NEWS

Welcome to One World, One Family, One Festival. Welcome to Dubai, the Shopping Paradise. Entertain yourself with hundreds of options. Go for a dash of culture, custom and tradition. Then, perhaps drive and laugh as you collect your winnings from the bank.

Giorgio Armani S.p.A., the investment vehicle of Italian designer Giorgio Armani, plans to build a $150 million, 100-room "designer" hotel in the south of Russia, Kommersant business daily quoted a source at developer POP as saying on Friday. The $2,000 a night hotel project is expected to break even in eight years.

Russia’s North Caucasus isn’t renowned as a fashion hotspot – but the resort towns around Mineralniye Vody could change all that. World-famous designer Giorgio Armani is considering open his second branded hotel in the mountain resort in Stavropol Region.

The DEPE has partnered with over 80 four and five-star hotels including beach hotels and resorts for DSF 2011. Some of the participating beach and city hotels include Madinat Jumeirah, Armani Hotels & Resorts, Atlantis the Palm Jumeirah, InterContintental Dubai Festival City, Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa, Jumeirah Bab Al Shams Desert Resort & Spa, Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Kempinski Hotel Mall of The Emirates, The Address Downtown Dubai, The Palace - The Old Town Hotel and numerous other hotels.

As a foodie, there is nothing better in this world than eating gourmet cuisine and being as high as you can possibly be….up in the air. I’m talking about fine dining at the At.mosphere, the world's highest restaurant in the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa skyscraper, which is a world-class destination and the magnificent centerpiece of Downtown Dubai.

Visitors to the Burj Khalifa can now take home a souvenir of their visit in the shape of a gold bar emblazoned with the logo of the tallest building on the planet. The first Gold To Go machines in the emirate were installed at tower’s observation deck and in the souvenir shop at the adjoining Dubai Mall on Wednesday. Each dispenses four different types of gold bars, in sizes ranging from 2.5 grams to one ounce (28.3g).

Conceived as a complete lifestyle destination, At.mosphere is described as 'The Centre of Now.' At 442 meter on Level 122 of Burj Khalifa, the restaurant is located only two levels below 'At the Top, Burj Khalifa,' the tower's 828m-high observatory deck.

Another world first can be found over at the Burj Khalifa which is home to fashion house Armani’s debut hotel. Luxury oozes from every crevice of the Armani Hotel, from the sleek designs of the rooms that make you feel as though you have stepped on to a photo shoot to the finishing touches that even include Armani branded sugar cubes. And the food is certainly an experience, with eight restaurants to choose from including the Armani Ristorante which, in keeping with the brand’s founder, is an Italian delight.

Dubai's six-year boom, which fueled construction of the world's tallest building and artificial island archipelagos, slammed to a halt in 2008 after the global financial crisis. Millions of dollars of construction projects were slashed or put on hold and the emirate is struggling to dig out from under a massive debt burden, estimated at more than $100 billion. Developers at Emaar Hospitality, of Emaar Properties, say the restaurant opening at these soaring heights is a sign that the low point of Dubai's recession is ending.

Annabel Kantaria explains why she's not surprised the next James Bond book will be set in Dubai, plus Anna Nicholas on the mugging of Harry Redknapp in Spain. Indeed, just as Tom Cruise and the Mission Impossible 4 boys climb down from the Burj Khalifa, we hear about Dubai’s next starring role: our city is to be the backdrop for the 28th James Bond book, “Carte Blanche”, which is due to be released in May.