The newest Bulgari hotel opening in Dubai

Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel Architects bring a slice of Italy to the Middle East, with the newest Bulgari hotel opening in Dubai. Words: Lauren Ho | Photography: © Tommy Picone

When it comes to location, Bulgari Hotels & Resorts is very particular. So particular in fact, it has taken close to 15 years to open just five properties. “It’s a luxury to be able to wait,” says Silvio Ursini, Group Executive Vice President, who goes on to explain that their business is an image exercise rather than being reliant on churning out an annual quota of hotels. “If the location isn’t flawless, then it will fire back,” he comments. “We’ve gone ten years without a new hotel, which can be frustrating, but when you finally open and see you were right about the location, it pays out.” And in the case of the brand’s newest launch in Dubai, which took nearly a decade to complete, it seems good things do come to those who wait. Located on Jumeira Bay, a seahorse-shaped manmade island a little further north of the Palm archipelago, the resort is Bulgari’s first Middle Eastern property, as well as the first with a marina and yacht club. Spread over 13 hectares, across two bays on the south of the island, the hotel’s low-rise architecture is the work of Milan-based Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel who, also behind the group’s other properties, have once again carved out a little slice of Italy with a design that is inspired by the country’s intimate marinas. “There isn’t a marina like this in Dubai,” says Ursini. “You know, Italian and small, not a huge parking lot for boats. It’s a show marina, a place you go to be seen; you come with your boat, you get out, you go for dinner, people look at you… the Italian way.”

Indeed, the 50-berth harbour is flanked by a travertine promenade that is lined, like a precious stone necklace, with a string of soon-toopen high-end restaurants and coveted residences and beyond that, the Bulgari Yacht Club. Here, a palette of teak, chrome and creamy leather unfolds over a dining room – that serves up a mainly seafood menu – lounge, bar, boardroom and swimming pool. Vintage navalinspired staff uniforms, custom-designed chinaware by Italian firm Richard Ginori, and antique photographs of celebrities aboard Riva yachts complete the 1960s Italian Riviera vibe, which Ursini says, was a bit like putting together a theatre production. At the heart of the property, separating the two inlets, the fourstorey main hotel building adds to the luxury quotient with a gleaming white Carrara marble façade that creates the perfect backdrop for the dappled sunlight that filters through the latticed horizontal layers. Taking their cues from the hotel’s seaside location, the designers say: “The idea is inspired by transparency and the natural light that comes through coral – we wanted to create something completely different to what has been done in Dubai so far.”

Inside, an almost entirely Italian line-up of furnishings from Maxalto to Flos, B&B Italia and Flexform is tempered with details that subtly nod to a sense of place, while veering away from the usual Middle Eastern design tract. This includes a bronze lattice-work mesh – bearing the Bulgari ‘Maglia Pantheon’ motif – that evokes the perforated jaali screens found in Islamic architecture, and wild-wool Beni Ourain rugs from Morocco. 

Upstairs, the 101 guestrooms and suites are an understated mix of woven textiles and natural fibres that have been worked through the low-slung furnishings, wallcoverings and accessories, such as the Bulgari cashmere blanket by Enzo dgli Angiuoni. Each has its own private balcony from which to soak up the views; some overlook the yacht-speckled Arabian Sea and beyond that, the impressive Dubai skyline, while others face the bay, a quiet sandy stretch of beach lined with 20 villas. Here, a similar low-key, indulgent sensibility unfurls over the bedrooms, dining space, kitchen and private pools.

Of course, this wouldn’t be a Bulgari hotel without a spa. And with this property reported to be the most expensive in Dubai, there is certainly no scrimping on the luxuries; grey Vicenza stone walls, green book-matched onyx from Iran, and Turkish Aphyon marble swathes seven treatment rooms, a hammam and, the jewel in the crown, the 25-metre indoor pool, which is surrounded by magnificent ocean and city views and backed by a vitality pool lined with shimmering green and real gold mosaic tiles inspired by the Bulgari Diva collection. And while the property might be located just on the other side of a 300-metre bridge that is connected to downtown Dubai, in-house distractions are aplenty. Rejuvenated after a day of pampering, head to Il Bar for an aperitivo, the local spot to see-and-be-seen, where black Portoro marble shimmers against the panoramic backdrop of the seaside promenade, before moving next door to Il Ristorante. Here, Michelin-starred chef Niko Romito serves up modern versions of Italian classics that are best finished off with a digestif or a shisha at the poolside restaurant, La Spiaggia.

Since branching out into the hospitality business in 2004, the Italian jewellery brand has certainly followed through with its meticulous plan to craft an intimate portfolio of properties in the ultimate locations. In the next two years, taking its collection to just seven properties, are openings in Shanghai and Moscow, with Paris, Rome, New York, LA and Tokyo in the pipeline. As Ursini states: “The location is like a rough stone that you need to cut and polish to make it look like a fine jewel. It has to have a glamorous address, natural features and the right privacy and size. And it has to be exceptional – otherwise it will not be a Bulgari hotel.”

sources: Sleeper, 01-02, 2018

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