armani hotel dubai

Luxist Visits the Armani Hotel in Dubai

by Zack O'Malley Greenburg (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Celebrity Design, Architecture & Design

It's difficult to believe that a $1,000-a-night hotel designed by fashion designer Giorgio Armani in the world's tallest building could ever be considered understated. Yet in Dubai, where bars with multicolor fluorescent ceilings are considered classy, the Armani Hotel Dubai manages to fill that niche.

Opened in April 2010, the hotel is the first in a series of Armani-branded resorts and residences. It occupies the first eight stories of the 2,717-foot tall Burj Khalifa and includes 160 guest rooms and suites. For those seeking the full Dubai experience, suites on floors 38-39 offer breathtaking views of the buildings bursting forth from the desert floor; nightly rates can run as high as $2,500.

Gallery: Armani Hotel Dubai

Tags: Armani Group, armani hotel, armani hotel dubai, awards-main, Giorgio Armani, luxist-awards

Continue reading “Luxist Visits the Armani Hotel in Dubai”

Tell Us Everything, Travel Entrepreneur Katrina A. Garnett

by Carrie N. Culpepper (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Tell Us Everything

Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor Katrina Garnett recently launched My Little Swans, a luxury family travel web site for adventurous families looking for one-of-a-kind adventures that involve things like lunch at a Bedoin camp in Jordan and sailing Alaska's Inside Passage on a private yacht. Unlike her previous, very-techie businesses, this one was born out of Garnett's hobby: She's originally from Australia and she and her husband regularly take their three children on ambitious trips across the globe.

Garnett's not intimidated by traveling with kids, instead she's passionate about the advantages of exposing children to world cultures. MyLittleSwans.com aims to cut out the travel agent by featuring itineraries from her many trips with restaurant, hotel, shopping and other suggestions of places she and her concierge partners have personally vetted. Plus, the site's selected list of tour operators in each of those destinations can arrange for custom adventures from a backstage tour of a Chinese opera to a hiking trip with the Maasai tribe in Tanzania.

Garnett – and by extension her site – is like that in-the-know friend always up on the newest, hottest and best. But she also shares the little-known, like her personal watchmaker in Switzerland and jeweler in Paris. She spent two years and more than $2 million of her own money developing the site and made sure it included a social media aspect, which she believes is essential for web 2.0 success. We chatted with this firecracker over drinks at New York's Gramercy Tavern and asked her to Tell Us Everything.

Why did you decide to go into travel?
I've been planning world adventures for my family for 15 years, from the time my firstborn was less than a year old. Over the years, numerous friends and acquaintances have sought me out for travel advice, so I've shared my itineraries and photos with them, and they've taken the same or similar trips and loved them.

But as the number of requests grew – and the Web became increasingly difficult to navigate from a discerning point of view – I saw there was need for a comprehensive trustworthy online resource that makes it easy for families to plan extraordinary journeys and to go straight to the source for the best guides and insider experiences.

My Little Swans is not just a bunch of pretty pictures and opinions. There are, of course, countless travel websites and online sources, but I think few that are developed with an eye to the future and a deep understanding of the tech underbelly; I'm a total tech nerd. And as most of my friends know, I'm also a bit of a perfectionist and can be a nut when it comes to research, so the MLS content reflects this 150 percent and always will – nothing is "pay for play" or ad-driven.

Tags: argentina travel, armani hotel dubai, concierge service, family travel, family travel ideas, hermes, katrina garnett, lanvin ballet flats, luxury family travel, luxury travel, luxury vacations, maasai, my little swans, rocky mountaineer, shanghai tang

Continue reading “Tell Us Everything, Travel Entrepreneur Katrina A. Garnett”

First Armani Hotel Opens in Dubai

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

It took a little longer than expected but the first Armani Hotel has opened in the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai. The hotel is the first landmark tenant in the building. The 160-room hotel marks the Italian designer's first foray into the hotel business.

Every bit of the hotel's design was overseen by Armani and is a consistent vision of his neutral, minimalist luxe style. The staff wear Armani suits and dresses. The hotel is designed to be exclusive and only those who have room or restaurant reservations can gain access to the area of the Burj Khalifa that houses the hotel. Your stay comes with the sevices of a "lifestyle consultant," a personal concierge who sees to all your needs. Such fine digs will cost you. Rates start at $750 and night and a suite can run you $2,500 although opening specials in the fast rising heat of late spring will net you a studio for $550 and an Armani Signature Suite for $2,200. Restaurants include Armani/Amal, offering Indian food with modern presentation, Armani/Hashi for sushi and Japanese plates, and Armani/Peck, an Italian style deli. Click through after the jump for a look at the Armani hotel, a space that seems very true to the look of Armani's existing boutiques and restaurant offerings.

Tags: armani hotel, armani hotel dubai, burj khalifa, dubai, dubai hotel

Continue reading “First Armani Hotel Opens in Dubai”