ACCOMMODATION

Before you scream Burj Khalifa’s 828m or the Makkah Clock Royal Tower’s height of 601m, we were duly informed that neither of the structures are dedicated hotel towers; while the former is indeed the tallest building in the world, it only houses the Armani Hotel and Residences from the concourse level to level eight and levels 38 and 39.

How the Burj Khalifa, among the world’s most luxurious properties, can be considered distressed helps to illustrate the extent of the downturn in Dubai’s real estate market in recent years. Two years ago, the tower held a glitzy, fireworks-themed grand opening that attracted worldwide news coverage. But by October 2010 apartment prices at the Burj Khalifa had dropped 40 percent and they have yet to recover.

The Metropolitan Hotel in Dubai is to be knocked down to make way for a Las Vegas-inspired luxury hotel project. The US$1.33 billion (Dh4.8bn) development on Sheikh Zayed Road is to include three luxury hotels with a total of 1,616 rooms and a theatre big enough to seat more than 1,000, Al Habtoor Group announced yesterday.

Only minutes away the world’s largest shopping and entertainment destination, The Dubai Mall, and the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, stands the famous, extravagant hotel, The Address Downtown. The hotel is within easy access of the most renowned landmarks and leisure hotspots in the city.

At the stroke of midnight on the New Year’s Eve on the 31st of December, Downtown Dubai and Burj Khalifa will welcome 2012 with a spectacular fireworks extravaganza. Now in the league of the most popular global New Year celebrations, Downtown Dubai will take centre stage and light up the Dubai skyline with an unprecedented and breathtaking ambience.

Armani Ristorante draws on the rich gastronomic traditions of authentic Italian cuisine. The menu offers a mix of traditional and modern dishes that takes the diner in an adventure of exploring new horizons. The food is served in an attractive, elegant and mouthwatering fashion.

On a bright autumn day in Milan last month, Giorgio Armani spent hours walking around a hotel, meticulously inspecting every last detail. The first Armani hotel opened last year in the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, in Dubai. But Mr Armani says he feels much more of an "emotional" connection with the Milan property.

When the timeless allure of famed Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani's understated elegance in haute couture is transferred to the interiors of a hotel, you can be assured that the results will be stunning. His foray into accommodation design was at the Armani Hotel in Dubai. Now he returns to his homeland to open the Armani Hotel in Milan.

This Armani Hotel is the second in the Armani Hotel chain, the collaboration between Giorgio Armani and Emaar Properties (one of the Arab world’s largest developers) opened another Armani Hotel in Dubai in the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa last year.

Situated in the heart of the Italian fashion capital's shopping district, the hotel occupies seven floors above the designer's boutiques. It begins on the seventh floor with a lobby and common area that Mr. Armani calculatedly kept removed from the bustling streets below, and contains 95 rooms.