline, hotel and travel news 12 SUSTAINABLE TRAVELLER

Best practices from across the region 14 GLOBAL NEWS

An update on international travel

32 INTO THE DESERT

26 HOTEL VIEWS

28 ELEVATOR PITCH

Exploring the capital city’s newest hotels, restaurants and cultural offerings

Ammar Samad, multi-property general manager at Element West Bay Doha 30 AIR MILES

Adam Golder, founder of K9 JETS 37 OPINIONS

How AI can play a central role in empowering the travel industry 52 LIFESTYLE

Practical and stylish travel-friendly laptop bags and briefcases 66 POSTCARD

A new equestrian village in AlUla

ON THE COVER

Making aircraft and the travel experience seamless for individuals with varying needs A new book from Assouline explores the phenomena of desert kites in Saudi Arabia

Nader Halim is the cluster general manager of three Hilton properties on Yas Island

COVER: CLARKWIN CRUZ

OCTOBER 2023

38 CELEBRATING LONDON

44 DEFINING

TIMELESSNESS

16

HEADING HOME

Major hospitality brands are offering an increasing number of luxury residences that you can own

In conversation with JeanChristophe Babin, the CEO of Bulgari

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48 THE ROAD TO KAZAKHSTAN

Luxury hotels to stay at when you travel next to the Land of the Great Steppe 50 SOUNDCHECK

22

Dyson enters the audio space with its all-new headphones – the Dyson Zone

THE REPORT ANNETTE BIRKENFELD/GETTYIMAGES; ERTH ARCHIVE

TRIED & TESTED FLIGHT

58 Air Astana A321 neo LR (business class) Bangkok–Almaty

TRIED & TESTED HOTELS

32

60 Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars 61 Vida Dubai Marina and Yacht Club 62 Nolinski Venezia, Venice

SMART TRAVELLER

64 Our guide to... hand luggage allowances

38

44 OCTOBER 2023

WELCOME

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e’ve all been in that dreaded situation where we’ve done everything possible to avoid checking out of a hotel after enjoying a relaxing weekend there. When the reception rings us on the landline for the first time to remind us that we have to leave the room, we blissfully ignore the call altogether. The second time the phone rings, we answer and feign ignorance of the time, expressing absolute shock that it is already noon and promise to check out in the next 30 minutes. It’s only once the third and final call comes through from reception politely asking if we’d like to pay an additional late check-out fee that we grudgingly ask them to instead send a member of the staff to collect our bags.

But what if we never have to check out? That question led us to our cover story feature this month (pg16) on hotel-branded residences which you can own. Some of these residences are co-located alongside luxury hotels and others are standalone properties. Earlier this year, we’ve seen examples of hotel-branded residences selling for in excess of US$100 million. Considering the phenomenal growth of the branded residential market in the region (sales totalled Dhs25.4 billion in Dubai alone last year), major hospitality groups from Accor to Marriott and Jumeirah are offering an increasing number of residential units with their names against it.

Elsewhere in this edition, we look at why air travel isn’t always conveniently accessible for differently-abled individuals and also the airlines making a deliberate effort to rectify this issue (pg22).

Within the destination and lifestyle pages of this edition, we cover London and its new hotels, restaurants, and cultural offerings (pg38). We also have a one-on-one interview with Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin on the management strategy and diversification efforts of the iconic Italian jeweller and watchmaker (pg44). As for tech geeks who are always seeking out the latest gadgets, consider Dyson’s newest headphones (pg50) that not only delivers great audio quality, but also has a function that purifies the air you breathe.

Find all of the above and much more over the following pages. Enjoy the issue.

Business Traveller Middle East is jointly published

by Motivate Media Group and Panacea Media Ltd MOT IVAT E ME DIA GROUP

Editor-in-Chief Obaid Humaid Al Tayer Managing Partner and Group Editor Ian Fairservice Editor Varun Godinho Art Director Clarkwin Cruz Editorial Co-ordinator Londresa Flores Contributors Tamsin Cocks, Iain Akerman, Melanie Swan, Amy Sessions, Camille Macawili, Allyson Portee, Dominic Keith, Hannah Brandler General Manager – Production S Sunil Kumar Production Manager Binu Purandaran Production Supervisor Venita Pinto Chief Commercial Officer Anthony Milne Group Sales Manager Chaitali Khimji Senior Sales Manager Murali Narayanan PANACE A ME DIA LT D

Managing Director Julian Gregory Associate Publisher Middle East Rania Apthorpe

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THIS ISSUE’S PICKS

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ACCESSIBLE TRAVEL Simplifying air travel for differently-abled individuals (Page 22)

DESERT KITES Exploring Saudi Arabia’s ancient mysterious structures (Page 32)

CELEBRATE LONDON New luxury hotels and restaurants in the capital city (Page 38)

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OCTOBER 2023

SPONSORED

The ultimate upgrade The Sheraton Grand Hotel Dubai has undergone a thorough refurbishment. Here are some of its key highlights

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he Sheraton Grand Hotel Dubai opened in 2014. The hotel located on Sheikh Zayed Road opposite the Dubai World Trade Centre underwent a massive refurbishment earlier this year. We checked-in to review some of its main upgrades.

The elegant and expansive lobby area was a hive of activity when we visited. There is an &More by Sheraton café on the left, and a series of couches near a communal workspace desk that facilitates co-working. The highly-trained staff made the entire check-in process effortless, courteous and swift.

As we made our way down the lobby towards the lifts, one set of elevators is reserved for the hotel’s serviced apartment guests – there are 180 one-three bedroom apartments between floors 32-51. Another set of elevators is dedicated to hotel guests and takes them to their rooms and suites between floors 7-31.

We made our way to the Grand Deluxe suite which was recently refurbished. The design is a smart combination of textures, fabrics, wood, leather, mirrors and glass. It has a spacious living room with a full-sized couch, large artwork, a dining table and floor-to-glass windows that not only flood the room with light, but also provide beautiful views of the Dubai Frame and Downtown Dubai. Key features include a new heightadjustable table in the room and also new upgraded 55-inch TVs that are Chromecast-enabled for easy pairing of devices.

A sliding panelled door leads to the bedroom with a king bed, hanging lamps by each side of it, a writing desk and plenty of storage space in the wardrobes. The refurbishment extended into the marble-clad bathrooms which feature dual washbasins, a standalone tub, and separate shower and toilet cubicles.

The upgrades at the hotel also focused on sustainability.

The Gilchrist and Soames toiletries are now kept in full-sized reusable dispensers rather than tiny plastic bottles. There are no single-use plastic drinking water bottles too – all of them have been replaced with glass bottles which are refilled at the hotel’s on-site bottling plant in the basement of the property.

Amenities at the hotel have been upgraded too – most notably its gym on the 53rd floor. The newly-renovated Sheraton Fitness centre now has wooden flooring, upgraded treadmills, and new Technogym and weightlifting equipment. The pool on the floor above has a shaded seating lounge for those who don’t want to sit on the seats along the water’s edge. There’s also an indoor spa bath alongside the spa available for hotel guests if you’d rather be indoors.

The highlight of the F&B options at the hotel is its Feast restaurant. Every Friday night, it organises a brunch that has live buffet stations representing the cuisines of ten countries. (Tip: Download Marriott’s More Cravings app and without any signup or membership fees you can get offers including 1+1 offers for the brunch). On Saturday nights, Feast organises a seafood buffet too.

Since our room had Club Lounge access, for breakfast, we headed to the Sheraton Lounge which had a great à la carte menu (it helps to significantly reduce food waste) with the likes of a full English breakfast, eggs shakshouka or foul mudammas, among other items on the list. There is also a spread of cheese, jams, bread, cereal and yoghurt that you can help yourself to while the breakfast is brought to you. &More Café on the ground floor meanwhile has a good selection of fresh salads, sandwiches and coffees – it also has a complimentary refill of still and sparkling water for guests who bring their own bottles.

Meeting facilities at the property include six meeting rooms on the second floor of the property, alongside a 360sqm ballroom.

Nearby, there’s a separate business centre with computer access and printing facilities available.

From thoughtfully designed rooms and leisure facilities to great F&B options and meeting venues, Sheraton Grand Hotel Dubai may be less than a decade old, but it certainly punches far above its weight.

3 Sheikh Zayed Road, Trade Centre, Trade Centre 1, Dubai; +97144 503 4444; marriott.com

OCTOBER 2023

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UPFRONT

Waldorf Astoria debuts in Egypt HILTON’S LUXURY HOTEL brand Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts has opened its first property in Egypt which also is its first in Africa. Waldorf Astoria Cairo Heliopolis is situated in the ancient city of Heliopolis, close to Egypt’s main presidential palace and a few minutes drive from Cairo International airport. The hotel features 252 deluxe rooms and suites. It has six meeting rooms and a ballroom that can accommodate up to 2,000 guests. The interiors of the hotel have been designed by London-based Adrian Barboza Design.

BANYAN TREE TO REPLACE CAESARS PALACE DUBAI

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ENNISMORE AND BANYAN TREE GROUP have agreed a deal with Dubai Holding to open a Banyan Tree Dubai property. Set to welcome its first guests in November 2023, Banyan Tree Dubai will be located on Bluewaters and will replace the existing Caesars Palace Dubai. Following a phased stage of brand specific changes at the property, the repositioned resort will feature 179 rooms, including 30 suites and a brand-new four-bedroom villa with its own private entrance, pool and beach. It will also include 96 private residences comprising one-four bedroom units with a dedicated lobby, outdoor swimming pool and access to the hotel’s facilities.

Abu Dhabi’s Terminal A to open in November ABU DHABI AIRPORTS has confirmed that its new terminal at Abu Dhabi International airport will open early next month. Known as Midfield Terminal Building during the construction phase, ‘Terminal A’ consists of 742,000 sqm of built-up area. Once operational, it will accommodate up to 45 million passengers per year. It will be able to process 11,000 travellers per hour and operate 79 aircraft at any given time. Etihad Airways said that it will gradually relocate its operations to the new terminal. Currently, live trials and testing exercises are underway at the terminal with nearly 6,000 volunteers stress-testing equipment, personnel and procedures across key operating points of the facility.

TERMINAL A

11,000

The number of travellers it can process per hour

45 million Annual capacity of passengers at the terminal

OCTOBER 2023

Marriott signs 13 properties in Türkiye

ROVE HOTELS BRINGS BRANDED RESIDENCES PROJECT TO DUBAI UAE-BASED ROVE HOTELS will bring its residential concept, Rove Home, to Dubai. Rove Home Downtown will be located within the Burj Khalifa district close to Dubai Mall. It will offer fully-furnished studios, one-, and two-bedroom apartments.

Rove has partnered with real estate investment and development company IRTH for this project. Earlier this year, Rove Hotels launched its Rove Home brand. The first Rove Home property will be located in Aljada, Sharjah.

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL has signed 13 deals for properties in Türkiye comprising more than 2,000 rooms. These include Fairfield by Marriott Istanbul Yenibosna, Residence Inn by Marriott Istanbul Yenibosna, Residence Inn by Marriott Istanbul Piyalepasa, Courtyard by Marriott Istanbul Piyalepasa, Marriott Executive Apartments Vadistanbul, Marriott Executive Apartments Istanbul Tema, Istanbul Marriott Hotel Pendik, Sheraton Hotel and Thermal Spa Usak, Delta Hotels by Marriott Istanbul Karakoy, Aloft Istanbul Karakoy, Moxy Izmir Turan, Tribute Portfolio in Taksim Square and an Autograph Collection Hotel in Cappadocia. Marriott currently has a portfolio of 48 properties and nearly 8,000 rooms across 21 brands within the country.

Etihad Airways appoints Katrina Kaif as brand ambassador UAE NATIONAL carrier Etihad Airways has appointed Bollywood superstar Katrina Kaif as its newest brand ambassador. The partnership between Etihad and Kaif is being played through a series of videos that have begun to be showcased across Etihad and Katrina’s social channels. The first video from the collaboration features Kaif on-board Etihad’s new A350 aircraft. Amina Taher, vice president of Brand, Marketing and Sponsorship at Etihad Airways, said, “With her remarkable journey and global recognition, we’re not only showcasing Etihad’s offerings, but also fostering authentic connections that genuinely resonate with Indian travellers and celebrating our commitment to India.”

Etihad currently serves eight Indian cities.

OCTOBER 2023

7

UPFRONT

The First Collection Waterfront will open in Dubai this year

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THE FIRST GROUP has announced the successful completion of The First Collection Waterfront in Dubai. The 327-key property, located on the Canal Boardwalk in Business Bay, is scheduled to welcome its first guests in Q4 2023. It is the third property under the group’s homegrown The First Collection hotel brand. The other two existing properties under that brand include The First Collection at Jumeirah Village Circle and The First Collection Business Bay. Meanwhile, The First Group is also gearing up to open the world’s tallest hotel – Ciel – in Dubai next year.

AlUla to get Autograph Collection hotel MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL will open an Autograph Collection property in AlUla. The new hotel is set to open in 2025 and will do so in downtown AlUla. The upcoming Autograph Collection in AlUla will span 22,635 sqm and include 250 rooms and suites. The hotel’s recreational and entertainment offerings will encompass four dining venues, a spa, a swimming pool, a fitness center, a business centre, meeting facilities and retail space too. Autograph Collection’s global portfolio currently includes more than 290 hotels.

UAE’S ROTANA EXPANDS INTO SENEGAL UAE-HEADQUARTERED hotel management company Rotana has signed its first property in Senegal. Located in the country’s capital, Les Zeniths Arjaan by Rotana in Dakar is a 150key property and will be launched under the Arjaan Hotel Apartments by Rotana brand. It is expected to open in 2026 and will include studios, as well as one-two bedroom apartments. The property will feature four meeting rooms, while dining options will include an all-day café and 24-hour room service. Rotana currently operates 72 hotels in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and Türkiye.

OCTOBER 2023

FAIRMONT LAUNCHES ITS FIRST SAUDI SERVICED RESIDENCES PROPERTY FAIRMONT HAS opened its first Saudi serviced residences property in the kingdom’s capital. The 35-floor Fairmont Ramla Serviced Residences Riyadh is located on King Fahd Road and is a 20-minute drive from King Khalid International airport.

The 249 residences range in size from one-bedroom suites to four-bedroom penthouses. It features two rooftop infinity pools, four meeting rooms, a private cinema room, and several dining options too.

Air France to begin daily flights to Abu Dhabi this month

AIR FRANCE which celebrates its 90th anniversary this year will begin daily flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Abu Dhabi from October 29, 2023. The route will be operated using its Airbus A350-900 fitted with 324 seats including 34 in business, 24 in premium economy and 266 in economy. The French carrier added that this winter, in addition to Abu Dhabi, it would also be flying to other Middle East destinations including Beirut, Dubai, Cairo and Tel Aviv, with up to 49 weekly flights.

Wyndham breaks through 100-property mark in Türkiye WYNDHAM HOTELS and Resorts recently said that it had reached approximately 105 operational hotels in Türkiye, with another 20 in the developmental pipeline. Those figures, it says, makes it the largest international hotel group by number of properties in Türkiye. Wyndham’s portfolio in the country, its fifth largest market globally by number of hotels, is spread across more than 45 cities. Notable hotels from among Wyndham’s 10 brands operating in the country include Wyndham Afyonkarahisar Thermal and Spa as well as Days Hotel by Wyndham Istanbul Esenyurt.

OCTOBER 2023

9

UPFRONT

Hilton’s first Saudi airport hotel coming to Dammam

EMIRATES TO OPERATE ONLY A380S TO SYDNEY 10

HILTON IS SET TO OPEN its first airport hotel in Saudi Arabia. Hilton Dammam Airport will be a 273-key property and will feature guest rooms, junior suites, as well as larger one- and two-bedroom suites. An opening date for it is yet to be communicated. The hotel will have direct skywalk access to the terminal building at King Fahd International airport. To appeal to business travellers, Hilton has planned several meeting rooms and an executive lounge that can accommodate up to 90 people at the upcoming property.

EMIRATES WILL upgrade its services to Sydney to an all-A380 operation starting November 4, 2023. With all three of Emirates’ slots already in use at Sydney airport, the airline said that it will commit nearly 2,000 extra weekly seats with the upgrade to its double-decker aircraft on its third daily flight.

