HBA builds on mythical past to create stunning Abu Dhabi property

Located in the heart of Abu Dhabi on the vibrant corniche and offering captivating waterfront views of the Arabian Gulf, the St. Regis Abu Dhabi will set a new standard of luxury in the emirate when it opens its doors early next year.

Designed by Hirsch Bedner Associates (HBA), the leading global hospitality design firm, the hotel offers a defining urban hotel experience in Abu Dhabi, refined and elegant as luxury hospitality in any global city.

As a world capital of finance, trade and travel, Abu Dhabi has extremely high expectations of luxury and sophistication in design and extravagance and The St. Regis Nation Towers does not disappoint.

Hotel lobby: Dramatic and captivating

The distinctive addition to the Abu Dhabi skyline is an ultra-sleek glass and steel landmark of two skyscrapers of 268 and 233 metres linked by the world’s highest sky bridge. The St. Regis Nation Towers occupies the 33rd to 49th floors of the smaller tower with 228 distinctive guestrooms and 55 grand suites, including one on the connecting bridge.

THE ABU DHABI SUITE
The hotel will feature the world’s highest suspended Presidential suite complete with private entrance, dedicated spa and movie theatre. Suspended 200 metres above the ground, the elegant and extensive “Abu Dhabi Suite” is a first-of-its kind.

Soaring high above the ground, the lavish Abu Dhabi Suite at The St. Regis Abu Dhabi will be suspended between two towers. This extravagant suite sprawls 1,085 square-metres and will include three bedrooms, grand double-height ceiling majlis, a kitchen, dining room and movie theatre, as well as a fully-equipped gym and luxurious private spa. Offering magnificent views of the Arabian Gulf, the Corniche, and the city skyline, the Abu Dhabi Suite will be the epitome of luxury combining contemporary design with a traditional Arabic influence.

Upon entering the suite’s Grand Drawing Room, guests will be greeted by a dramatic and captivating atmosphere with cascading strands of crystals, 24-karat gold leaf accents, leather wall tiles, velvet upholstered walls in jewel-toned hues and intricate glass mosaic patterns. A grand staircase will lead up to the spacious Master Suite in the upper wing of the Abu Dhabi Suite. Boasting a private entrance with elevator, the Master Suite will include an en-suite bathroom, library, lounge, entertainment and dining area complete with art deco inspired furniture and crystal chandeliers.

INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE
HBA delivered interior architecture worthy of both the storied brand and this hotel’s remarkable location along the city’s garden-lined coastal boulevard, says HBA Atlanta Associate Ira Imerlishvili.

Rather than embellishing a classical European-style design with local detailing, HBA created an imaginary historical starting point: an Art Deco past. This raised the question: what would classical Art Deco have looked like if it had been expressed in Abu Dhabi during the 1920s and 30’s?

“With very few local references, we looked to the colours of the sands, and the traditional foods, spices, arts and crafts that flourished in the markets of the time – imaginatively elevating and applying them to a refined, gazelle-like style,” said Imerlishvili.

Deco showpieces: Guestrooms exude opulence

HBA then re-envisioned that imagined past, modernising it for a 21st Century city. The lobby is a peerless example of this new Arabian deco. Entry is akin to stepping into a musical movement – with an organic, almost lyrical flow of lines. Large fluted columns, a nod to classical deco, soar up the atrium. An exquisite railing on the staircase and mezzanine is patterned in Arabesque lace metal. Chandeliers are inspired by glittering Arabian lanterns. The result is a fusion of intricate Arabian art with the clean geometry of Art Deco.

The St. Regis Bar pays homage to Bedouin influences with murals themed on a traditional desert horse race and the Bedouin deco intimacy of a grand tent. A Champagne Bar is without walls — like an open secret – with pink marble tops. The centerpiece is an innovative chandelier of hundreds of luminous bubbles, as if rising from a Champagne flute.

Fine dining restaurant Villa Tuscana is also a reinvention of a mythical Arabian deco past, designed as a century-old Tuscan estate with terraces, vaulted ceilings, tall arched windows of small glass panes, frescoes and exposed beams.

The ballroom is opulent with gold accenting floating over a custom carpet of rich gold, with a motif like the domes of a mosque, and crystal chandelier designed after a bouquet of desert roses.

Guestrooms are deco showpieces – from over-scaled crown moulding to bed posts and subtle swooping patterns in soft gold carpeting. At the foot of the beds are antique trunks in leather and bronze, topped with tasselled pillows, suggesting a treasure chest reference to the local culture. Guestroom baths exude the opulence of a royal suite with walls, floors and ceilings in white stone mosaic.

The hotel reflects HBA’s ability to blend cultural detail, conceptual creativity and artistic sensibility and has resulted in exceptional, brand reinforcing property.