FIVE- STAR FASHION
An iconic designer brings Italian luxury to Dubai.
IN A CITY WHERE OUTRAGEOUS OPULENCE
is a compulsory lifestyle element, how does a luxury hotel like Palazzo Versace Dubai stand out from the competition? For Versace, a fashion house known for its confident embrace of sexy statement dressing, you start with the visuals. Donatella Versace (who led the design of all the marble-filled rooms and suites in the Palazzo herself), forwent the more obvious glass-and-steel-skyscraper option and instead chose a neoclassical building inspired by a 16th-century Italian palace. Set overlooking the Dubai Creek, the Palazzo oozes regal exclusivity. The cavernous lobby—its floor a mosaic reproduction of a Versace scarf—is the gateway into a well-heeled fashion fantasy. Ceilings are hand-detailed in gold. All the furniture is made by the House of Versace, right down to the rich turquoise silk bed linen. In fact, the iconic Versace Medusa adorns everything from your espresso cup at breakfast to the gold-embossed notepaper in your bedroom. It’s surprising how quickly one succumbs to the Italian designer’s over-the-top approach to hospitality here. (Happy hour is three hours long, and 24-hour butler service is standard.) The hotel is also home to the first-ever Versace spa, which has a treatment package— appropriately dubbed The Ultimate—that lasts over seven hours and includes champagne and a chauffeur along with a two-hour massage, a mani, a pedi, a blowout and a facial that uses 24-karat gold dust.