Emirates currently operates 63 weekly services to Australia, offering close to 56,000 seats to and from its four major gateways of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. The carrier added that it was also “in close discussions” with Adelaide Airport to recommence nonstop services from Dubai.

W Hotel announced for Marjan Island A NEW W HOTEL has been confirmed for Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah. Scheduled to open in early 2027, W Al Marjan Island will not only be Marriott International’s second hospitality venture on the island (its first is a 350-key Le Méridien Al Marjan Island Resort and Spa announced in May this year), but also W Hotel’s first property in Ras Al Khaimah. W Al Marjan Island will have 300 hotel rooms and suites with sea views.

Al Marjan Island has beaches stretching over 7.8km and a 23km stretch of waterfront area.

OCTOBER 2023

S US TA I N A BL E T R AV E L L E R

F LY N A S J O I N S T H E UN I T E D N AT I O N S G LO B AL C O M PAC T I N I T I AT I V E

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COP28: UAE’s Rove Hotels to plant 28,000 trees

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head of the upcoming COP28 summit, Rove Hotels has committed to planting at least 28,000 trees by the year-end. It said that a tree will be planted for each room booked during the COP28 period. With almost 3,500 hotel rooms across the city, Rove Expo 2020 is also the only hotel present at the COP28 site. “By planting trees for every booking, we aim to inspire others to join us in the fight against climate change,” says Paul Bridger, the COO of Rove Hotels. All its properties have attained the Green Key certification, and Rove Hotels is a member of the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance too.

Q U OT E O F T H E M O N T H COP28 will see the conclusion of the Global Stocktake on the Paris Agreement, underscoring key gaps in implementation. This is a critical moment for the world to come together and align behind faster, more equitable and truly transformative climate action.

With a population set to reach 9.5 billion by 2050, it is imperative that we transition to a mode of producing, consuming, and living, that is respectful of, and in equilibrium with all people, species and ecosystems.”

–Dennis Francis, president of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly

OCTOBER 2023

FLYNAS HAS BECOME the first Saudi carrier to join the United Nations Global Compact initiative.

The programme is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative and is a non-binding pact to get businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation too.

Last month, the carrier also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Investment Recycling Company (SIRC). Accordingly, both entities will explore partnership opportunities and best solutions for adopting technology and ideal recycling solutions to treat the airline’s waste including oils, plastics, and batteries, among other items.

Red Sea Global launches new agricultural cooperative RED SEA GLOBAL (RSG) has launched The Red Sea Farm Cooperative, also known as Tamala.

Under the cooperative, RSG will enable farmers to sell their produce directly to its resorts in The Red Sea and Amaala. It will also help introduce new farming technologies to increase production while prioritising sustainability.

Bringing together over 3,000 farms, many of which grow citrus fruits, olives and dates in the Tabuk region of Saudi Arabia, Tamala will support the local farming community. A board of directors comprising 29 agricultural experts and local farmers has been formed to oversee the operations of the cooperative.

BIOFUELS TO HELP DNATA CUT CO2 EMISSIONS BY 80 PER CENT IN THE UAE AIR AND TRAVEL SERVICES provider dnata will significantly reduce its environmental footprint across its operations in the UAE. Its group brands including dnata Logistics, Arabian Adventures, Alpha Flight Services and City Sightseeing have switched their vehicles to operate using a biofuel blend. It says that the move will save 80 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

Its latest biofuel initiative is part of its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and waste to landfill by 20 per cent by 2024. In June 2022, dnata said that it would invest US$100 million in green operations in two years to enhance its environmental efficiency globally. The company which offers ground handling, cargo, travel, catering and retail services in over 30 countries across six continents has already electrified more than 15 per cent of its global fleet.

EMIRATES OBTAINS IATA ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT CERTIFICATIONS

EMIRATES HAS obtained IATA Environmental Assessment (IEnvA) Stage One and the IEnvA Illegal Wildlife Trade module certifications.

Emirates has implemented Stage One of the core scope of IEnvA comprising flight operations, corporate activities, as well as an illegal wildlife trade module. The airline is already a founding signatory to the Buckingham Palace Declaration and a member of the United for Wildlife Transport Taskforce, convened by The Royal Foundation.

Emirates SkyCargo, the airline’s cargo arm, has a zero-tolerance policy on illegal wildlife trade and a complete ban on hunting trophies of the Big 4.

MANDARIN ORIENTAL HIGHLIGHTS REGIONAL SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAMMES SEVERAL MANDARIN ORIENTAL properties in the region have undertaken sustainability-linked initiatives. Mandarin Oriental Jumeira, Dubai, for example, teamed up with Azraq For The Oceans and Freestyle Divers last year to create an artificial reef off the coast of Fujairah in the UAE. The fan-shaped structure (pictured below), representing Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group’s signature fan, was submerged in Dibba Bay near Fujairah to create a new underwater ecosystem to attract diverse marine life.

Mandarin Oriental, Doha won the Green Key for the third consecutive year in 2023 – one of its key initiatives being that the hotel partnered with Bu Saif Apiary to harvest its own natural Qatari honey called Malika. The Doha property also sources all its vegetables from a certified Qatari farm that produces soil-based organic vegetables. Mandarin Oriental, Abu Dhabi meanwhile not only has vegan hotel rooms but has also cultivated a large number of date palms on the sprawling property, has a bee farm on its premises and also has a desert vegetable garden that grows organic vegetables using a drip irrigation method.

OCTOBER 2023

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UPFRONT GLOBAL NEWS

Fourth voco property unveiled in New York

North America gets its first Raffles

Radisson opens eighth Moroccan property

Accor’s Pullman enters South Africa

SO/ Maldives to debut in November

IHG Hotels and Resorts has opened its fourth voco property in the New York area. The voco Fiorello – LaGuardia East is a 114-room hotel in Flushing and has an aviationinspired design scheme. The hotel is a ten-minute drive from LaGuardia airport.

There are currently around 40 voco hotels across 25 countries.

Raffles has opened its first property in North America. Located in Boston’s Back Bay neighbourhood, Raffles Boston is situated in a 35-storey new-build hotel housing 147 guest rooms along with private residences.

Architectural highlights include a stunning three-storey Sky Lobby built on the 17th floor.

Radisson Hotel Group has expanded its presence in Morocco with the opening of Radisson Blu Residences, Saidia. The hotel has 13 units including suites, studios, and apartments with views of the sea. Its eighth hotel in the country, and third in Saidia alone, is located in the seaside destination in northern Morocco.

Accor has opened the first property under its Pullman Hotels and Resorts brand in South Africa.

Pullman Cape Town City Centre is housed within the 104m-tall Triangle House skyscraper on Riebeek Street. It features an outdoor swimming pool, a fine dining restaurant – The Piano Room – and six meeting rooms.

SO/ Maldives, located on a private island, will welcome its first guests next month.

The resort is a 15-minute speedboat ride from Malé’s Velana International airport. Each of its 80 villas will either have a stretch of private beach or located on stilts above the Emboodhoo Lagoon.

It will feature a Wellness Camp too.

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OCTOBER 2023

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Marriott partners on cobrand credit card in India

Mandarin Oriental Singapore reopens

Vietjet’s 737 Max aircraft to arrive in 2024

W Macau – Studio City welcomes first guests

LATAM resumes Melbourne-Santiago route

Marriott International has launched what it says is India’s first cobranded hotel credit card, in partnership with HDFC Bank.

The Diners Club card has an annual fee of Rs3,000, and offers a free night award and Marriott Bonvoy Silver status upon sign-up.

Its benefits include complimentary access to over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide.

Following a sixmonth renovation, the 510-room Mandarin Oriental Singapore has reopened after refurbishing its hotel rooms, lobby and F&B spaces. Design firm DESIGNWILKES updated the hotel’s interiors with inspiration from “Peranakan style architecture, blackand-white houses and Angsana trees”.

Vietnamese carrier Vietjet Air, which currently operates an all-Airbus fleet, will begin taking delivery of its first Boeing 737 Max aircraft in 2024.

The airline recently signed an aircraft finance agreement worth US$550 million with Carlyle Aviation Partners. It noted that the delivery of up to 12 737 Max aircraft are expected next year.

W Hotels has opened its first outpost in Macau. W Macau – Studio City is located on the city’s Cotai Strip and is designed

by Zaha Hadid Architects. The hotel’s 557 guestrooms and suites reportedly take their design cues from classical cinema as well as Macau’s maritime history.

The hotel has a gym, spa and indoor pool.

LATAM, the largest carrier in South America, has resumed direct flights between Santiago and Melbourne. The flights will initially operate thrice a week, departing Chile on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The route is served by a Boeing 787-9 with 30 seats in business class and up to 283 in economy.

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OCTOBER 2023

HOT EL-BR ANDED RE SIDENCE S

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WORDS VARUN GODINHO

Heading home Across the region, major hospitality groups are offering an increasing number of luxury branded residences that can be fully owned by investors

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here has been an unprecedented explosion in demand for branded residences. According to a Knight Frank report, there were Dhs25.4 billion worth of sales of branded residences in Dubai alone in 2022 – a staggering 80 per cent year-onyear increase. It added that around 2,000 units are expected to enter the market this year alone.

While the likes of Porsche, Cavalli and Trump are all heavyweights in the branded real estate segment, there have been a number of high-end hotel brands rushing to make a big splash of their own. “Within the UAE, particularly in Dubai, a city often regarded as the epicentre of the global branded residences market, a total of 92 OCTOBER 2023

ABOVE: The RitzCarlton Residences, Amman OPPOSITE PAGE: Ava at Palm Jumeirah in Dubai is being developed by Omniyat in partnership with Dorchester Collection

branded residences schemes can be found. The majority – 62 – are under the management of distinguished hotel brands. Moreover, the Dubai landscape showcases the involvement of no fewer than 25 hospitality brands that have embarked on creating schemes for branded residences,” says Elias Hannoush, founder and CEO of Morgan’s International Realty, a Dubai-based luxury real estate brokerage firm.

“Our latest report for the first half of 2023 reveals that transactions related to hotel-managed branded residences in Dubai have recorded substantial activity, totalling 2,579. These transactions commanded a cumulative value of Dhs14.72 billion for the period spanning from January to June 2023. The average price per square foot for hotelmanaged branded residences stood at Dhs3,157 per sq ft during this period,” adds Hannoush.

Of course, that price per square foot indicates a conservative estimate when you consider what some of the

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OCTOBER 2023

HOT EL-BR ANDED RE SIDENCE S

most high-profile deals have secured this year. At the start of 2023, a nine-bedroom penthouse at the 27-storey Bulgari Lighthouse developed by Meraas – located on the Jumeirah Bay Island near the Bulgari Resort – sold for US$112 million making it the most expensive apartment in Dubai.

But if the city does one thing consistently, it is to ensure that records exist only to be broken. A few months after the Bulgari Lighthouse sale, the Dubai-headquartered Jumeirah Group confirmed staggering sales prices for its branded residences at the upcoming Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab property located close to the Burj Al Arab. The private sale at the Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab included four penthouses and 17 residences at the property, with the top floor penthouse selling for a phenomenal US$115 million thereby locking in a price per square foot of more than US$4,200. The penthouse which spans more than 27,000 sq ft and includes a private pool became the most expensive apartment sold in Dubai.

Katerina Giannouka, chief executive officer of Jumeirah Group, says, “Jumeirah is committed to expanding CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Fairmont Dubai Skyline; Residences at the upcoming Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab in Dubai; Raffles Residences Jeddah; The RitzCarlton Residences, Dubai, Creekside

its portfolio of branded residences. Our residences at Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab are clearly an attractive proposition for our investor audience and we are delighted to bring such unique residential concepts that redefine the art of luxury living to Dubai’s landscape.”

While homegrown hospitality brands such as Jumeirah and Address Hotels and Resorts have plenty of branded residences in the UAE, other major international hospitality players including the likes of Accor and Marriot are racing ahead with projects of their own too.

Marriott entered the branded residences market a little under two-and-a-half decades ago. “The company opened its first branded residences in 2000 under The Ritz-Carlton brand and has been We operate 24 expanding this area of the business ever branded residences since. Today, we are the world’s largest in EMEA and have branded residential company in the lodging a total pipeline of 32 projects industry with 129 open branded residences JAIDEV MENEZES, regional and 100 projects in the pipeline. Of the vice president of Mixed-Use combined 229 projects, 180 projects are Development for EMEA at within our luxury segment across brands Marriott International such as The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, W, EDITION, JW Marriott, and The Luxury Collection. The remaining 49 projects are within our premium segment across brands such as Marriott, Autograph Collection, Westin, Sheraton, Le Meridien and Renaissance,” observes Jaidev Menezes, regional vice president of Mixed-Use Development for EMEA at Marriott International.

Marriott has within that time frame cast a wide net with its branded residences offering across the region.

These include a mix of standalone residences as well as those co-located alongside a hotel. Key examples of standalone Marriott branded residences in Dubai

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include The St. Regis Residences, Downtown Dubai being developed by Emaar as well as The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Dubai, Creekside which includes penthouses, residences and mansions – each mansion in the latter project is valued at approximately US$54 million and has a private mooring for up to 120ft yachts.

Examples of co-located residences in the region are The Residences at The St. Regis Al Mouj Muscat which is still under development, with Oman Sotheby’s International Realty being commissioned as the exclusive sales agent for the property. It includes 169 units ranging from onebedroom apartments to four-bedroom duplex units. The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Amman is another example of a co-located residences project wherein owners can avail of the hotel’s facilities including its 24-hour concierge services and in-residence dining facility. Jordan also happens to be the first country in the Middle East where Marriott introduced its branded residences concept a few years ago.

“We marked our first branded residence in the Middle East with the debut of W Hotels in Jordan in 2017. We operate 24 branded residences in EMEA across St. Regis, Bulgari, W, and The Ritz-Carlton, and we operate seven branded residences in the Middle East. In the past 24 months, we have signed seven residential projects in the region under our premium brands and have a total pipeline in EMEA of 32 projects,” adds Menezes.

Another hospitality major that has now doubled down on its branded residences component is Accor.

Although Accor has been active in this sector for the past two decades creating residences under its many brands including Raffles, Fairmont and SLS, it is only earlier this year during an organisational restructure that it created Accor One Living – a platform that integrates hospitality solutions into mixed-use developments. “We created Accor One Living to bring together specialised project

Dhs25.4 billion Sales of branded residences in Dubai in 2022

80%

Year-on-year growth in sales of branded residences in 2022 compared to 2021

2,000 Number of branded residential units expected to enter the Dubai market this year SOURCE: According to a report

by Knight Frank

teams comprised of cross-functional experts who view mixed-use developments from the perspectives of both hotels and branded residences, supporting each phase in the total project life cycle. The same team which supports the initial planning, continues through the marketing phase, the operating phase, and so on – ensuring the original vision is realised,” explains Daniel Von Barloewen, vice president of Accor One Living, Head of Mixed-Use for the EMEA region.

Daniel is bullish not only about the growth of the branded residences segment, but also the demand for it.

“To give you a sense of the escalation in demand, around the world the branded residential space is one of the fastest growing sectors in real estate. Accor has some 40 branded residence communities currently operating globally, with another more than 100 projects under development, across 24 distinct brand collections. By 2027, we expect to have more than 150 branded residences in operation, an increase of more than 300 per cent.

“Dubai is one of our strongest markets for branded residences. In addition to our two residences in operation, under the Fairmont and SLS brands, we have new residences underway at Fairmont Dubai Skyline, SO/ Uptown Dubai Residences, SLS Residences Palm Jumeirah (the first standalone SLS Residences outside of the Americas), Rixos Residences Dubai Islands, and Mama Shelter Residences Business Bay. We will have several more to announce in the coming months,” notes Daniel.

Accor partnered with RSG Group of Companies for the Fairmont Dubai Skyline project, the construction of which is expected to be completed by next year. Rising 226m off the ground, the Fairmont Dubai Skyline tower located on Sheikh Zayed Road will feature 181 hotel rooms and suites as well as 121 one-four bedroom residences across its 54 floors.

