ArabianBusiness.com

When the Burj Khalifa opened with a dazzling fireworks display earlier this year, the tower was hailed as a marvel of modern engineering, which it certainly is. However, it is also an excellent example of sustainability at work.

Room rates at Dubai's Armani Hotel in the Burj Khalifa will start at AED1,700 for a night in one of 24 Armani studios, it was revealed on Sunday. The hotel, which is due to open in March, has put its online booking system live starting, with bookings able to be made at www.armanihotels.com.

Emaar Properties is still finalising the rebranding process of the Burj Khalifa and will shortly announce whether there will be a new name for the Downtown Burj Dubai area, the developer told Arabian Business on Tuesday. “Sheikh Khalifa is one of the UAE’s symbols,” said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Dubai’s Supreme Fiscal Committee and an uncle of Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

More than 800 apartments in Damac Properties’ Aykon City development have been sold, the company said in a statement.

The first residents have moved into the Armani Residences inside Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. Emaar Properties, the developer of the mixed-use tower, has handed over homes to buyers of the designer apartments and one of the new residents, Sarah Belhasa, has shown Arabian Business TV around her home.

Even with the limited amount we know about the project, it is impossible to conceive of how it could mirror the success of the Burj Khalifa, and thereby pay for itself. As anyone who has been to Jeddah will tell you, the idea of a Jeddah Mall, with starry-eyed tourists lining up to have their photos taken in front of the world’s tallest tower is not just implausible, it’s laughable.

The world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa, is scheduled to unlock its doors in early 2010 as the centrepiece of the Downtown Burj Khalifa area. This will include the world's first Armani Hotel, designed, featuring 160 guestrooms and suites, an Armani Spa, a private members' club, two gourmet restaurants and a nightclub. It will also boast 144 exquisite Armani Residences all furnished in the designer's ‘homes' brand, Armani Casa.

Giorgio explained the was surprised when Mohammed Alabbar asked him to do this hotel project in Dubai. “My thinking is less is more, and Dubai was being called the Las Vegas of the desert. I couldn’t understand why he wanted this hotel in Dubai.” Alabbar himself told me it took “two years” to persuade him to sign up!

Saudi Arabia will help China build a $1.3bn luxury hotel modelled on Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, according to newspaper reports from Beijing. The People’s Daily Online quoted a senior official as saying that graphics and planning of the ‘seven-star’ hotel had already been completed. The announcement was made at a press conference on Wednesday.

The UAE Minister of Economy's keynote speech from the 4th Arabian Business Forum is shown in full below. HE Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori is the UAE's minister of economy. He was speaking at the 4th Arabian Business Forum, held at the Armani Hotel Dubai on May 23, 2011