A $30,000 machine for your morning cup of coffee

It was a Tuesday morning when I prepared myself to head to the 2019 edition of The Hotel Show at the Dubai World Trade Centre. As I collected my camera and equipment, I hoped that I would find something unique that I could capture at the event. After parking my car, I headed inside to meet my colleague, the reporter who had been assigned the story.

Together, we attended a few panel sessions before making our way around the exhibition floor to look for interesting stands. I clicked several shots of a Turkish stand that was illuminated by what could only be described as the light of a hundred lamps, as well as an exhibitor that was busy arranging a number of paintings and prints at his stand.

But, what we were really looking forward to was a stand that had promised us something spectacular – a gold coffee machine that was worth over $20,000. The evening before the event, I sat down with my colleague and she told me about a company called Dutch Lab that would be bringing this coffee machine to the event. As we walked to their stand, I expected to see something large and shiny that would justify the hefty price tag, but nothing prepared me for what we finally saw.

The coffee machine was unlike anything that I had ever seen before. Delicate, tall, and elegant, it looked like a piece of art, which was not far from the truth, since the creators were all designers. Also, there was not one, but four of these stunning pieces on display. The most expensive one was called the ‘Burj Akma’ and was priced at $30,000. Only 10 of them had ever been created as part of a very limited collection.