OCTOBER 2023

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Not far from Skyline, Accor’s joint venture partner Ennismore opened its first SO/ branded property in the Middle East a few weeks ago. SO/ Uptown Dubai in DMCC’s Uptown has 188 rooms and suites. However, the top 28 floors of the tower feature 227 branded residences ranging from one-three bedroom apartments, as well as duplexes and a penthouse. This property is also the very first example of SO/ branded residences anywhere in the world.

Beyond Dubai and the UAE, Accor’s key branded residences in the GCC include Swissôtel Residences Doha, Qatar which will open next year and will be the first Swissôtel Residences in the entire GCC region, as well as the ultra-luxury Raffles Residences Jeddah which is the first Raffles Residences to open in Saudi Arabia and is scheduled to do so next year. Raffles Residences Jeddah is spread across 48 floors and is located adjacent to the Raffles Hotel Jeddah. The residences have a selection of three-five bedroom units with a minimum size of 375sqm. “Expectations for the Middle East are particularly optimistic, with an anticipated 86 per cent increase in the [branded residences] market by 2023. Notably, Saudi Arabia is poised for significant growth, driven by ambitious projects in cities like Jeddah and Riyadh. These cities and projects are strategically incorporating branded residences into their development plans, initially featuring renowned hotel brands. According to the 2023 Knight Frank Saudi Arabia report, there is substantial demand for branded residences in the country, with 55 per cent of high-net-worth individuals expressing a strong desire to acquire such properties,” says Mohamad Rabih Itani, partner Residential Sales and Marketing Projects at Knight Frank.

OCTOBER 2023

Marriott’s Jaidev seconds Itani’s assessment of the Middle East being among the most important growth markets for branded residences globally. He says that for Marriott, 75 per cent of its branded residences pipeline is outside the US. “Emerging markets in Asia and the Middle East with high levels of economic growth and wealth generation are appealing to high-net-worth buyers looking for a primary or secondary residence. Across the Middle East, including Egypt, branded residences represent a significant portion By 2027, we expect to of our development pipeline for the region, have more than 150 and we continue to see more growth branded residences in operation, an increase of potential in this area. Key growth markets more than 300 per cent include the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt DANIEL VON BARLOEWEN, and we also continue to see potential for vice president of Accor One branded residences in markets like Qatar Living, Head of Mixed-Use and Oman. Saudi Arabia is seeing massive for the EMEA region redevelopment across all asset classes, which in turn will create significant demand for hotels, resorts and branded residences,” says Menezes.

Apart from hospitality brands making a case for their branded residences, property developers too are seeing the benefits of partnering with hospitality brands. Several of them are running such projects concurrently. In the case of UAE-based Omniyat, it has teamed up with Dorchester Collection for multiple projects across Dubai.

The first among them to open will be The Lana, Dorchester Collection’s luxury hotel in Dubai’s Business Bay district.

While the hotel will have 225 rooms and suites, it will be connected to a residential tower that will have 39 serviced

HOT EL-BR ANDED RE SIDENCE S

apartments which were reportedly sold in advance of their construction, but which can command current prices of around Dhs7,000 per sqft. Close to it is another project, Vela, which will consist of 38 residences overlooking Marasi Marina that is furnished and designed by Gilles and Boissier.

Across the city, on the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, two more Omniyat x Dorchester Collection properties are being readied. Orla has 85 residences, three sky palaces and one 55,000 sqft mansion. The property also has a 150m stretch of private beach and additionally has its own bowling alley, private cinema and cigar lounge. The second property, perhaps one of the most exclusive to come out of the collaboration, is the Ava at Palm which has 17 freehold residences, each spread out across an entire floor of the building, and each with a private pool and terrace.

ABOVE: Orla, currently under construction on the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, will have its services managed

by Dorchester Collection LEFT: SO/ Uptown Dubai Residences OPPOSITE PAGE: A rendering of the residences at the Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab which is expected to open imminently

For investors in these branded apartments, the upsides are plenty. These include, as Morgan’s International’s Hannoush points out, the potential for buyers to generate rental income by leasing their properties when not in use, access to high-quality amenities and services offered by the associated hotel, concierge services, spa facilities, high-end dining options, and housekeeping, as well as appreciable capital gains over time since most of these projects are situated in prime locations. These residences are also turnkey investments as they typically come fully furnished. The presence of an established brand name backing the residence has the added advantage of the ease of resale should the investor want to sell. “For purchasers, owning a residence bearing one of our brands means greater assurance that they will have quality services at the ready such as concierge assistance, housekeeping, in-residence dining, spa and fitness facilities,” says Marriott’s Menezes.

However, it is important to recognise the potential downsides as well. “These residences often command a premium price compared to conventional real estate. Owners may also incur ongoing management and maintenance fees, which could impact rental income. Frequent personal use of the property might be constrained, especially during peak tourist seasons,” cautions Hannoush.

Knight Frank’s Itani also urges investors to be aware of both sides of the coin when deciding to invest in branded residences. “[Branded residences have] higher maintenance and security fees compared to regular projects. Unfortunately, a couple of years after handing over delivery, a lot of the projects fail to provide the promised service. This is why we always encourage clients to make sure to ask about the post-delivery management of the project,” says Itani.

If Knight Frank’s assessment of the growth potential of branded residences in the UAE as well as other major GCC markets is right, there’s much more to come. The likes of Four Seasons have seen an exceptional demand for its Private Residences in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Cairo with buyers willing to buy off-plan to be associated with prestigious brand names.

The evolution of this sector, says Itani, could come across via several verticals. He says, “In the future, there may be a greater emphasis on mixed-use developments that combine hospitality-branded residences with other amenities, such as retail, entertainment, and office spaces.

Also, technology will continue to play a significant role in the hospitality industry, and future branded residences could feature advanced smart home systems, virtual reality experiences, and seamless connectivity.”

The next time you check in to a luxury hotel and are swept by a fleeting wish that you won’t receive that dreaded call from reception asking to confirm your check-out time, remind yourself that there’s an absolute possibility that you could live – and own – the hotel life 24x7x365.

OCTOBER 2023

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WORDS TAMSIN COCK S

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OCTOBER 2023

ACCE S SIBLE AIR TR AVEL

Accessible rights take flight Business travel is full of obstacles – but for those with accessibility needs it can be downright impossible. Why is that still the case in 2023 and what is being done to fix it?

I

neurodiverse or have ADHD, for example. Then there are examples of people who are blind being put into wheelchairs to get them through the airport because that’s all the assistance seems to be.

“Once you get on-board you deal with a whole other level of issues, especially if you are a wheelchair user, but Around 15 per cent also for people who of the global carry oxygen, or travel with service dogs. You population has a get turned away if you disability, and that have the wrong-sized figure is set to rise battery, and if you’re a wheelchair user, you run the risk of your chair getting broken or lost or damaged – or even your body being damaged in the transition processes. And there’s no accessible toilets really, so that means that you often have to starve or dehydrate yourself on the flight, which can obviously be very bad,” Morgan points out.

To put the fear of a broken wheelchair into context, not only is that essentially a person’s legs, but the costs can be astronomical.

Wheelchairs are specialised pieces of machinery that can cost up to £40,000. And yet, according to

statistics from the Department of Transport, roughly 28 wheelchairs were damaged or broken every day in the US in 2021 alone due to the lack of provisions and them being lumped in the cargo hold without protection.

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Access for one, access for all

Though it may be treated as such, this is not a niche group of people.

According to the World Health Organization around 15 per cent of the global population, or 1 billion people, has a disability, with that figure set to rise as the travelling population ages. In other words, roughly one in six of us will likely have accessibility issues at some point in our lives. So even from a purely selfish point of view, this is an issue we should all have a vested interest in tackling.

The business case is also compelling. Michele Erwin, founder of All Wheels Up, a US-based organisation dedicated to creating safer and more dignified accessible air travel says, “Sixteen per cent of the entire global population is impacted by disabilities, and 40-60 per cent of that community doesn’t travel due to the risk of their physical self, or risk to damage to their wheelchair, or any additional hardships.

OCTOBER 2023

VIKTOR AHEIEV/GETTYIMAGES

magine being stranded at an airport, not being able to use the bathroom on an aeroplane, or lacking access to the IFE system. For many travellers, such instances would prompt a flurry of outrage, but for those with accessibility needs – which includes people with mobility issues, visual and hearing impairments, neurodivergencies such as autism or ADHD, and other special requirements – it’s all too often a normal part of the travel experience.

British TV presenter Sophie Morgan is no stranger to the issues faced by travellers with accessibility needs. After her wheelchair was broken on a flight between London to Los Angeles in March this year (for the second time), she became the face of Rights on Flights, a national campaign to reform the industry and make it more inclusive.

“From beginning to end there are barriers when it comes to flying,” says Morgan. “I think it’s something that non-disabled people take for granted, and when you begin to understand the pain points, people are surprised that it’s still such a nightmare in this day and age – but it is.

“This includes everything from navigating airports, which can be quite overwhelming if you are

ACCE S SIBLE AIR TR AVEL

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“So, looking at the business case, the disability community already spends around US$17 billion on travelling, and if we’re looking at 40-60 per cent of that community not travelling, we’re definitely looking at a significant bump up for the airlines if they were able to sell additional passenger seating.”

Morgan agrees: “I think there’s always been this perception that we cause more trouble than we don’t, and the business case is not new. It’s called the Purple Pound and it’s the spending power that we have that is completely untapped – it’s considered the largest untapped market in the world really.”

Not to mention, tackling accessibility issues can often bring about betterment for all. As Erwin points out, SMS text messages were inspired by the deaf community and offer one example of how creating something for one group can improve the lives of the entire community.

egg question – if airlines don’t want it, then aircraft manufacturers have little incentive to create a product.

But if there’s no product, airlines can’t install it even if they wanted to.

Iris Kowen, customer relation and accessibility specialist at El Al Israel Airlines, says collaboration is key. “When you’re a single player it’s very hard to reinvent the wheel. But together, airlines and manufacturers can brainstorm, think of technical solutions and reduce costs.”

She points out that often there are simple solutions to problems that just require a change in thinking. “When I flew with my son, The Airbus Spacethe most difficult part Flex wheelchair was the transfer from accessible toilets are wheelchair to aisle found on easyJet and chair. I thought there must be a better way LATAM aircraft to do this and found that there are slings we could give away to passengers, or they could purchase for minimum cost, that would mean they could be lifted in a more dignified and quicker way.

“We’re also talking about digitising a database to include everyone’s data, like a frequent flyer system, to tie all the departments together and ensure a smooth flow of information from reservation to ground staff, so all departments know

ANNETTE BIRKENFELD/GETTYIMAGES

Hope on the horizon

While there have been a number of positive developments (see box), airlines are to some extent restricted in what they can offer. Products to enable safe harness of wheelchairs, for example, currently don’t exist, and airlines are disincentivised to allocate space for wheelchair access at the expense of regular seats as this could affect the bottom line.

Whose responsibility it is to create the solutions is almost a chicken and

OCTOBER 2023

CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM: The Air4all system enables passengers to remain in their wheelchairs on aircraft; a guide dog at the airport; British Airways, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic and United Airlines have all launched disability initiatives this year

things like: What is the wheelchair like? Is the battery OK to fly? That’s something we could work on globally.”

Airbus is also active in this space, having first launched its Space-Flex wheelchair accessible lavatories in 2016, which are included on carriers including easyJet and LATAM. Pierre-Antoine Senes, cabin marketing director at Airbus says, “Today one of the main issues is that a person with reduced mobility wants to stay in their wheelchair in the aircraft. So we’ve been looking at the reality of having a restraint system attached to the seat, which you can quickly remove if it’s not in use, so you don’t lose a seat for the airline and it’s a win-win. We’ve showed the concept to airlines and gotten feedback and now we are working on a version two.”

Airbus has also developed the “Airportainer” to address the issue of damaged wheelchairs. The simple solution is to store wheelchairs in an aluminium-like box before being placed in the hold. For airlines they can then be treated just like luggage, but with added protection to prevent them from getting broken.

Another concrete development was announced at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg this June, with a prototype unveiled by a consortium formed of PriestmanGoode, Flying Disabled, SWS Certification Services and Sunrise Medical. The Air4all

RECENT ACCESSIBLE WINS ■ In July, United launched new tactile signage to help people with visual disabilities better identify row numbers, seat assignments and lavatory locations independently. Some aircraft have already been equipped with Braille, with the entire fleet expected to be outfitted by 2026. The airline has also improved its inflight app to accommodate visually impaired travellers, with increased contrast colours and better integration with screen reader technologies.

■ British Airways partnered with Learning Rose in March to launch a visual guide designed to assist customers with autism, with simple icons and texts to describe the sights, sounds and smells passengers can expect from each part of flying. The partnership also includes staff training to help ensure team members can best assist passengers.

■ In April, Virgin Atlantic launched a partnership with the Guide Dogs charity to train cabin crew on how to create a more inclusive air travel experience for those with sight loss. This included how to navigate narrow cabins and the best way to access their seats.

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■ Earlier this year, Emirates launched a major training campaign for 24,000 cabin crew and ground staff to support passengers with hidden disabilities. The airline has also collaborated with Dubai airport to create a travel planner and autism-friendly route to make the pre-boarding experience more seamless.

realm. Disabled travellers want to see The Air4all system real-life change, and will enable flyers they want it now. to safely remain in Morgan believes enacting legislative powered wheelchairs change could help to on aircraft quicken the process, which is one of the major goals of Rights on Flights.

“I think the airlines have got away with not having to accommodate our needs because the laws are not strong enough to actually force their hand,” she says.

“One of the first goals that we set with Rights on Flights was to introduce stronger enforcement

powers to the regulators when it comes to punitive measures that might protect disabled travellers,” adds Morgan.

The campaign has already made headway. After a signed petition was delivered to 10 Downing Street earlier this year, the government announced it would look to enhance protections for passengers and grant the CAA tougher enforcement powers.

“It’s certainly not the ultimate solution but it is one step closer and sends a strong message that the government is supporting disabled travellers,” says Morgan.

And if it proves one thing, it’s that the more noise made about an issue, the faster change will come. So, let’s start shouting.

OCTOBER 2023

SHANNON FAGAN/GETTYIMAGES

system is set to transform air travel for powered wheelchair users, as it enables passengers to remain in their wheelchairs on aircraft in compliance with safety regulations. The product crucially also enables airlines to retain the design and seat count of their cabin by only transforming when required.

“An innovation like this provides those with reduced mobility a safe, comfortable way to travel and remain in their own power wheelchair,” says Chris Wood, founder of Flying Disabled. “It has taken a collaborative effort to develop this seat and we believe this product provides an optimal solution for all parties.”

While these innovations are a positive step, the frustrating reality is that they are still in the theoretical

HOTEL VIEWS

DoubleTree by Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island Residences is Abu Dhabi’s first DoubleTree serviced residences. Guests can choose from 156 serviced apartments, comprising a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Its guests have direct access to the leisure and F&B facilities at the adjacent WB hotel.

Every guest staying at Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island or The WB Abu Dhabi receives daily access to a Yas Island theme park for every night of their stay. We’re the only hotel brand to offer this inclusion.

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A TIME TO SHINE

Nader Halim, cluster general manager of three Hilton properties on Yas Island, is heading a unique and extensive hospitality offering in Abu Dhabi

INTERVIE W VARUN G ODINHO

W

hat is the USP of each of the three Hilton properties you manage on Yas Island?

Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island is a stone’s throw from Etihad Arena, making it easy for guests to attend concerts and events.

The 545-key hotel offers top-notch MICE facilities including the Yas Grand Ballroom which can accommodate up to 1,400 guests.

The WB Abu Dhabi, Curio Collection

by Hilton is the world’s first Warner Bros. themed hotel and is located steps away from Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi. The 257room hotel immerses guests in the world of WB with interactive experiences that can be booked by guests.

OCTOBER 2023

What are the hospitality trends you’ve witnessed among guests staying in your properties? Usually, UAE residents opt for staycations lasting two-three days at our properties, while international travellers book longer holidays. Guests book long-term stays at the DoubleTree, as it offers serviced residences with fully equipped kitchens, providing the flexibility to self-cater as well as use the hotel’s dining facilities.

