Dubai chosen for world's first Fashion Hotel

Dubai will be the location for the world's first Fashion Hotel, with more to follow in key fashion cities around the world, it was announced on Friday.

French-based broadcaster Fashion TV said it has signed an agreement with the UAE's Al Habtoor Group to build the five-star hotel.

Michel Adam, president of the Fashion TV global network, inked the deal with Mohammed Al Habtoor, vice chairman and CEO of the Al Habtoor Group at a ceremony at the Cannes Film Festival.

The hotel, to be located in the heart of Dubai, will be owned and operated by the Al Habtoor Group, a statement said. No specific details on location or opening dates were given.

It will be 30 storeys high and the exterior will display a projection using a 100 metre LED screen, broadcasting the latest Fashion TV highlights, around the clock, the statement added.

Its 200 rooms will be equipped with the latest lighting and audio-video technologies and will make extensive use of the latest 3D equipment.

They will also have access to Fashion TV's 30 channels, as well as the biggest Fashion DVD library in the world, offering 50,000 DVDs on the history of fashion.

The hotel will also have a wide variety of restaurants, bars, lounges, nightclubs, spas and cinemas, as well as fashion-themed rooms.

Michel Adam, president of Fashion TV, said: "For years, we have wanted to create the ultimate fashion-themed hotel, aimed at providing Fashion TV viewers, models and businessmen and women with a memorable fashion experience.

"It's a great pleasure to sign an agreement with Mohammed Al Habtoor, to share this vision and make this fantastic, global project a reality. Hotel experiences will no longer be the same."

He added: "It's an exceptional project and one which is likely to have a massive impact on Dubai, making it the future fashion capital of the world. The city will certainly never be the same again."

The Al Habtoor Group and Fashion TV said they plan to make the Dubai hotel the first of a chain of Fashion Hotels in key fashion locations around the world.

Launching in Paris, Europe's fashion capital, Fashion TV's initial strategy was to obtain a global dominance of the fashion-broadcasting sector.

Today, the broadcaster reaches more than 350 million households worldwide.