This Day, That Year – February 25

This day in history we feature the Emirates Palace. This is a luxury five-star hotel in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates opened on this day in 2005.

Trivia – Emirates Palace

The Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental, Abu Dhabi has been operated by Mandarin Oriental as of 1 January 2020. The hotel project was launched in December 2001 and was initially operated by Kempinski from its opening in November 2005 until 1 January 2020.

Related read – Emirates Palace named official luxury hotel partner of Manchester City club

The building was designed by WATG Architects with Reza Rahmanian as the Architect of the exterior. The design of the hotel is a mix of Islamic architectural elements such as balance, geometry, proportion, rhythm and hierarchical emphasis alongside modern methods of design and construction. The central dome features elaborate geometrical patterns and 114 smaller domes are spread over the building. The colour of the building was inspired by different shades of sand found in the Arabian Desert. Construction, carried out by Belgian company BESIX, started in December 2001. The interior fit-out works were delivered by Depa Interiors, Abu Dhabi with the hotel opening its gates in February 2005. The construction costs were around US$3 billion (11.02 billion dirhams) making it the third most expensive hotel ever built, surpassed by the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas in Las Vegas ($3.9 billion) and the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore ($5.5 billion). Emirates Palace consists of 390 residences, including 92 suites and 22 residential suites. The residences are spread over two wings as well as a primary central building. The majority of the suites are furnished in gold and marble. The main primary building houses an expensive marble floor and a large patterned dome above, picked out in gold. The penthouse floor has six Rulers’ Suites which are reserved exclusively for dignitaries, such as royalty. The facilities include 2 spa facilities, over 40 meeting rooms, a 1.3 km long beach, a marina, 2 helicopter landing pads, a ballroom that accommodates up to 2500 people, various luxury shops and international restaurants. Due to the change in management, the Palace was renovated over the course of two years.

Source – Wikipedia