What are some of the most important lessons hoteliers in Abu Dhabi must be mindful of?

An important lesson that all hoteliers have learned is that the environment is extremely competitive with a fantastic portfolio of brands and hotels for all types of travellers.

The hospitality industry in Abu Dhabi continues to grow, with a dynamic F&B scene, including its own coveted Michelin Guide.

It is important to be extremely adaptable to market challenges and opportunities as we all work towards the shared goal of supporting the key priorities of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi and also the vision of growth for Yas Island.

How are your properties faring on the sustainability front? Our sustainability initiatives are aligned with Hilton’s Travel with Purpose 2030 Goals. These include local sourcing wherein we source locallyfarmed produce within a 50-mile radius of the hotels, working with four local producers; a water programme wherein we are ‘plastic water bottle free’ with guests encouraged to refill their bottles from the ‘Air to Water’ water stations installed throughout the properties, while conference groups can also opt for ‘Air to Water’ stations to reduce the carbon footprint of their events or meetings; and an on-going

partnership with Jubail Mangrove Park, recipient of the Hilton Global Foundation Action Grant, with more than 1,000 mangrove trees planted to date.

What are the recent or upcoming updates to your properties? In May 2023, McCafferty’s Irish pub opened at Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island. Before the end of the year, that same hotel will also welcome Nuri Grill and Bar by Madang, a new Korean fusion restaurant. This June, our dive-in pool – The Matinee – at The WB Abu Dhabi also underwent a full maintenance process to prepare for the new season.

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omran@motivate.ae +971 4 427 3000

E L E VATO R P I TC H

ELE

THE

TOR PITCH

Business Traveller Middle East gives Ammar Samad, multi-property general manager at Element West Bay Doha, five minutes to pitch his property to prospective guests

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“Nestled in the heart of West Bay, our hotel is located just over 20km from Hamad International airport” OCTOBER 2023

It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to the newest gem in the heart of Doha – Element West Bay. As the multi-property general manager of four hotels, Element West Bay is an exceptional one that promises to appeal to both business and leisure travellers. At Element West Bay, we have focused on blending contemporary design, sustainable practices, and great service for our guests to find tranquillity amidst the bustling energy of the city.

Nestled in the heart of West Bay, our hotel is located just over 20km from Hamad International airport.

It is also within walking distance of West Bay Beach, City Center Mall Doha and other key landmarks showcasing the city’s cultural, entertainment, and culinary offerings.

Each spacious room within the hotel boasts the renowned Heavenly bed, an epitome of cosiness that aids

a restful night’s sleep. Furthermore, guests can indulge in the convenience of a fully-equipped kitchen and oversized closets, providing all the amenities needed for an extended stay. From intimate studios to spacious four-bedroom apartments, we offer versatile spaces that cater to your individual preferences.

Elevating the well-being of our guests, our state-of-the-art Motion Fitness Center is equipped with Life Fitness cardio machines and strength-training equipment. The fitness centre operates round-theclock, accommodating the busiest of schedules. Whether you are an early riser or a night owl, you can pursue your exercise regime at your preferred time. You can also plunge into our inviting indoor pool.

For business travellers, Element West Bay prides itself on providing a wide array of options. With 10 flexible meeting rooms awash with

natural light and equipped with the latest technology, our facilities cater to various event sizes and purposes.

Whether you are hosting an intimate business gathering or a large-scale corporate event, our dedicated events team will ensure every detail is meticulously taken care of, leaving you to focus on your event.

At Element West Bay, you can stay seamlessly connected with high-speed wifi access throughout the hotel. Our innovative Mobile Guest Services offer a hassle-free way to request any assistance or services at your convenience. Our comprehensive range of guest services includes shuttle services, 24-hour taxis, car rentals, and currency exchange facilities.

In conclusion, Element West Bay embodies a transformative experience tailored to elevate your well-being and embrace sustainability. Whether you seek relaxation, productivity, or a harmonious blend of both, Element West Bay stands as your gateway to an enriching stay in the vibrant city of Doha.

R E TA I L

The wheels of success Khaled Soliman, group CEO of Dubai-headquartered Jashanmal Group – the long-time retailer for Delsey Paris in the region – outlines his company’s future growth path

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ive us an overview of the operations at Jashanmal Group?

Jashanmal has been operating in the region since 1919. Today, we are present in the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and India. The group has more than 120 stores across the region and is continuing to grow its retail presence. We are looking to expand into Saudi Arabia and Qatar as well.

What has been Jashanmal’s association with Delsey Paris?

Next year will mark 30 years since we’ve been associated with Delsey. We share a very special relationship with the brand. Delsey has just launched a special limited-edition chrome finish cabin luggage of the new REMPART collection. They have produced only 300 bags, and we in UAE were fortunate to get 20 of them.

We represent Delsey in the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain

and have been consistently growing the business in these countries with more than 150 retail points across these markets. We have also started e-commerce operations for the brand, managed by us, in the UAE. What are the highlights of the new Delsey collection?

REMPART and SHADOW feature bold, sleek, and innovative designs which set them apart as truly exclusive products. To cater to a wide range of traveller preferences, these collections are available in several vibrant colours and formats. They boast numerous innovations offering top-tier security, thanks to Delsey Paris’ patented SECURITECH zipper system and TSA lock. Designed to accompany stylish travellers seeking a blend of fashion and practicality, these collections are durable, featuring spacious and optimised interiors

with 100 per cent recycled linings.

Châtelet, Delsey Paris’ iconic suitcase, showcases a 100 per cent French design combining robustness, elegance and durability.

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How much of your Delsey products are retailed via e-commerce?

Currently, e-commerce contributes seven per cent of our total Delsey business in the region, but the good news is that our brick-and-mortar retail business is also increasing yearon-year. Covid was a dampener for the luggage business and in 2020 the business shrunk, but we are now back to our pre-Covid numbers and have been exceeding them as well.

What are some of the main challenges that the retail sector is facing?

The main challenges are lack of retail space in key malls, high cost of operations due to inflation, constantly changing customer behaviour and an overall economic situation which is putting pressure on the spending power of customers. At Jashanmal, we are working with all our stakeholders, including our franchise and distribution partners, banks, logistics providers and mall operators to address these concerns. My team and I are constantly monitoring the developments and are taking corrective action as and when required.

OCTOBER 2023

AIR MILES

INTERVIEW VARUN GODINHO

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AIR MILES WITH

Adam Golder

Adam Golder along with his wife Kirsty cofounded K9 JETS, a pet-dedicated pay-perseat private jet service

W

hat sparked the idea for K9 JETS? In 2021, we launched G6 Aviation, a boutique private jet brokerage targeting high-net-worth individuals who traditionally flew first class when they travel for leisure or business. In the first 12 months, many pets flew with our passengers. In February 2022, we received an enquiry requiring a jet for 10 adults and 10 dogs to travel across the Atlantic. We were introduced to a Facebook group they were part of where people had gathered to share the cost of the jet. In 2022, we flew over 150 passengers and 180 pups. Everyone who travelled said we should launch a service dedicated to passengers and dogs – and so we did just that.

What has been the demand like for the service you currently offer? We are the world’s first pet-dedicated pay-per-seat jet service. We are inundated with requests to scale our business from around the world. In the

OCTOBER 2023

GCC specifically, in addition to Dubai, we receive many requests for routes to Doha.

We have had a great initial response from the pet owners of Dubai, and we believe this will continue to be one of our popular routes. We would love to launch a service from Qatar too.

What is the earliest memory you have of a holiday as a child? My earliest memory of a holiday is when I was around four years old. It was a holiday with my sister, parents,

and grandparents in a Bournemouth holiday apartment on the great British seaside.

Which is your favourite travel experience as well as one that you’d rather forget? One of my most memorable travel experiences was surprising my wife with an exclusive resort on Banana Island in Qatar – I proposed at sunset.

On the other hand, I’d rather forget about a delayed flight back from Las Vegas – no inflight entertainment and lost luggage. Sadly, it was memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Do you have any packing tips?

When I pack my suitcase, I layer my shirts and t-shirts and then roll them to prevent creasing – works every time.

How do you spend your air miles?

Visiting Dubai, of course.

What are the expansion plans for K9 JETS? We plan to expand our network across Europe, the US, Asia and Australia by the end of 2024. Watch this (air) space.

SPONSORED

An oasis of calm The Alwadi Doha – MGallery Hotel Collection has several accommodation options, F&B offerings and diverse amenities to appeal to a wide range of discerning travellers

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lwadi Doha – MGallery Hotel Collection became the first MGallery property to open in the Qatari capital a few years ago. Located in the sustainable Msheireb Downtown Doha district, it is only a 15-minute drive from Hamad International Airport and 10 minutes from West Bay. Its location and amenities have resulted in the property being favoured by both business as well as leisure travellers.

The hotel’s design is a celebration of local culture and heritage. Reminiscent of the concept of a wadi (valley), it serves as a meeting point for different cultures. Msheireb Downtown Doha is positioned as a “sustainable downtown regeneration project” and features retail, leisure facilities, hotels, museums, and an eclectic collection of cultural and entertainment venues. The hotel’s design, therefore, imbibes the neighbourhood’s aesthetics and features intricate Mashrabiya design of wooden windows, among several other design cues.

The hotel has a total of 213 rooms and suites. There are 106 Superior king and 44 Superior Twin rooms that can accommodate up to three guests and have either one king-size bed or two

single beds, respectively. There are 19 Deluxe king rooms and 11 Executive king rooms – the latter is 55 sqm each and can accommodate up to four guests.

The 12 Deluxe suites meanwhile have a separate living area and bedroom, while the 20 Souq suites have a terrace with direct views over Souq Waqif. The most high-end accommodation at the property is the Imperial suite, of which there is only one. It is a generous 200 sqm suite that has a dedicated kitchen space, a dining area, living rooms and two bedrooms.

In a significant move, the hotel has 10 of its rooms built specifically to be easily accessible for physically-challenged guests. Additionally, all the rooms and suites have a minibar, up to 55-inch

flatscreen TVs, a Bose sound system, a Nespresso machine and complimentary high-speed wifi.

The hotel has three restaurants, two lounges and a lobby lounge. For breakfast, you could head to Le Colonial which serves a lavish buffet which includes both local traditional fare as well as international favourites. CILA has a menu inspired by Levantine cuisine from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq and has a bold mix of fusion preparations that dare to be different. The hotel’s poolside restaurant and lounge, O’Glacée, is open throughout the day and offers fusion tapas, light bites and healthy options too. The rooftop lounge, Infinity, is themed around the novel Around the World in Eighty Days and hence features a range of signature drinks from 28 countries, as well as dishes that represent a total of 35 countries. The lobby lounge, AtTEAtude, is a great space to meet with colleagues or friends and has a terrace area too which would be great to use on cool evenings. For those who wish to remain in their room itself, there’s a 24hour in-room dining service.

There are plenty of leisure amenities here. M|Spa has five treatment rooms (four single, and one double), a steam room, a sauna and a relaxation room. The outdoor pool is temperature controlled which makes it perfect to use even in the colder months. If you want to keep up your fitness regime even when travelling, as you should, then M|Fit with its Technogym equipment will help you to do just that.

This hotel has excellent meeting facilities and event spaces too. Alwaha Ballroom can host up to 415 guests and hence makes it an ideal space for large corporate gatherings, gala events or even weddings. The property’s meeting rooms meanwhile, namely Baladi, Souq, Harir, Baraha and Mashrabia, can each accommodate up to 32 people. The adjoining rooms can be combined to raise the capacity in case there are a greater number of guests that need to be accommodated in the meeting rooms.

Alwadi Doha – MGallery Hotel Collection is the perfect place for creating ‘memorable moments’ that last a lifetime.

Whatever your reason for checking in, you’ll find exactly what you came looking for by the time you’ve checked out. alwadihoteldoha.com; mgallery.accor.com

OCTOBER 2023

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SAUDI ARABIA

Into the

desert WORDS IAIN AKERMAN

The author of a new book on desert kites in Saudi Arabia, published by Assouline, discusses the origin and phenomena of the book’s mysterious subject 32

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ast year, I was commissioned by Assouline to write a book about the desert kites of Saudi Arabia. I had a vague idea of what they were, having previously written about the kingdom’s prehistoric stone structures, but was otherwise in the dark. Most people are. Research into desert kites is relatively new, but has been led by the likes of David Kennedy, an archaeologist at the University of Western Australia (UWA), and Remy Crassard, a research fellow at the National Centre for Scientific Research in Lyon.

As a consequence, I drew heavily on the work of others, most notably the Royal Commission for AlUla and UWA’s

OCTOBER 2023

Aerial Archeology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The latter has helped to reveal a rich archaeological landscape with dense concentrations of not only kites, but mustatils (prehistoric stone structures believed to have been used for rituals) and pendants (monumental funerary structures). I also spoke to Michael Fradley, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford’s School of Archaeology, which had carried out a systematic remote sensing survey of the eastern Nafud region, and delved into the archives of the archaeological journal Antiquity.

The story that began to unfold starts on the morning of February 2, 1926, when a twin-engined Vickers Vernon flew over the Harrat al-Sham towards Baghdad. On-board was the British pilot Percy Eric Maitland and an aerial reconnaissance camera with a six-inch focal length. Maitland, a pilot with Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF), was flying at an altitude of about 2,000 feet and travelling along a stretch of the airmail route between Cairo and Baghdad. At around 11am, a series of photographs began to be taken of the rugged, basaltic landscape below.

One of those photographs revealed a striking structure with a large head and what appeared to be a number of tentacle-like appendages.

Although the height of the dry stone walls was difficult to ascertain from the air, Maitland believed

THIS SPREAD: Aerial photograph of desert kites in Saudi Arabia LEFT: Aerial photograph taken in Al Hait Governorate OPPOSITE PAGE FROM TOP: Map, by Rafael Alterio, detailing the concentration of desert kites on the Arabian Peninsula; Fragment of a frieze with oryxes and an ibex, fifth century BCE, Saudi Arabia; Photographers take to the skies in helicopters to capture desert kites

ERTH ARCHIVE; RAFAEL ALTERIO; CPA MEDIA PTE LTD/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; ROYAL COMMISSION FOR ALULA

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SAUDI ARABIA

them to be no more than two or three feet high. The Bedouin, he said, referred to these structures as the ‘works of the old men’. Two years later another RAF pilot, Lionel Wilmot Brabazon Rees, wrote of his experiences over the Transjordan Desert. He noted that the style of structure first mentioned by Maitland reminded him “of a small boy’s kite”. Rees was the first to describe these previously unknown archaeological remains as kites.

Although Rees wrote in Antiquity that he had not seen any trace of a kite wall west of the Hejaz railway or “south of the approximate latitude of Amman”, the assumption was that the kites of the northern Harrat al-Sham might continue south into the Arabian Peninsula. This would not be proven until the arrival of high-resolution satellite imagery in the early years of the 21st century and the exponential increase in the study of kites, both of which would reveal that the chains of kites recorded in Syria and Jordan did indeed continue into the same lava field in the north of Saudi Arabia.

The first kite to be discovered in the kingdom was found by the Belgian archaeologist Philippe Lippens. A member of the Philby-Ryckmans-Lippens Expedition, the archaeologist had set out from Jeddah on November 34

KITES OF THE DESERT: ARCHAEOLOGICAL MYSTERIES OF SAUDI ARABIA Published by Assouline, the book which was released earlier this year features stunning photography

by Erth Aerial Documentary Team and Ibrahim Sarhan

OCTOBER 2023

8, 1951, with the British explorer Harry St John Bridger Philby and the Belgian scholar Gonzague Ryckmans. Just north of Tareeb, they discovered a series of drystone walls that would have been familiar to both Rees and Maitland.

The kite (without being named as such) was located “about 45km west of the Muraighan wells, on top of the northern edge of the Dughm ridge”, wrote Jacques Ryckmans 25 years later. Lippens assumed at once that the structure had served to drive and capture game. His discovery remained the only documented kite in Saudi Arabia until 1968.

