I think this deserves its OWN thread:

Elisabetta Gucci plans 40 hotels over 15 years

Tamara Walid and Jason Benham
DUBAI
Wed Jun 2, 2010 5:06pm BST
Related News

DUBAI (Reuters) - Luxury hotelier Elisabetta Gucci is planning 40 hotels over the next 15 years in the Middle East, Far East and South America and aims to open its first hotel in Dubai at the end of 2010, an executive said.

Partner Lorens Ziller at Elisabetta Gucci Hotels & Resorts told the Reuters Global Luxury Summit the construction of the 87-room luxury boutique hotel is completed, with the firm eyeing a second hotel in China next year.

Elisabetta Gucci is daughter of Italian fashion designer Paolo Gucci.

"We intend to develop other hotels for the GCC, and outside our focus will be Russia, China, Far East, Africa and South America, particularly Brazil," said Ziller. "We would like to have 40 hotels in 15 years but think this can be over achieved."

Dubai, which suffered the sharpest drops in hotel revenues regionally in 2009, is seeing signs of recovery with improved occupancies, as the Gulf's tourism and trade hub emerges from the impact of the global financial crisis.

The emirate, one of seven comprising the United Arab Emirates, is famous for its opulent hotels.

"If we had a 300-room hotel I would be seriously concerned," said Ziller. "But even in the downturn there's great potential for boutique hotels in Dubai."

In April, Italian designer Giorgio Armani opened his first branded hotel in Dubai in partnership with developer Emaar Properties at Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower.

The Elisabetta Gucci hotel was originally scheduled to open by the end of 2009 but was delayed by a year, said Ziller.

"Because of the global market financing was halted and the overall liquidity of developers was very low we are running a delay of a year," he said. "I hope to see the hotel being finished by the end of the year."

The hotelier partnered with Abu Dhabi developer Baitek International Real Estate to develop the chain of hotels in the Gulf Arab region. The Dubai hotel is funded by Baitek for an undisclosed amount.

Generally, the estimated cost of a luxury hotel could come to 10.4 million euros, said Ziller.

A night at the Elisabetta Gucci Hotel Dubai would cost as little as an estimated 1,500 UAE dirhams ($408.5) to as much as 25,000 dirhams ($6,808), Ziller said.

Guests will have the option to buy anything in the hotel from furniture and bed linen to slippers. Elisabetta Gucci works with Italy's Formitalia Luxury Group to create exclusive interiors, furniture and art.

A large number of future hotels, particularly in Russia and Eastern Europe, would be converted historic properties, he said.

The hotelier plans to form a hotel management company in June to manage its hotels worldwide and ensure quality is preserved, said Ziller.

(Editing by Louise Heavens)

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6514IR20100602

R

This is the only website I culd find.

http://www.elisabettagucci.com/


The Hotel is in Media City according to the press release, but where exactly, maybe TECOM, area C?


R

Elisabetta Gucci sued over branded hotel in Dubai
by Bloomberg on Friday, 25 June 2010

Elisabetta Gucci’s plan to open a global chain of hotels under her name may be blocked by the luxury goods company founded by her great-grandfather.

Gucci Group, owned by France’s PPR, filed a lawsuit this week in Florence, Italy, against Elisabetta Gucci and her partners “seeking injunctive relief in order to protect its rights,” Gucci Group said in an e-mailed response to questions from Bloomberg News.

The daughter of late fashion mogul Paolo Gucci, who designed the Italian brand’s trademark stirrup, plans to open an 87-suite property in Dubai’s Media World district by the end of the year, according to Lorens Ziller, managing director of her EG Hotels company.

Branded EG Hotels by Elisabetta Gucci, it will showcase furniture designed by her and built by Formitalia.

“Elisabetta Gucci is doing her job,” Ziller said in a June 23 interview. “She cannot cancel her name or her background. If she has a famous name or a famous background, that’s not her fault and we are not trying to use it as much.”

The Dubai hotel will be the first of 40 to open across the world in the next 15 years, according to Ziller. Gucci’s partner is Baitek International Investment, owned by Saudi Arabian investor Abdulla Al Sayegh. The website of Elisabetta Gucci, born in 1952, states that she has no connection with the fashion house.

“Gucci wants to make clear that it has no relationship to Elisabetta Gucci Hotels and that it is not involved in any project whatsoever with Elisabetta Gucci Hotels,” the company said in the e-mail. “If necessary, Gucci will take any needful step to protect its rights.”

Ziller, contacted by Bloomberg on Friday, said he spoke with Elisabetta Gucci the night before and she has no comment to make on the lawsuit at this time.

Italian fashion houses are opening branded accommodation in Dubai at a time when hotels have been hurt by a glut of rooms. Armani Group in April opened Armani Hotel Dubai in Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. Palazzo Versace, a 213-room property incorporating the designer Gianni Versace SpA’s brand, is 60 percent complete, Arabian Business reported in March, citing developer Emirates Sunland Group.

EB Hotels is counting on drastically lower hotel rates than those charged at Armani Hotel, Ziller said. Daily rates at the Elisabetta Gucci’s hotel would start at 1,500 dirhams ($408) compared with 4,000 dirhams per night at Armani. A night’s stay at one of Armani’s 160-room hotel can cost as much as 40,000 dirhams.

PPR, then called Pinault-Printemps-Redoute, completed its $9 billion purchase of Gucci in 2004.

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/591412-gucci-sues-founders-granddaughter-over-branded-hotel-in-dubai-

R

I doubt is a new tower, it's definitelly a building we already have a thread of ... oh, and it's NOT Gucci