When Hilton Dubai Creek celebrated its grand opening a week ago, it ushered in a new era of hospitality, for this was not only an addition to the Middle East-Gulf region’s scores of modern, five-star hotels but set a new trend in the industry as a lifestyle hotel as well.
“We wanted to offer something completely different for the Dubai market — a small, discreet hotel in contemporary surroundings — and believe people have really taken to the concept,” said Guy Hutchinson, manager of the latest property in the Hilton International portfolio. And truly, the property is a marvel in both concept and design. Its glass staircase is something to rave about.
Conducting around the chain’s landmark property, Hutchinson told a group of local and overseas journalists, who were flown in for the celebration: “Hilton’s new property offers an intimate, highly personalized style of service. Guests experience an environment that is contemporary but has an understated elegance throughout.”
Award-winning architect Carlos Ott together with Arenco Architects and Engineering Consultants, a leading firm in the region, designed the interior and exterior of the property. Owned by Abdullah Al-Moosa, Arenco Real Estate approached Ott with a brief to create a modern and minimalist property to blend in with the vision of Dubai as a modern and emerging metropolis.
Sanjeev Ghulati of Arenco Architects said: “The owners felt Dubai was bursting with contemporary hotels full of carpets and plush fabrics, and that we should create a building that was more in keeping with the European themes of minimalism and modernity. They wanted something that was more suitable for the corporate sector, especially young executives on the move.”
Arenco Interior Architects further enhanced Ott’s design concept by carrying out design development, which is considered to be the backbone of a successfully executive project, which took almost 24 months from design to completion. Once Ott had created the concepts, he worked with Arenco Interior Design Office to see those concepts turned into reality. “The design development forms the foundations of a property, and the team worked on everything from establishing how to fix the glass floor and ceilings to choosing exactly which types of granite to combine,” said Robin Thessman of Arenco Interiors.
One of the high points of the hotel consisting of 154 rooms and suites is the cuisine, and international chef Gordon Ramsay has been contracted to manage the cuisine in the hotel. Ramsay has hand-picked members of his London brigade, who will in turn oversee every aspect of catering in the lifestyle property, from the signature restaurant, through the other outlets including the Glasshouse Brasserie, Issimo and Carbon Lounge. Ramsay made an appearance as more than 200 invitees were busy part-taking Ramsay’s special six-course menu at the celebration dinner.
Ramsay signed an agreement with Hilton Dubai Creek to launch Verre, his first restaurant outside the UK, where he offers modern European cuisine based on the concept of his London restaurants. In order to complete this concept with uncompromising quality, Gordon has hand-picked a team of staff from his London restaurants to run the Dubai operation on a day-to-day basis. This same team is responsible for all F&B operations throughout the hotel, from the Glasshouse Brasserie to room service.
Scottish by birth, Ramsay was brought up in England. He gave up playing professional football at the age of 18 and returned to college to complete a course in hotel management. He moved to London, where he joined Marco Pierre White in the early days of Harvey’s restaurant. He then moved to Le Gavroche to work alongside the world-famous Albert Roux and this was followed by three years working in France. Subsequently, he enhanced his expertise in classic French cooking. At 26, he returned to London with the prospect of opening his own restaurant. In late 1993, he started Aubergine, where he won many accolades, including two Michelin stars awarded within just three years of opening. In 1998, at the age of 31, he set up his first independently owned restaurant, Gordon Ramsay, on the former site of Chelsea’s La Tante Claire, in London. A year later, he opened Petrus with his protege, Marcus Wareing, as chief patron, in London. Within seven months it won its first Michelin star. In June 2000 Gordon won the chef of the year award at the Cateys (the industry’s ‘Oscars’) and in January 2001 he was awarded three Michelin stars making him the only chef in London to hold this much-coveted award.
Ramsay, whose books include “Passion for Flavor,” “Passion for Seafood” and “A Chef for All Seasons,” all published between 1996 and 2000, and “Just Desserts” released last month said: “Verre is my first restaurant outside the UK and represents a huge challenge — but a thoroughly enjoyable one. There is a real buzz about Dubai at the moment, and I’m proud to be here. In my mind, Dubai is one of the most vibrant cities around.”
An astounding feature of all of its rooms and suites is each of them combines contemporary design with the highest levels of comfort and offers dramatic creek views. Interestingly, the newly expanded Dubai International Airport and world-class leisure venues such as the Creek Golf Course are located nearby.
Hilton International thus operates two hotels in Dubai, a contemporary lifestyle hotel and a beach resort, making a total of 26 hotels in the Middle East — 14 hotels in Egypt, seven in the UAE, three in Saudi Arabia and one each in Bahrain and Oman.