What had these structures been used for? Nobody really knew. Over time, however, and with the study of kites accelerating, it became clear that they were in fact wild game drives or hunting traps. In its classic form, the gradually narrowing tails of a kite acted as guide walls that funnelled game into an enclosure. That enclosure was usually located over the crest of a hill and any animals moving beyond the funnel’s throat would suddenly find themselves inside the structure’s head, which, up until that point, had remained out of sight. Although there is almost no evidence of what happened to the animals after they were trapped, they were probably directed towards cells on the perimeter of the enclosure that acted as trapping pits.

LEFT AND THIS SPREAD: Aerial photographs taken in Al Hait Governorate BOTTOM PAGE FROM LEFT: Aerial photograph taken in AlUla Governorate; A desert kite in Saudi Arabia; Aerial photograph taken in Al Hait Governorate; Aerial photograph taken in Mawqaq Governorate

And yet the desert kites of Saudi Arabia are being revealed in ever-increasing numbers. From AlUla and Khaybar in the west to the Nafud Desert in the north, they are often kilometres long and intricately designed. In all likelihood, the entirety of Saudi Arabia is covered in dense archaeological remains, the origins of which are only now beginning to be unravelled.

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ERTH ARCHIVE

There is a pronounced concentration of kites in Harrat Khaybar, a volcanic field to the north of Madinah, with major clusters in the vicinity of the oases of Khaybar and Al-Hait. Further concentrations exist in AlUla County – primarily on the lava field plateau of Harrat ʿUwayrid – and Harrat Nawasif, a lava field to the east of Turbah. Kites have also been discovered in Harrat Rahat, Harrat Kishb, Tabuk and the Nafud Desert. Exact dating is scarce and scientific analysis of the kites in Saudi Arabia is still relatively new, but the belief is that they are Neolithic in origin and date from the early to middle Holocene Humid Period.

Very little is known about the people who built the desert kites of the Arabian Peninsula. Nobody knows what languages they spoke, where they came from, what rituals they performed, or how those rituals fit into the wider culture of north-western Saudi Arabia. The structures remain but very little evidence of the people who constructed them does. There are no permanent settlements, no weapons, and no inscriptions. Although a much clearer understanding of desert kites and their usage is being painstakingly pieced together, further excavation and dating are required for even the most basic information about the societies that created them to be ascertained.

OCTOBER 2023

OPINION

Come the revolution Should business travellers be segregated by class depending on seniority, or will woke cabins see juniors and execs brushing shoulders?

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BENJAMIN SOUTHAN

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here’s a whiff of a revolution in the air. Or so you would think, if you were to listen to some of the debates going on in the wings of travel management conferences.

The heresy being espoused by some mavericks is a more egalitarian approach to corporate travel policies. Some are whispering that it is no longer appropriate for senior executives to travel up front while the more lowly languish down the back.

I have previously written about the growing tendency to see business travel as a strategic investment in people, rather than an avoidable cost to a company. Proponents of a ‘one class for all’ approach argue that if travel is to be more purposeful, then it ceases to be a perk of seniority but a fully justifiable business investment with a measurable return. If this is the case, they conclude, all business travellers should enjoy the same level of comfort, whether it be on the flight, in their hotel room, in the car or on the train. Either it is no longer appropriate for senior executives to monopolise business class and the hotel club floor or everyone should sit in economy and sleep in an entry-level room, depending on the financial resources available to the company. Some ultra-revolutionaries have argued that it is perhaps even more important that the ‘worker bees’ be better rested during a business trip than the ‘queen bees’, but that brings us into the realms of pure Marxism.

ARE YOU WORTH IT? There is a healthy degree of logic to this argument, even if corporate ‘C suiters’ will be quaking in their Gucci loafers at the thought of it. For the most part, we no longer have executive washrooms or directors’ dining rooms, and many

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R I CH A R D TA MS A I R L I N E C O N S U LTA N T A N D E X E C U T I V E C O A C H

companies have dispensed with private offices altogether, let alone the much sought after ones in the corner. Seniority in a company seems now to be defined by the pay check, bonus and accompanying package. Why is inequality still rife in the air, beyond the hotel lobby or in the train carriage?

There is of course a very plausible counter argument. The more senior you get in an organisation, the more responsibility you take on and the larger the decisions you take. The theory is that you generate a higher ROI both in the office and outside

With business travel becoming harder to justify, it’s more likely we’ll be seated in 54K than 1A

of it. It follows that there will naturally be greater consequences if you do not arrive at your business meeting on the other side of the world in good shape. You will be unable to perform and the company will suffer more than if a mere minion were in the same situation.

This is a long-established and reasoned argument employed by company directors, airlines and hotels the world over. As

L’Oreal would put it, it’s because “you’re worth it”.

As a salesman for an airline for more than 20 years, believe me, I am well versed in all the arguments for paying that bit extra. A less used argument, but one that is very compelling for lawyers and accountants, is the privacy requirement. One of the most effective and hard to dispute cases for forking out for a premium travel experience is the need for privacy. If you’re a partner in a city law firm or a venture capitalist on the brink of a canny acquisition you can hardly have general members of the public looking over your shoulder, can you? This is not a problem facing a junior programmer for an IT company – or maybe it is?

THE SWITCH TO ECONOMY There will also be those that think all of this is just deconstructed communism or ‘wokery gone mad’. It all makes sense in theory, but in practice there will always be ‘some more equal than others’. They will say that the company just can’t afford to put all of its employees in first class, that there isn’t room in the club lounge for everyone, and people should have something to which they can aspire, anyway.

With business travel becoming more expensive and harder to justify, and with the increased carbon footprint of a bigger seat, all of us are more likely to be seated in 54K than 1A in the future. It will more likely be a case of everyone moving backwards rather than a mass pile into first class.

The arguments for and against equality in business travel are finely balanced. While on a macro level, flying is an inherently socialist endeavour with the ‘rich’ in business class subsidising the ‘poor’ in economy, at a company level it is one of the last bastions of corporate inequality.

OPINION

Smart travellers How AI can empower the travel industry to double down on ensuring convenience is offered at every touchpoint for the end consumer CENK SIDAR F O U N D E R A N D C E O, E N Q U I R E A I

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he most important problems that tourism and hospitality providers can solve for global travellers are issues with simplification and convenience.

These were key takeaways from the International Air Transport Association (IATA)’s 2022 Global Passenger Survey, coming out ahead of issues like privacy and cost.

In fact, IATA’s survey data suggests travellers will compromise on price and privacy if their overall experience is better.

This is the “Amazon Effect” on travel, where having a wide range of choices and seamless delivery has forever changed how consumers interact with all industries.

While some of the hurdles for improving travel must be addressed at the regulatory level (such as pre-flight screening, biometric data and passports), there is much that tourism and hospitality brands can do to personalise and enhance their experiences through the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI).

Ironically, it takes the adoption of advanced technology to re-humanise industries that have become sterile and impersonal. There are infinite ways that AI can improve each step of the traveller’s experience, blending seamlessly with human experts using the “centaur model”.

The below are areas where AI can bring significant changes to the travel sector.

Fully automated travel agents: The travel industry’s adoption of real-time accommodation searches and sales nearly ended the human travel agent business years ago. What saved the upper echelon of agents was offering a high-end, highly personalised experience to elite travellers.

With the help of AI, that service can now be fully captured by technology, including intimate knowledge of the traveller’s history and preferences, offered instantaneously. Just as digital tools can automate meeting notes and follow-up items, a plugin could listen in to your Zoom calls, suggest travel options and book a full itinerary before you hang up.

As travel plans evolve, this service could manage all cascading schedule changes on the traveller’s behalf.

Travellers will compromise on price and privacy if their overall experience is better

Real-time language recognition and conversation: One of the most refreshing

aspects of generative AI models like ChatGPT is its ability to grasp context and meaning, even in conversational settings.

Rather than languishing in a lengthy decision tree of pre-set questions, users can skip ahead to relevant queries, and ask for clarifications and details where needed.

In a travel context, this convenience becomes essential. According to

the University of Maryland’s Langscape project, more than 7,100 languages and dialects are spoken around the world, making it impossible for humans to provide customer service to all travellers.

The solution is a robust AI-powered language recognition tool, which recognises specific dialects and translates it in a conversational manner.

During a medical emergency in a foreign country, this service becomes a matter of life and death. AI paired with personal devices can help provide critical clarity and break down barriers that currently restrict global travel.

Smart cities in the Middle East and beyond: Smart cities are generally defined

as urban centres with an underlying framework of cloud-based IoT applications that receive and analyse data in real-time to help everyone make better decisions. Cities may implement a wide range of smart concepts, including energy usage, logistics, infrastructure and public services.

The Middle East is a global leader in the development of smart cities and should be at the forefront of implementing AI to enhance the smart city traveller experience.

One of the primary concerns of smart city tourism has been how to reduce friction for visiting travellers. The benefits for residents are clear but could be invasive and onerous for transient users. AI may be the solution for bridging the gap between enterprise smart infrastructure, allowing visitors to maintain control of their digital identities while still integrating seamlessly into the local information grid. This interoperability is still a few steps away, but it remains a multi-billion-dollar question that AI innovation can help answer.

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WORDS MEL ANIE SWAN

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CELEBRATING

LONDON DESPITE ITS CENTURIES-OLD HISTORY, THE CAPITAL CITY CONTINUES TO GROW AND EVOLVE. FROM ITS WORLD-CLASS LUXURY HOTELS AND DIVERSE CULTURAL SCENE TO ITS ECLECTIC CULINARY OFFERINGS, THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW TO SURPRISE VISITORS – AND THERE’S MUCH TO BE EXCITED ABOUT IF YOU’RE VISITING SOON. WE CURATE A SELECTION OF THE BEST THAT LONDON HAS TO OFFER NOW

OCTOBER 2023

D E S T I N AT I O N

Hotels

Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars

Hyatt’s latest five-star property is housed in a Grade IIlisted building that was once a part of the grounds of King Henry VIII’s Bridewell Palace. In the last five years, Hyatt’s presence in the UK has gone from just five to thirteen properties, with six found in London itself. Located atop the Thames, the hotel is perfectly situated to enjoy long walks along the river, easy access to the city’s financial centre, and across the road from Blackfriars station.

Whether for leisure or business, the location is fabulous.

Major attractions including St. Paul’s Cathedral and Tate Modern are within walking distance, and other city landmarks can be easily accessed from here using the tube or buses. (Read our full review on pg60)

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Arguably the most high-profile Raffles property to open globally over the last few years, Raffles London at The OWO (Old War Office) welcomed its first guests towards the end of last month. It is the first Raffles property in London. The iconic Whitehall building’s corridors were once paced by Britain’s most famous statesmen including Winston Churchill, TE Lawrence and James Bond creator Ian Fleming. Bond fans will know that five of the series’ films were even filmed at the building which gave Fleming the inspiration for the Bond series.

The Grade II-listed building houses 120 rooms and suites, 85 Raffles branded residences, nine restaurants, three bars, a Guerlain Spa, and a 20m indoor swimming pool. Located in the heart of Whitehall, opposite Horse Guards Parade, this ornate Edwardian building completed in 1906, boasts exquisitely preserved interiors and is located just minutes away from some of the city’s most famous sights including Buckingham Palace, Downing Street and Westminster Abbey. The building has been meticulously restored by thousands of expert craftsmen who have integrated period features including hand-laid mosaic floors, rich oak panelling, magnificent chandeliers and a dramatic marble staircase.

OCTOBER 2023

GRAIN LONDON LTD

Raffles London at The OWO

D E S T I N AT I O N

1 Hotel Mayfair

Coming soon...

Launched fresh this summer, 1 Hotel Mayfair is located in the heart of Mayfair overlooking Green Park.

Operated by SH Hotels and Resorts, it brings an eco-conscious and modern design to London, and a brand ethos that shares a vision for luxury to go hand-in-hand with sustainability. The property’s design echoes its natureinspired mission, by bringing the outdoors in – there are reportedly more than 200 regional and local plant species found across the hotel.

The nine-storey hotel houses 184 guest rooms, a celebrated farm-totable restaurant with garden seating and a fitness and wellness centre.

Ember Locke

Lifestyle aparthotel brand Locke has launched its sixth property in London in the exclusive Kensington and Chelsea neighbourhood. Ember Locke is spread across eight floors, and the property offers 121 apartments ranging from studios to duplex onebedroom apartments. The lobby and common areas have a coffee shop, bar, restaurant, small stage for live performances, co-working space, meeting room, and garden. Additional facilities include a gym and laundry room. Prominently situated on the historic Cromwell Road, the hotel is in a neighbourhood rich with culture and is also within walking distance of some of London’s most famous museums including the Natural History Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum and the Design Museum.

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Mandarin Oriental Mayfair Mandarin Oriental has an existing property in Knightsbridge called the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park. It is expected to soon open its second London hotel – a 50-room and 78-residence property located on Hanover Square in the capital’s Mayfair district. Meanwhile, the luxury hotel group has confirmed a third offering in the city, situated on London’s South Bank, which will open in 2028.

Six Senses London An iconic building and former department store Whiteleys, is soon to become home to Six Senses London. The hotel which will feature a wellness club and spa, marks the brand’s entry into the UK and will include 110 guest rooms and suites starting from 33 sqm. There will also be 14 branded residences with owners able to tap into all the privileges that come with a Six Senses home, including bespoke interior design, concierge service, dining, housekeeping, and wellness programmes.

OCTOBER 2023

Dining

Dim Sum Terrace, Harrods

Gaucho Covent Garden

Steak favourite Gaucho has opened its newest location in the heart of London’s Covent Garden. Featuring late-night tango performances, DJs, sustainable steaks and creative cocktails, it is the first London Gaucho restaurant to open in over a decade. Gaucho Covent Garden brings all the tastes and flavours of modern Argentina to the heart of London, and is just a stone’s throw from the iconic Royal Opera House. Unique to this latest opening is the lowerground speakeasy-style club and brand-new Latin-laced breakfast menu, signalling that the timeless meat masters are moving into a new era.

Located on the fourth floor of the iconic retailer, this chic spot boasts great views over the rooftops of Knightsbridge.

Sister restaurant to Chai Wu, the delicate steamed dumplings are made fresh every morning. Fillings include saffron king crab, fermented chilli and Dover sole, and lobster with coriander. There are plenty of options with gold leaf toppings too. Other bites include wagyu and taro croquettes, light and fluffy duck spring rolls and crispy kataifi scallops topped with salmon roe.

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Thirteen LDN

This new central London hangout has an amazing vibe.

Traditional English pub meets art gallery meets luxury diner, this lounge bar is in the heart of Soho. Designed with gothic, baroque charm, you can find great sushi and Japaneseinspired dishes here. A DJ ups the ante in the evenings.

London’s cult piri-piri spot Casa do Frango opened its latest location in Victoria this summer. Their Victoria restaurant follows the huge success of the brand’s flagship and largest Algarve-inspired restaurant in Piccadilly which opened in October 2022, and will be the fourth in London alongside London Bridge and Shoreditch. Besides its famous mouth-watering Algarvian chicken that is grilled over an open fire and stoked with wood charcoal, the menu includes several traditional sharing plates including bacalhau fritters, grilled chorizo and piri-piri garlic prawns as well as some brandnew dishes including crispy fried green beans with piri-piri mayo and baby gem salad with chargrilled peppers and sweet white onion. This is a great spot for a lively casual get-together with a fiery twist, full of flavour.

OCTOBER 2023

KENSINGTON LEVERNE; ELEONORA BOSCARELLI

Casa Do Frango, Victoria

D E S T I N AT I O N

Culture

Tate Modern

BBC Earth Experience

The BBC Earth Experience is an immersive journey into the wonders and mysteries of the natural world. The interactive experience, guided by the narration of David Attenborough, features breathtaking footage from Seven Worlds, One Planet, projected on multiple multi-angle screens using the latest digital technology.

Victoria and Albert Museum

National Portrait Gallery

Reopened this June, the National Portrait Gallery has seen a complete re-presentation of the collection, combined with a major refurbishment of the building, the creation of public spaces and a new learning centre.

