St. Regis arrives in the UAE with luxury Saadiyat Island Resort

The luxurious, five-star St. Regis Hotel & Residences Saadiyat Island, to be built and owned by Abu Dhabi's Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), which is transforming the island into a signature leisure, residential and cultural destination, will be in the up-scale Saadiyat Beach district just a 5 minutes' drive from the island's planned Cultural District with its Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum and Louvre Abu Dhabi museum.

The St. Regis Hotel & Residences Saadiyat Island, which will open in the final quarter of 2009, will flank the 72-par, championship standard Saadiyat Beach Golf Course, which has been designed by golfing legend Gary Player and is the Arabian Gulf's only 'ocean' course having several beach-front holes.

The hotel will have 380 luxurious guest rooms and suites, all with balconies and either Gulf or golf course views. It will have contemporary interiors making extensive use of natural products, an impressive range of food and beverage outlets, including all-day dining, eight themed restaurants, three lounges and more than 2,800 square metres of meeting and conference space. Adjoining the hotel, will be a separate St. Regis-branded residence with 280 apartments of one, two and three bedrooms.

'St. Regis, and its global reputation for personalized service, is a welcome addition to Abu Dhabi's and TDIC's expanding hospitality portfolio and once again, TDIC has demonstrated its ability to partner with world-class brands to deliver on its corporate ethos of best-of-breed practices across every segment in which it operates,' said Mubarak Al Muhairi, Director General Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) and Managing Director TDIC.

Conceptualised by Creative Kingdom as refined Mediterranean-style coastal retreat reminiscent of California's St. Regis Monarch Bay, the $600m (Dhs2.2bn) Abu Dhabi property has been designed by Australia's Woods Bagot, with interiors by Atlanta's Hirsch Bedner Associates and Dubai's Mirage Mille as project managers.

'This magnificent property is a fitting debut for our award-winning brand which is noted for its uncompromising commitment to luxury and service excellence,' said Ross Klein, President, Luxury Brands Group, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Inc. 'Saadiyat is one of the hottest destinations of the near future and St. Regis, with its unrivalled dimension of luxury and bespoke service, will live up to the mounting expectations of this signature island.'

'We are thrilled to introduce St. Regis to Abu Dhabi following the recent announcement of the St. Regis Hotel in Doha, Qatar, Bahrain and The St. Regis Cairo, Egypt,' said Roeland Vos, Starwood President for Europe, Africa and Middle East. 'The signing of St. Regis Hotel & Residences Saadiyat Island is another sign of Starwood's commitment to develop all its brands in the fast-growing Middle East region, offering opportunities for guests and visitors to experience a new level of luxury, elegance and service.'

The St. Regis Hotel & Residences Saadiyat Island is one of nine world-class hospitality retreats being built on Saadiyat Beach which has been masterplanned to deliver an A-list, celebrity 'see-and-be-seen' environment. TDIC's aim for Saadiyat Beach is to have highly landscaped resorts noted for their tranquil sanctuary designs and ambience. The company laid down strict development guidelines for the resorts which have a series of natural dunes and fauna lying directly behind their beachfronts. Development concepts for the beach have taken into consideration the natural environment while offering hotel guests recreational amenities and entertainment on a par with the world's finest resort settings.

TDIC selected a limited number of select investors for Saadiyat Beach projects and the resorts approved, which are due to open at the end of 2009, are designed to create a destination in harmony with nature while providing premium hospitality.

Guests will access the resorts' beaches by a series of boardwalks and pathways that will meander through a picturesque dune environment. Once on Saadiyat Beach, visitors will experience a completely natural setting only a few minutes walk from their hotel rooms. Saadiyat Beach is expected to have strong appeal, particularly among European tourists who are looking for the kind of excellent waterfront destinations the island represents.