Super luxury hotels stand apart (page 2 of 2)

At over 300 meters tall, the Kingdom Center in Riyadh contains a five-star Four Seasons Hotel considered the first true five-star luxury hotel in Saudi Arabia. Prince Walid bin Talal spent three years reviewing and rejecting over 100 designs from the world's top architectural firms.

Saudi planning rules stipulate that buildings cannot have more than 30 occupied floors. At over 300 meters, there was probably enough room for over 80 floors. The way round this was to create an elaborate unoccupied empty sculpture featuring a shallow arch, which functions as an observation deck for guests and visitors.

The 195-ton deck was built on top of the building's concrete structure at about 190 meters and then lifted into place by four cranes. These cranes were the tallest mast-supported tower cranes ever used in the Middle East, and possibly in the world, at just over 340 meters high.

Jutting out of the water like a giant sail, the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai gives new meaning to luxury. In an industry where five stars mean the ultimate in luxury, the emirate boasts the world's only seven-star hotel.

"Visitors to the hotel give it the honorary title of a seven-star hotel because of its magnificence and ultimate luxury," says Mary McLaughlin, the hotel's media relations manager. Built on a manmade concrete island, the hotel is 1,300 feet from shore to avoid casting a shadow on the beach.

It is the world's tallest membrane structure with a 200 meter atrium. As Sheppard says, "Space is everything in luxury." Each of the 28 guest floors is double height. The smallest accommodation is 1,800 square feet, while the largest is 8,400 square feet. Even the fish tanks in the lobby are bigger than the rooms in smaller hotels. And anything that glitters is gold: the hotel is decorated with 21,000 square feet of 22-karat gold leaf.

So that has to be difficult to top in anyone's book, unless, that is, you build a larger island. Dubai's Palm Islands Project is doing just that. Shaped like a palm tree, the island will house luxury hotels and over 2,000 luxury villas. To top it all, it will be the only hotel complex visible from the moon.

So the quest goes on for bigger, better and more luxurious. No sooner is a giant palm announced than plans emerge to open a ski resort - in Dubai. Its developer, the Al Otaiba Group, is building an indoor ski slope that will be completed in two years at a cost of $32 million. While summer temperatures reach a scorching 42°C, guests will be able to ski on slopes equal to the best Saint Moritz has to offer.

Islands visible from the moon, ski slopes in the desert, where now for luxury hotels in the Middle East? McGinnity is of the opinion that entertainment systems make all the difference. "We're currently working on a design with a holographic TV. This even changes the basics of how a room is designed."

The Hilton has introduced relaxation rooms, which attempt to create an oasis of calm and tranquillity - a fluffy pillow approach. This concept, however, is not being demanded by the luxury end of the market - it is for the business traveler. The luxury bar has to rise once again.