OCTOBER 2023

The Victoria and Albert Museum opened “Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto” on September 16, the first UK exhibition dedicated to the work of French couturière, Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel, charts the establishment of the House of Chanel and the evolution of her iconic design style which continues to influence the way women dress today. Also celebrating the creativity of iconic performers, the V&A opened its DIVA exhibit in June which explores the role of ‘diva’ and how it has been subverted or embraced over time across opera, stage, music, and film.

GARETH GARDNER/NISSEN RICHARDS STUDIO; TATE PHOTOGRAPHY, LUCY GREEN; ROGER SCHALL

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The Tate Modern launched a major group show – “A World in Common: Contemporary African Photography” – this summer, which will run until January 14, 2024. It brings together photographers of different generations from across Africa to explore how artists have reimagined the continent’s diverse cultures, histories and geographies.

SPONSORED

A meeting of minds

Shangri-La Dubai which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary has raised the bar of its MICE offerings with all-new technology upgrades in its key event spaces

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ith the development of Dubai continuing to take place at breakneck speed, the city and especially its hospitality offerings have evolved dramatically over the last two decades. Being among the early entrants to the market and enjoying a ringside view of the growth of the city, ShangriLa Dubai is a landmark property that recently celebrated its 20th anniversary.

The hotel has 302 guest rooms and suites, each with views of either the stunning skyline that defines Downtown Dubai, or of the sea. The hotel also has great dining venues – Hoi An and Shang Palace are institutions in their own right – a signature spa, a pool with magnificent views of Burj Khalifa and state-of-the-art conference and event facilities.

Most recently, with one eye on capturing a greater share of the city’s ever-growing Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) market, the hotel upgraded its audiovisual technology across its seven meeting rooms as well as its two main ballrooms – Al Nojoom and Al Bader.

Key highlights of the multimedia upgrade include the introduction of advanced wireless connectivity solutions to effortlessly connect and share content across various devices. A new interactive touchscreen display adds a

dynamic element to events, enabling real-time annotations, discussions, and participatory experiences, transforming passive viewing sessions into more active engagement exercises.

The hotel has also added a highbrightness 4K projector. The visuals on it are not only sharp but also vivid, creating larger-than-life displays that leave a lasting impression on event attendees.

Furthermore, an expansive 300-inch motorised projection screen delivers an immersive experience with the added advantage of it being fully motorised to enhance ease of use.

“In today’s fast-paced world, seamless technology integration is essential for the success of any event. At Shangri-La Dubai, we are committed to providing our guests with unparalleled event experiences. Our new AV upgrade

represents a significant step forward in achieving this goal,” says Tarek Medhat, director of Sales and Marketing at Shangri-La Dubai. “We believe that combining cutting-edge technology with our exceptional hospitality will elevate every event hosted at Shangri-La Dubai to new heights, creating unforgettable memories for our guests,” he adds.

As a further incentive to those who might book the ballrooms or the meeting rooms, the hotel can also organise a pre- or post-event gathering at the rooftop Level 42 which has space to host up to 40 people for a cocktail reception, or even organise one around the pool at iKandy Ultralounge which has space for up to 250 guests.

With a very accessible approach to the property straight off the city’s main arterial route of Sheikh Zayed Road coupled with its proximity to major business centres including Dubai World Trade Centre and Dubai International Financial Centre, the convenience of organising an event at this hotel located in the very heart of Dubai is second to none. With the added benefit of the upgraded key audio-visual technology in the hotel, there’s little room for doubt when it comes to honing in on Shangri-La Dubai as your next choice MICE venue in Dubai.

For booking inquiries and further information about Shangri-La Dubai’s events capabilities, contact events.sldb@shangri-la.com

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Jean-Christophe Babin, the CEO of Bulgari, is taking concrete steps to ensure that not only are the brand’s offerings diversified, but that it also remains one of the world’s leading jewellers and watchmakers

WORDS VARUN GODINHO

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Defining

TIMELESSNESS

BULGARI

ABOVE: The Bulgari Serpenti Misteriosi in white gold LEFT: The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Carbongold Perpetual Calendar BELOW: The Bulgari Serpenti Misteriosi in rose gold

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t the mention of the Bulgari brand, your thoughts are likely to shoot in different directions.

These might range from images of Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren in vintage pieces of iconic Bulgari jewellery, to stellar watches such as the Serpenti and Octo Finissimo, to a perfume from the brand that you may have picked up at Duty Free on your last visit to an airport or even a Bulgari resort that you checked in to recently. Bulgari’s brand recognition is as global, as it is diversified. “We will be 140 years old next year and are therefore a well-established luxury brand. We are 100 per cent Italian, although our watches are made in Switzerland in order for them to be officially classified as Swiss-made. The watches are made in Switzerland, but they are developed and designed in Italy. Jewellery, however, is our core business and will always remain our core business. We also have the fashion accessories, hospitality, and fragrance divisions. Essentially, we’re

OPPOSITE PAGE: The Piccolissimo BVL 100 mechanical movement

five companies in one,” says JeanChristophe Babin, the CEO of Bulgari.

Bulgari employs 6,000 people across its watches, jewellery, perfumes and fashion accessories divisions, and another 2,500 people in its hotels taking the total count to around 8,500 employees worldwide.

The brand is on the cusp of celebrating its 140th anniversary next year, and it is jewellery that has been its enduring legacy.

“The major division for Bulgari is its jewellery – that division is much bigger than the others,” says Babin.

“We are now recognised as a high jeweller which also makes jewellery pieces. When I came to the brand we were probably known as a jeweller making some high jewellery pieces. We’ve now reversed that perception. That has in turn allowed us to achieve a brand image that has helped to overall pull up not only the price of our jewellery, but also everything else as well.”

Its expertise in jewellery was also the starting point for what has since become a major focus for Bulgari – its watches. “For over a century now, we’ve been a watchmaker. Logically, we began with jewellery watches back in 1919. Our first watch was born out of jewellery and until today our watches are shaped by jewellery. The Serpenti is the best example. Our watches are growing double digits – we’re increasing our market share among the watches exported by Switzerland, and this is primarily thanks to Serpenti which is gaining a critical mass and entering into the top ten ladies’ watches in the world, if not the top five,” says Babin of the Serpenti which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.

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Skeleton Automatic which Bulgari said at the time was the flattest tourbillon chronograph wristwatch ever produced. The Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar from 2021 was crowned as the world’s thinnest perpetual calendar at 5.80mm thick, and last year the Octo Finissimo Ultra went on to become the world’s thinnest watch at just 1.80mm.

While not breaking any records, though as much attention-grabbing as any of the pieces from the previous years, Bulgari recently introduced two new stunning Octo Finissimo pieces this year – the Octo Finissimo Carbongold Automatic and Octo Finissimo Carbongold Perpetual Calendar – both of which feature 40mm carbon cases, with a rose gold crown, hands and indices. The Carbongold Perpetual Calendar features the BVL 305 that we saw in the record-breaking perpetual calendar watch from Bulgari in 2021.

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The Serpenti has over several decades evolved with many iterations that have always reflected the zeitgeist. At the Geneva Watch Days 2023 event, Bulgari released a stunning Serpenti Misteriosi in white gold that is set with more than 33 carats of diamonds, and also the Serpenti Misteriosi in rose gold with navette-cut diamonds and black lacquer. These high jewellery Serpentis are aesthetically spectacular pieces to behold, but they’re made all the more impressive when you consider that they are fitted with the Piccolissimo BVL 100 mechanical movement. Piccolissimo, translated from Italian as ‘extra small’, is a movement that debuted last year and shows just how mature Bulgari is as a watchmaker. At 12.3mm wide and 2.5mm thick, it holds the title for being the tiniest movement created in the 21st century ( JaegerLeCoultre’s 101 Calibre launched in 1929 remains the world’s smallest mechanical calibre though).

Bulgari’s penchant for pushing hard against the pre-defined limits OCTOBER 2023

of watchmaking is also evident in the Octo Finissimo collection that has smashed through several world records over the last decade. The Octo Finissimo Tourbillon from 2014 featured the thinnest movement with a flying tourbillon, the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater was the world’s thinnest minute repeater in production when it broke cover in 2016, while the Bulgari Octo Finissimo UltraThin Automatique from 2017 held the record for the world’s thinnest automatic movement with its BVL 138 calibre.

The Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic from 2018 secured three world records including the thinnest automatic watch, the thinnest automatic tourbillon, and the thinnest tourbillon thanks to its BVL 288 calibre. By 2019, Bulgari showcased the Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT Automatic which became the thinnest automatic chronograph ever. The pandemic didn’t slow down Bulgari’s watchmaking dominance as it unveiled the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Chronograph

Bulgari at the forefront

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eyond its core of jewellery and watches, Bulgari has smartly diversified into the hospitality industry. It currently has nine operational properties around the world in locations including London, Rome, Shanghai and Dubai, with three more in the pipeline including Miami Beach and Ranfushi, both of which will open in 2025, and Los Angeles which will open the following year. As Babin sees it, the hospitality division could be a feeder to grow the other divisions of the Bulgari empire.

“Our hospitality division brings to our brand wealthy clients who pay anywhere between €3,000-€50,000 per night for a suite, and these are the same people who are also perhaps interested in buying high jewellery pieces and watches. It’s not easy for a luxury brand to find new clients every year. People don’t go and buy a watch or a piece of jewellery as often as they would a handbag. Fashion accessories, by definition, adhere to a trend and people love to follow current trends so it’s not unusual for a lady to buy four handbags in a year. But with watches

BULGARI

and jewellery, the demand for them is less because it’s more of a timeless object that never goes out of fashion.”

Bulgari’s association with key countries in the GCC, specifically the UAE, runs deep. In 2017, a Bulgari resort opened on a manmade island in Dubai. Two of its restaurants are currently Michelin-starred entities – Il Ristorante-Niko Romito has two Stars and Hōseki has one Star.

In the UAE, Bulgari has its own boutiques in Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates in Dubai as well as in The Galleria in Abu Dhabi. “Just before the start of the pandemic, we collaborated with Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan from Abu Dhabi for the Jannah jewellery collection which is a testimony to the respect we have for the Arab world and the Arab culture. We’ve also collaborated with local artists for Art Dubai.

During the Expo 2020 in Dubai, we were one of the main partners of the Italian pavilion and also took part in the catering of that pavilion [with Il Ristorante - Niko Romito of Bulgari Resort Dubai],” notes Babin.

Another long-standing collaboration has been between Bulgari and Emirates. In August, the airline revealed its updated Bulgari amenity kits for first and business class passengers. A total of eight collectable bags were introduced

in the new collection, with colours ranging from a silver with lilac vegan leather pouch to a tan and black fabric toiletry bag. “It’s been around 15 years since we’ve been partnering with Emirates in the UAE. We are the only luxury amenities supplier of Emirates which is a great honour for us. You can imagine other brands would love to have such a chance, but against all odds, we’ve managed to deserve the ability to remain with Emirates and find creative solutions for their amenity kits. It’s a collaboration that we’re very proud of,” says Babin.

Babin adds that beyond the UAE, Bulgari also has subsidiaries in all the GCC markets. The youngest one, he says, is in Saudi Arabia where Bulgari started a direct subsidiary two years ago. “We have two stores in Saudi right now and a third will open soon.

By 2024, we will have five stores in Saudi Arabia which I think is the right number for it. As projects such as NEOM and The Red Sea develop, that number will go up.” He adds that Bulgari’s subsidiary in Qatar meanwhile is much older and was started ten years ago. “In Qatar, we are one of the leading jewellery brands in that market. We are at Place Vendome, which is the talk of the town there. The proportion of consumption among tourists in Qatar is less than that of the UAE. Qatar is more of a domestic market,” observes Babin.

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TOP: Jean-Christophe Babin, the CEO of Bulgari ABOVE: The newly reopened Bulgari boutique at Mall of the Emirates, Dubai BOTTOM: The Bulgari amenity kits for Emirates OPPOSITE PAGE FROM TOP: Bulgari Resort Dubai; The Piccolissimo calibre

As Bulgari capitalises on its centuries-old legacy, Babin says that the brand will be active at auctions and secure pieces that allow it to better explain its history. “For Bulgari, the dream is to acquire creative expressions of each decade when it comes to our jewellery. One hundred per cent of what we buy at auctions is not for resale. It’s for exhibiting so that clients can see the pieces of the past and better understand the evolution of the brand and where we are today. We closely cooperate with the likes of Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Bacs and Russo, etc. Before proposing [our] masterpieces at an auction, they often want Bulgari to certify it. We’ve digitalised all our archives so that we can quickly retrieve information about a specific piece,” says Babin.

The 21st-century brand ‘Bulgari’ is in many ways as coveted as the 19th-century version of it – and the same can only be said for a handful of global luxury brands.

OCTOBER 2023

K A Z A K H S TA N

business travellers is that the property is situated in the city’s business district.

The top accommodation option here is the Presidential Suite located on the top floor. The 510 sqm suite has a dedicated living and dining space, a conference room, a study and a terrace. Expect the St. Regis butler service to be at its very finest here too.

INTERCONTINENTAL ALMATY

The road to Kazakhstan

Luxury hotels to check in to when you visit the Land of the Great Steppe

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rom the culturally rich capital city of Astana to its largest metropolis of Almaty, Kazakhstan has much to offer visitors. The country’s Bureau of National Statistics revealed that during the first three months of this year, the number of international tourist arrivals to the country increased 3.9 times to 1.1 million.

The appeal of Kazakhstan for both business and leisure tourism is on the rise. Here are three properties where you could stay during your next visit to the Central Asian country.

THE ST. REGIS ASTANA

Key Marriott properties in Kazakhstan include The Ritz-Carlton, Astana, the Sheraton Astana Hotel and The St. Regis Astana. A 40-minute drive from the city’s Nursultan Nazarbayev International airport will land you at The St. Regis Astana which is located on the banks of the Ishim River.

Traditional Kazakh art and architecture are integral to this property. A significant advantage that will appeal to OCTOBER 2023

THE VEIL, ASTANA

TOP: Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan ABOVE: The St. Regis Astana RIGHT: Intercontinental Almaty BELOW: The Veil, Astana

This stunning property in Kazakhstan is an architecturally magnificent offering that commands your attention. The distorted geometric patterns on the external façade of the building are also represented in the interiors. The hotel features 47 rooms including four suites.

The most luxurious of these is The Veil Suite which has two king bedrooms, a sitting room with a dining table for six and panoramic windows to take in the views of the city. The hotel also has a full-service spa and meeting rooms. The F&B options here include pan-Asian food at Di Wang, Italian cuisine at Cantinetta Antinori and the Line Brew Reserve Restaurant steakhouse.

Air Astana, the national carrier of Kazakhstan, operates a combined total of 22 weekly flights from Dubai to the two major cities of Almaty and Astana.

ADOBESTOCK; INSTAGRAM

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IHG’s Intercontinental Almaty is located in the country’s financial hub.

Landmarks including Kok-Tobe, Symbulak and Medeo are within easy reach of this hotel. The property has five meeting rooms, as well as one grand Ballroom that can accomodate up to 700 guests. For those visiting for leisure instead, Intercontinental Almaty features an indoor pool, a spa which includes a Turkish hammam and a fitness centre. F&B options here feature an Asian Cafe Restaurant which serves international cuisine as well as Bosphorus Restaurant that serves Turkish food.

TECHNOLOGY

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acuum cleaners, bladeless fans and hair styling gadgets are what most people associate with Dyson. But the UK-headquartered company quietly spent the last six years developing its first-ever headphones.

Designed as an urban companion, it is a device that besides acting as a regular pair of headphones also protects you from air pollution. The new Dyson Zone was launched earlier this year and we were fortunate to go hands-on with it a few weeks ago.

The first thing that caught our attention was its size – it’s large and conspicuous, and the visor will only serve to attract more attention wherever you go. But if you’re unafraid of curious glances, its size no longer remains the slightest matter of contention. It helps that it is generously padded along the earcups and headband to compensate for its size and also its weight of approximately 600 grams.

Dyson says that it has used the same carbon filter technology in the headphones as you’d find in its air purifiers. It claims that the electrostatic filters capture 99 per cent of particle pollution while the carbon filters intercept acidic gases and smells.

A small button on one of the earcups activates the headphone’s air purifying function.

