By 2018, Dubai is planning to open new twin-tower luxury resort the Rosemont, which will feature a vast artificial rainforest, urban beach and cantilevered Sky pool.
Designed by ZAS Architects Dubai, the futuristic, high-tech mega-project (made up of two 50-plus storey towers) will sport a number of ambitious innovations, including other-worldy leisure spaces to attract both guests and visitors.
The most dazzling will be 7,000 sqm of manmade tropical rainforest. DJ Armin, principal architect and managing partner of ZAS Architects Dubai, says it will be “complete with adventure trails, a sandless beach, a splash pool, waterfalls, streams and prehistoric Jurassic-inspired marsh”.
The jungle will occupy a five-floor podium joining the two towers of the Rosemont at their base, meaning guests will be surrounded by steaming trees, exotic plants and water on arrival.
Built-in sensors will detect when people are walking through the forest, triggering rainfall all around them but without them actually getting wet. The droplets will simultaneously be collected and recycled.
Enormous projections of plant and marine life will be above the heads of those who arrive at reception by car.
Half way up one of the towers will be a vertigo-inducing infinity pool. The wrap-around Sky pool will not only be cantilevered, allowing for panoramic views of the city from outdoors, but will also have a glass bottom.
Inside the hotel, which is reported to cost £230 million, will be “digital waterfalls” and kinetic light sculptures. Meanwhile, luggage will be handled by robots so there will be no need for porters.
Located opposite Dubai Internet City, on Sheikh Zayed Road, the Rosemont Hotel and Residences will have 450 guestrooms and 280 serviced apartments. There will be fine-dining restaurants, meeting space, a gym, spa, bowling alley, trampoline park and VIP lounges.
The Rosemont will be part of Hilton’s Curio Collection of individually styled luxury hotels. The hotel giant has been operating its Curio Collection since 2014, and already has properties in Las Vegas (the SLS) and Buenos Aires (the Anselmo).
In Europe, it recently opened the Reichshof Hamburg hotel. In the Middle East, the Rosemont will be joined by the Al Rayyan hotel in Doha, by the Mall of Qatar, in January 2017.
Rudi Jagersbacher, president of Hilton Worldwide in the Middle East and Africa, says: “Dubai’s vibrant hospitality sector continues to grow at an impressive pace, firmly earning its position as a highly desirable destination for global travellers.
“We continue to see huge potential in the market, and to add a Curio property to our portfolio of 35 hotels either trading or under development in the UAE is our global recognition of the Emirates’ unique ability to further build a compelling and cultured offering to attract visitors from around the world.”