The compressors, one in each earcup, draw air through the perforated metal cap over the earcup and feeds that through the dual-layer filters.

That stream of clean air is then channelled through the visor, which does not make contact with your face, but rests over your nose and mouth. The visor is magnetically attached to the headphones and can be easily lowered

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DYSON ZONE

The electrostatic filters reportedly capture 99 per cent of particle pollution while the carbon filters intercept acidic gases and smells

when you want to talk. Lowering it will automatically pause the audio, noise cancellation and airflow functions. The visor can also be fully detached to allow the Zone to be used as any other pair of headphones.

While the air purifying function is a nifty one, these are after all a pair of headphones and so the ultimate criteria on which it should be judged is its audio ability – and this is where the device excels. The wireless headphones have an excellent and allencompassing audio quality with deep bass and soaring highs, thanks to its 40mm drivers. There’s a small joystick button built into the back of the earcup to start and pause the audio, and which can be pushed up or down to control the volume, or right to fast forward and left to rewind.

Dyson enters the audio space with its all-new headphones – the Dyson Zone – and we recently went hands-on with it

WORDS VARUN GODINHO

This is a noise-cancelling device and does a stellar job on that front – Dyson says that the Zone provides 38 dB of noise cancellation. There are 11 microphones built into it (as compared to nine that you’d find on Apple’s AirPods Max), with eight of them dedicated solely to the active noise cancelling function. Double-tap the earcup to activate or deactivate the noise-cancelling mode. A transparency mode will allow external noise to filter in – a necessary feature when you’re in a space, such as an intersection, that requires you to pay attention and have your wits about you.

The Zone has lithium-ion batteries that last for 50 hours on a single charge if you’re using only the audio function. But if you’ve got all the bells and whistles of this gadget including its noise cancelling, audio, and air purification functions working simultaneously, the battery would last you for roughly an hourand-a-half – enough for your commute to the office or back home. The device charges from 0 to 100 per cent in around three hours.

The MyDyson app controls the airflow speed, noise-cancellation mode and the audio preference across three modes: Dyson EQ, Bass Boost and Neutral. While there is little to fault the headphones as far as its audio capability, noise-cancelling ability or air purifying credentials are concerned, a potential deterrent could be its hefty price tag of nearly US$1,000. So, is it worth it? We’d resort to another question to answer that: Have you ever come across a pair of high-end headphones that simultaneously purifies the air you breathe?

LIFESTYLE

1.

2.

3.

1. Black Arco Briefcase, Dhs13,260, Bottega Veneta, bottegaveneta.com 2. Connaught Folio, Dhs2,075, Aspinal of London, aspinaloflondon.com 3. Crawford Document Holder, Dhs12,500, Church’s, farfetch.com

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4.

6.

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4. Meisterstück Selection Soft 24/7 Bag, Dhs7,300, Montblanc, montblanc.com 5. Trail Tote Bag, Dhs375, Rains, rains.com 6. Brown Leather Laptop Bag, Dhs8,400, Santoni, santonishoes.com

7.

8.

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7. Senses 2Way Convertible Nylon Briefcase, Dhs2,900, Porter-Yoshida & Co, mrporter.com 8. Embossed Textured-Leather Briefcase, Dhs2,280, Paul Smith, paulsmith.com 8. Gion Tarpaulin Briefcase, Dhs960, Horizn Studios, mrporter.com

Accessories upgrade Practical laptop bags and briefcases that will give you first class style credentials

COMPILED CAMILLE MACAWILI

OCTOBER 2023

Comforting luxury Smart-casual cardigans for subtle luxe dressing

COMPILED AMY SESSIONS

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1. Ribbed Wool and Silk-Blend Cardigan Dhs8,310 Tom Ford tomford.com 2. Troy 6575 Knitted Cotton and Linen-Blend Shirt Dhs850 NN07 mrporter.com

4.

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3. Inlet Shawl-Collar Cotton-Blend Cardigan Dhs920 Faherty mrporter.com

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4. Classic Petworth Slim-Fit Merino Wool Cardigan Dhs845 John Smedley johnsmedley.com

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5. Shawl-Collar Ribbed Wool and CashmereBlend Cardigan Dhs1,245 Hartford hartford.fr

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6. Wool Cardigan Dhs1,660 Drake’s drakes.com

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OCTOBER 2023

SPONSORED

A winter wonderland 56

Palazzo Versace Dubai has unveiled special Winter Holiday packages for stays between October 1, 2023, and April 30, 2024

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t this point, it’s safe to assume that work and all the commitments around it have fully engulfed you in the few weeks since you got back to the office from your summer break. But there’s a silver lining ahead. While the good weather makes its way into the city, and the festive season is just a few weeks away, it’s time to consider where you can suitably indulge yourself for the next staycation if you live in Dubai, or are a tourist visiting the city.

Consider the effortlessly stylish Palazzo Versace Dubai which has rolled out a special Winter Holiday offer. The five-star luxury hotel has introduced an incredible new package, specially curated for those looking for a weekend getaway or an extended staycation this winter.

It includes exclusive rates for breakfast, discounts on dining, spa, and more, when booking a stay at Palazzo Versace Dubai between October 1, 2023, and April 30, 2024.

Overlooking the calm waters of Dubai Creek, Palazzo Versace Dubai offers a luxurious winter escape in the heart of the city itself.

OCTOBER 2023

The Winter Holiday packages start from Dhs1,599 and include accommodation in a luxuriously appointed room or suite, designed exclusively by Versace. Also, there is a complimentary daily breakfast available at Giardino for two adults and one child.

As you make your way through the day, there’s also High Tea with the finest teas from around the world and delicacies including finger sandwiches and pastries available for two adults in Mosaico, which can be availed once during the course of their stay.

Additionally, there’s a 20 per cent discount on food and beverage (except on Q’s Bar and Lounge, brunch packages and shisha) and a Dhs150 Spa voucher available once during the stay for guests to truly unwind. For further leisure options, guests are entitled to use the pool and beach facilities of Nikki Beach Resort and Spa Dubai with a minimum spend of Dhs300 per person for adults and Dhs150 for children below 12 years old.

Guests availing of the Winter Holiday packages also enjoy complimentary Internet access during the entire length of their stay. As a major incentive, they even stand to rise through the tier levels and obtain further benefits when they sign up for the hotel’s new ORO Rewards programme (see box).

Make your winter – and the last few weeks of this year – really count.

Palazzo Versace Dubai, Al Jaddaf, Jaddaf Waterfront, Dubai; +97145568888; palazzoversace.ae

ORO Rewards Palazzo Versace Dubai introduced its ORO Rewards programme earlier this year.

Members of the new ORO Guest Recognition Program can immediately unlock exclusive privileges and offers the moment they sign up. It comprises three membership tiers – Emerald, Ruby, and Diamond. Each of these tiers offers varying perks from complimentary breakfast and discounted rates on rooms and suites to dining and spa credits.

For more information, visit ororewards.palazzoversace.ae

the

eport Tried, Tested, Tasted.

TR IED AND TE S TED F LIGHT

Air Astana A321 neo LR (business class) Bangkok–Almaty

TR IED AND TE S TED HOTEL S

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SMAR T TR AVELLER

Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars

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Vida Dubai Marina and Yacht Club

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Nolinski Venezia, Venice

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Our guide to... hand luggage allowances

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TRIED & TESTED FLIGHT

Air Astana A321 neo LR business class BANGKOK-ALMATY

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B A C K G R O U N D Kazakh flag carrier Air Astana launched its first service between Almaty and Astana in 2002. Today, the Air Astana Group, which includes low-cost carrier FlyArystan, serves more than 90 destinations across Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

The group has 45 aircraft, and its expansion continues, both in terms of fleet size and network. Air Astana is currently renewing its entire fleet with long-range Airbus A321 neo aircraft, and will add its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft in 2025.

Air Astana’s A321 neo LR aircraft were the first in the industry to feature ‘throne seats’ – single seats in a 1-1 configuration, as opposed to the standard 2-2 configuration.

Other airlines, including Aer Lingus on its A321 LRs and Singapore Airlines on its Boeing 737 MAXs, have since joined the ‘throne seat’ club.

C H E C K - I N We arrived at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport at 0830 for the 1015 flight KC932 to Almaty. The Air Astana counters are toward the end of the terminal, in the ‘U’ check-in area. There was a short queue for business class and quite an impressive queue for economy, which made it clear this was going to be a full flight.

Having a business class ticket meant I was able to access Suvarnabhumi’s expedited security and immigration facilities, which still took a bit of time given how busy the airport was, but was far preferable to the regular access, where we struggled to even identify the end of the queue.

YELENA SERGIYENKO

T H E L O U N G E Air Astana uses the EVA Air lounge by the F and G gates in Bangkok, roughly a five to ten-minute walk from immigration but right near the Air Astana departure gate, which is usually F1.

The lounge surprised in a positive way, with an excellent food and beverage selection, modern and stylish interiors, and great views of the airfield.

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The EVA Bangkok lounge has plenty of different seating and lounging options, showers and clean bathrooms. It was also amazingly quiet between 0900 and 1000 when we visited, which was a nice change from the busy airport halls.

B O A R D I N G The layout of the lounge

afforded a direct view of our F1 departure gate, which meant we could see exactly when boarding started. While a 0935 boarding time was indicated on our boarding passes, it commenced shortly before 1000 with priority given to business class passengers.

After settling into my seat, the cabin crew brought round a choice of cherry juice, orange juice and Champagne. I really liked the traditional Kazakh music that was playing during boarding. It was calming and mesmerising, and perfectly set the stage for my upcoming trip.

Boarding for the flight was completed quickly and we pushed back at 1020. It was a

short taxi to the runway and by 1030 we were already airborne.

T H E S E A T The intimate business class

cabin has just 16 seats across five rows, arranged in an alternating 2-2 and 1-1 pattern. Rows one, three and five are arranged in 2-2 pairs, though there is a divider down the middle for privacy. Rows two and four are arranged in a 1-1 configuration. These are the ‘throne seats’ for those looking for a space with no seat mate, as well as direct aisle access and extra privacy.

Air Astana charges extra for reserving these seats when booking, although the fee is modest (around US$30 for the seven-hour journey between Bangkok and Almaty). If there are no advance takers, passengers can switch to a ‘throne seat’ for free at the time of check in.

I was in 3K on the daytime flight up to Almaty as I wanted to chat with a colleague but snagged one of the throne seats (4B)

on the night flight back to Bangkok. Both seats were comfortable but, of course, having almost unlimited space left and right in the ‘throne seat’ was great.

On the way to Kazakhstan, I would highly recommend a seat on the starboard side of the aircraft – the J and K seats – as this is where, on a clear day, you will get views of the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush mountain range.

The Air Astana A321 neo LR business cabin is smart and elegant, with great quality finishes and there is plenty of overhead and seat pocket storage space. The highlight of the product, however, remains the fully-flat bed, which is almost two metres long and comes with bedding.

Noticeably missing, however, was inflight wifi. This took me by surprise, especially given that Air Astana’s fleet is brand new.

That being said, the excellent inflight entertainment system provided many quality programmes, and the flight progress map was interactive and of high quality, too.

T H E F L I G H T Large menus were brought round shortly after takeoff, printed in English, Kazakh and Russian, along with Samsonitebranded hardcase amenity kits and a hot towel. This was followed by a pre-lunch drink service that was served with two snack ramekins, one with a nutty concoction and one with olives.

Air Astana’s bar offerings really impressed.

In addition to either Taittinger or Moët Champagne, the airline serves two whites and two reds in business. The white selection was a Chardonnay and Germany’s excellent Markus Molitor Riesling, while the red options were one Italian and a Chelti Saperavi Qvevri from Georgia. The drinks list also featured a variety of cocktails, including the Brutal Baileys Martini (12-year-old Chivas Regal whiskey and Baileys over ice) and Calimocho (red wine, coke and lemon).

Non-alcoholic options including soft drinks, teas and juice were plentiful as well.

All Air Astana aircraft have espresso machines, meaning macchiatos and cappuccinos are available.

Lunch menu options comprised of a fish and prawn starter with grilled mango (no default vegetarian option). This was beautifully presented and came with a generously sized side salad with baby mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes. This, too, was nice and refreshing.

Next up was a tomato and roasted fennel soup with paprika-garlic croutons. Full marks here as well. Not only was the soup very tasty, it was also served piping hot (which is unfortunately quite rare).

Main dish options included chicken parmesan with tomato caper sauce, mashed potatoes and vegetables; blue cheese-stuffed grilled beef tenderloin with

On a clear day, you’ll get spectacular views of the Himalayas and Hindu Kush

The flight attendants working business class were extremely efficient, which meant that despite the many courses and sophisticated presentation the whole meal service, including pre-lunch drinks, was completed within two hours of departure.

The service was lovely despite a few language barriers and a full cabin. However, there was a noticeable difference between individual crew. Some were extremely hospitable and made you feel welcome as soon as you stepped on-board, while others took some time to warm up. (I’m basing this not only on the flight reviewed here, but rather all seven Air Astana flights taken during my trip).

One slight criticism would be that there was no option for a second meal service or snack before arrival. I realise that some may not be hungry again so soon, but after six hours in the air I would have appreciated a sandwich or pre-arrival salad.

A R R I V A L We landed on time at 1620 in

Almaty, followed by a short taxi and were at immigration by 1630. This didn’t take long and the bags arrived on the belt quickly. We were curbside and off to our hotel by 1645.

V E R D I C T I remain very impressed with Air Astana. The airline is a true gem that pays attention to the tiny details and makes you remember flying with them. The seats are very comfortable, the aircraft mostly brand new, and the food and beverage offerings easily rival other premium airlines.

Dominic Keith FLIGHT DURATION 7 hours 5 minutes

C ONFIGURATION 1-1; 2-2

SE AT WIDTH Lyonnaise potatoes, sautéed vegetables and port wine jus; Thai seabass with pumpkin Chu Chee curry, steamed rice and vegetables; or traditional pad Thai.

I had the beef tenderloin; my fellow traveller had the seabass curry. Both were very good and of restaurant quality. This was followed by a cheese selection and a choice of three desserts: fresh fruits; mango crème brulée; or warm chocolate macadamia cake.

An excellent meal, with excellent service.

21.5in/55cm

SE AT PITCH 44in-45in/112cm-114cm

PRICE Internet rates for a one-way business class ticket from Bangkok to Almaty in October start from £1,469

CONTACT airastana.com

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TRIED & TESTED HOTEL

BEST FOR

Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars B A C K G R O U N D Hyatt’s latest five-star

property is undoubtedly one of its grandest, housed in a Grade II-listed building once a part of the grounds of King Henry VIII’s Bridewell Palace. In the last five years, Hyatt has gone from five to thirteen properties, with six of those based in London itself.

As Hyatt expands its UK presence, this is undoubtedly a landmark property for it.

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W H E R E I S I T ? Perched atop the Thames, the hotel is perfectly situated to enjoy long walks along the river, easy access to the city’s financial centre, and across the road from Blackfriars station. Whether for leisure or business, the location is fabulous. Sights such as St. Paul’s Cathedral and Tate Modern are within walking distance, while theatres, shopping and entertainment offerings are minutes away on the tube and buses.

W H A T ’ S I T L I K E ? Despite its size, the

hotel feels fairly like a boutique property thanks to its design. Areas are sectioned off to feel more cosy and the original old low ceilings in the main building ensure there is a sense of old England in the design, bolstered by the attention to detail in retaining the building’s centuries-old regal history from marble finishing to gold detailings.

R O O M S There are 205 rooms and suites, many of which provide impressive views of the listed buildings that once held iconic printing presses, whilst others offer the chance to marvel at the famous skyline of The City of London. My Twin Beds room, a 29 sqm space, had a comfortable working desk, a large bathroom and plenty of room to hang clothes and spread my suitcase. The luxurious bedding and pillows made for a OCTOBER 2023

perfect sleep, helped by blackout curtains.

All toiletries are available on request, so whatever I had forgotten to pack, was provided. I loved that all the in-bathroom toiletries are refillable, rather than being given lots of tiny little plastic bottles – much more sustainable and comfortable to use too.

F O O D A N D D R I N K So far, there are two outlets open plus the lobby cafe, with one more restaurant opening soon. The Chinese Cricket Club offers a contemporary take on Chinese classics. Peking duck and homemade dim sum are among the signature specialities, with the steamed duck being the pièce de résistance. The Leaf and Cane, a South American-inspired hideaway

Sights such as St. Paul’s Cathedral and Tate Modern are within walking distance

Getting here – transport connections are amazing, and there is much to do and see within walking distance

DON’T MISS Pre-dinner drinks at The Leaf And Cane

PRICE Internet rates for a midweek stay in October start from £440 for a Twin Beds room

CONTACT 19 New Bridge Street, London; +44 20 3375 1234; hyatt.com in the hotel’s lower level, offers a few select street food favourites such as churros, cassava fries and taco al pastor, ready to pair with its extensive rum speciality cocktail menu. Outside, little cubby holes recreate the tropical jungle in the secret stone vaults, offering a fun destination to escape the chaos of the UK capital.

B U S I N E S S The hotel has 430 sqm of flexible, purpose-built events space. Two stylish medium-sized areas have been designed to optimise productivity, and are well suited for meetings, interviews, or small group gatherings. The main function room can seat approximately 150 people and is an ideal choice for conferences or large events, offering state-of-the-art technology and convenient transport connections for attendees.

L E I S U R E A very decent gym is available in the hotel’s basement and is fitted with Technogym equipment. As hotel gyms go, it’s very manageable, though lacked a little planning in terms of practicality and equipment.

V E R D I C T A truly great location for business or leisure travellers. Melanie Swan

TRIED & TESTED HOTEL

BEST FOR

Vida Dubai Marina and Yacht Club

The views of the marina from the hotel

B A C K G R O U N D Emaar Hospitality

A visit to the pool on the 13th floor at sunset

DON’T MISS Group’s Vida Hotels and Resorts brand has a handful of properties spread across Dubai, as well as one each in Umm Al Quwain and Bahrain. In Dubai, it opened its Vida Dubai Marina and Yacht Club in the second half of last year.

R O O M S There are 158 rooms and suites here. We stayed in the Deluxe Marina View suite. There’s a guest bathroom in the corridor as you enter the suite which then leads you to the living room. A large TV screen, plush couch, artwork on the wall,

FOOD AND D R I N K For dinner,

we headed to Origins restaurant at the Internet rates for basement level. The a midweek stay in menu has a mix of October start from sandwiches, pastas, Dhs1,824 for a Deluxe salads, pizzas, and Marina View suite Asian food too. For fail-safe options, CONTACT try the cheese and Dubai Marina, Dubai, steak sandwich as UAE; + 971 4 550 8888; well as the delicious vidahotels.com salmon platter. The buffet breakfast the next morning was served at the same venue. Thankfully, the buffet spread was not excessively extravagant nor wasteful – yet we found all that we typically crave at a hotel breakfast including a selection of cheese, jams, bread, juices, and a few Asian and Arabic specialities. There’s also an à la carte menu from where you can order one additional main breakfast item complimentary as part of the buffet.

PRICE

W H E R E I S I T ? Located close to the DMCC metro station, this property is easily accessible to public transport. If you’re driving in, it’s conveniently located off Sheikh Zayed Road. When pulling up to the hotel, one entrance is dedicated to those staying in the residences, while another one just a few feet away is for hotel guests. Even if you enter the lobby for the residences, an internal interconnecting passage will take you to the hotel reception.

W H A T ’ S I T L I K E ? The reception space is airy, bright and not cluttered with ostentatious furnishings. There are co-working desks with fixed desktops in the lobby and a handful of sofas while the reception desks are discreetly tucked to the right of the entrance. Further down the lobby, a café with full-length windows opens out onto spectacular views of the marina and its yachts which are only a few feet away from the hotel.

bottled drinking water available in the suite, as was a coffee machine in the living room.

The breakfast buffet was not excessively extravagant nor wasteful a centre table and an oval-shaped writing desk are all present there. The bedroom had a king bed, with a high-back chair nearby and another TV along the wall.

The wardrobe had plenty of hanging and storage space. Two notable features of the room include the expansive continuous balcony which stretches the length of the suite and allows you to access it from either the living room or the bedroom, as well as the bedroom’s ensuite bathroom which has uninterrupted views of the yachts anchored at the marina below. There was plenty of

M E E T I N G S The business centre is located

on the sixth floor of the property. The reception area is a well-appointed space with artwork, small sculptures and books along the wall in a space that resembles a study. There are multiple meeting rooms, each configured with audio and video conferencing facilities, as well as different seating style setups to cater to varying group sizes. One of the meeting rooms, called Marina, resembles an executive boardroom and also opens out onto a terrace.

L E I S U R E The pool, gym and kid’s club

are located on the 13th floor. You’re be able to enjoy great views of the marina and the surrounding skyline from the pool as well as from the nearby gym which is kitted with Panatta equipment.

V E R D I C T A conveniently located hotel, this property has an appealing mix of both business and leisure facilities. It helps that it all comes at a price point that does not break the bank. Varun Godinho OCTOBER 2023

61

TRIED & TESTED HOTEL

Nolinski Venezia, Venice B A C K G R O U N D This is the EVOK’s first hotel outside of France. Opened in June 2023, it’s housed in Venice’s former Stock Exchange building. The exterior of the historic edifice is adorned with the mythical daughters of Poseidon. Its interior design is a blend of several influences including Art Nouveau, Stile Liberty and Modernism.

W H E R E I S I T ? Located on one of Venice’s main streets, it’s two canals away from the Piazza San Marco and a bridge away from the Teatro La Fenice opera house.

62

W H A T ’ S I T L I K E ? The hotel is romantic yet mysterious at the same time. As you enter, you notice the rich and deep winecoloured carpet, with the garden restaurant Il Caffè directly ahead. An elevator will take you to the third floor where the reception, concierge desk, piano bar, Palais Royal Restaurant, as well as premium suites are located. The colours are dark with warm neutral tones for the lobby seating. Murano glass can be found throughout the hotel.

R O O M S There are 43 rooms and 13 suites that range in size from 20-82 sqm. I stayed in the Junior suite. There were fresh pink roses kept in the room. The suite featured a wardrobe filled with two robes, a safe, and a Dyson hair dryer. A plug-in air freshener was available, as were international plug converters. The bedroom is small but comes with a queen-sized bed and television with a refrigerator directly below it. Sunlight fills the room during the day, and the double French doors to the right of the bed lead out onto a

Opened in June 2023, it’s housed in Venice’s former Stock Exchange building sizable patio that includes two white lounge chairs and two sitting chairs, surrounded by potted roses around the railing and a view of Venetian slatted rooftops. The bathroom is tiled all around and has a tub with a rain shower directly above.

F O O D A N D D R I N K Breakfast is served on the third floor and runs from 7-11am.

Breakfast options include a selection of bread, juices and hot drinks, fruit plates and parfaits, as well as eggs to order. Lunch and dinner at the hotel can be had in Il Caffè which has stone floors and a coffered ceiling. The Mediterranean menu is inspired by local dishes and includes the likes of a

crostini with tomato and Culatello di Zibello and Pizzetta with tomato, burrata, and basil.

A very Venetian entrée on the menu is the John Dory with potatoes, garlic and lemon.

B U S I N E S S There are no business facilities in the hotel. There are a few hotels in Venice with ballrooms, but they are a rarity.

L E I S U R E On the third floor of the hotel

is The Nolinski Spa by La Colline. Its décor is Ottoman-inspired and as you enter, the domes make you feel as though you’ve escaped to an exotic location in Türkiye. La Colline’s skincare products are specifically designed to activate cell metabolism. Apart from the spa, the top floor features a mustvisit indoor gold-tiled pool with concrete walls that boast great views of the city.

V E R D I C T Stay here for its friendly staff and proximity to the main tourist attractions.

Allyson Portee BEST FOR The rooms with their exquisite attention to detail

DON’T MISS The gold-tiled pool on the top floor of the hotel

PRICE Internet rates for a midweek stay in October start from €1,290 for a Junior suite, including breakfast

CONTACT 2032 Calle Larga XXII Marzo, Venice; +39 041 406 2459; nolinskivenezia.com

OCTOBER 2023

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YOU WILL GET

A round (18 holes) at The Els Club Dubai

Four brews

Cheeky shot

Bratwurst

Fresh pretzels

AND CHANCE TO WIN THESE PRIZES

Pro-Am spot (x2) and hospitality passes for 2024 Hero Dubai Desert Classic

Season passes for Emirates Dubai 7s

Country Club membership at The Els Club Dubai

Brews

More on-course prizes

SMAR T TR AVELLER

Our guide to…

hand luggage allowances

H

and baggage has always gone hand-in-hand with short business trips, saving you time at the airport and protecting you from the risk of lost luggage.

It’s no longer as efficient and cheap as it once was, however.

Low-cost carriers have long restricted hand baggage allowances to just one bag that fits under the seat, with some full-service carriers starting to adopt the practice, citing time-saving improvements and limited overhead locker space as the reasons for the change in policy. In these cases, passengers have to purchase more expensive fares, dramatically downsize their packing, or check in their luggage.

Other airlines give passengers the freedom to bring a case and a “personal item” that is small enough to fit under the seat in front – backpacks, briefcases, handbags or laptop bags fall into this bracket.

That said, you’re not always sheltered from the check-in experience, with passengers at the back of the boarding queue sometimes required to put their cases in the hold when the flight is busy due to lack of space on-board.

Here, we take a look at the cabin bag allowances across various airlines.

WORDS HANNAH BRANDLER

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AIRLINE

DIMENSIONS

Air Canada

Case: 55 x 40 x 23cm One case plus an underseat bag Underseat bag: 43 x 33 x 16cm

None

Air France

Case: 55 x 35 x 25cm Economy: One case plus an underseat bag Underseat bag: 40 x 30 x 15cm Premium economy, business and La Première: Two cases plus an underseat bag

Economy, premium economy: 12kg Business, La Première (total weight): 18kg

American Airlines

Case: 56 x 36 x 23cm Personal item: 45 x 35 x 20cm

None

Aer Lingus

Case: 10kg (7kg for Aer Lingus Case: 55 x 40 x 24cm Economy: One underseat bag Underseat bag: 33 x 25 x 20cm All Plus, Advantage, AerSpace and Economy fares purchased via BA, Silver, regional flights) Platinum and Concierge AerClub members, customers travelling with Travel Reward flights to Europe; passengers connecting to/from an Aer Lingus transatlantic flight or one of its partners; adults with infants: One case and an underseat bag

British Airways

Case: 56 x 45 x 25cm Personal item: 40 x 30 x 15cm

One case plus a smaller item

23kg (each)

Cathay Pacific

Case: 56 x 36 x 23cm Personal item: 40 x 30 x 15cm

One case plus a smaller item

Economy/premium economy: 7kg Business/first: 10kg/15kg

Delta Air Lines

Case: 56 x 35 x 23cm Personal item: Not specified

EasyJet

15kg for each item Case: 56 x 45 x 25cm Economy: One underseat bag Underseat bag: 45 x 36 x 20cm Flexi, Up Front, Extra Legroom seats, easyJet Plus cardholders: One case plus an underseat bag

Emirates

Case: 55 x 38 x 20cm Personal item: 45 x 35 x 20cm

Economy/premium: One case Business/first: One case plus a smaller item

Economy: 7kg Premium economy: 10kg Business/first: 10kg case, 7kg item

Etihad Airways

Case: 56 x 36 x 23cm Personal item: 39 x 23 x 19cm

Economy: One case Business/first: One case plus a smaller item

Economy: 7kg case Business/first: 7kg case, 5kg item

OCTOBER 2023

NUMBER OF PIECES

One case plus a smaller item

One case plus a smaller item

WEIGHT LIMIT

No maximum apart from at select airports (10kg at Shanghai Pudong International and Beijing Capital International airport; 7kg at Singapore Changi International)

AIRLINE Finnair

DIMENSIONS NUMBER OF PIECES Case: 55 x 40 x 23cm Economy Superlight (short-haul): One underseat bag Underseat bag: 40 x 30 x 15cm Economy Light/Classic/Flex (long-haul): One case plus an underseat bag Premium Light/Classic/Flex: One case plus an underseat bag Business Light/Classic/Flex; Finnair Plus Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum Lumo members: One case plus an underseat bag

WEIGHT LIMIT Economy/premium 8kg (total) Business: 10kg (total)

Iberia

Case: 56 x 40 x 25cm Economy/premium economy/business class short or medium-haul: Underseat bag: 40 x 30 x 15cm One case plus an underseat bag Business Plus long-haul or those with a connecting long-haul Iberia flight: Two cases plus an underseat bag

Economy/premium: 10kg case Business: 14 kg (each)

KLM

Case: 55 x 35 x 25cm Personal item: 40 x 30 x 15cm

Economy: One case plus a smaller item Premium Comfort/business: Two cases plus a smaller item

Economy/Premium Comfort: 12kg Business: 18kg business (total)

Lufthansa

Case: 55 x 40 x 23cm Personal item: 40 x 30 x 10cm

Economy/premium economy: One case plus a smaller item Business/first: Two cases plus a smaller item

Economy/premium economy: 8kg Business/first: 8kg (each)

Malaysia Airlines

Case: 56 x 36 x 23cm Personal item: Not specified

Economy: One case plus a smaller item Business/first: Two cases plus a smaller item

Economy: 7kg (total) Business/first: 14kg (total)

Norwegian

Case: 55 x 40 x 23cm LowFare: One underseat bag Underseat bag: 38 x 30 x 20cm LowFare+/Flex: One case plus an underseat bag

Low Fare/Low Fare+: 10kg (total) Flex: 15kg (total)

Qatar Airways

Case: 50 x 37 x 25cm Personal item: Not specified

Economy: 7kg (10kg from Brazil); Business/first: 15kg (total)

Ryanair

Case: 55 x 40 x 20cm Regular: One underseat bag Underseat bag: 40 x 25 x 20cm Priority: One case plus an underseat bag

Singapore Airlines

Case: Sum of length, width and height of each piece should not exceed 115cm Personal item: 40 x 30 x 10cm, sum of length, width and height of each piece should not exceed 115cm

Economy/premium economy: One case plus a smaller item Business/first/suites: Two cases plus a smaller item

Up to 7kg each

United Airlines

Case: 56 x 35 x 22cm Personal item: 43 x 25 x 22cm

One case plus a smaller item (only one smaller item in Basic Economy, with exceptions if you are flying to South America, across the Atlantic or Pacific; or are a MileagePlus member with Premier status; travelling with a Premier member; MileagePlus credit cardmember; Star Alliance Gold member)

No weight limit

Virgin Atlantic

Case: 56 x 36 x 23cm Personal item: Not specified

Economy/premium economy: One case plus a smaller item Upper Class: Two cases plus a smaller item

Wizz Air

Case: 55 x 40 x 23cm Regular: One underseat bag Underseat bag: 40 x 30 x 20cm Wizz Priority: One case plus an underseat bag

Economy/premium economy: 10kg Upper Class: 12kg for one bag, or up to 16kg total 10kg (each)

Economy: One case plus a smaller item Business/first: Two cases plus a smaller item

Priority: 10kg case

OCTOBER 2023

65

POSTCARD

66

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) will build a sustainable Equestrian Village in the north-west of Saudi Arabia.

AECOM International will design the 285-hectare ‘AlMuatadil’ Equestrian Village. The village envisions two arenas for events from dressage to concerts (5,000 and 1,400 seats) as well as grass polo, sand polo and endurance venues (600, 400 and 600 seats respectively). The village will also feature two stable compounds which will be able to house 740 horses.

The training barn will include Seawalker pools, treadmills and a vibration plate. There will also be a 6,000 sqm veterinary clinic built as part of the complex. The overall design of the village including its physical structures and colour palette are all intended to blend with the natural beauty of the surrounding region. “The site is blessed with stunning natural features and our vision for the design has been to develop a memorable and inspiring Equestrian Village that is fully immersed in this unique landscape context,” says architect Erik Behrens.

OCTOBER 2023

ERIK BEHRENS AECOM

An equestrian’s paradise

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