The team behind The Meydan

With designs made from gold and silver, The Meydan Hotel in Dubai is guaranteed to impress. Hotelier Middle East finds out from the team behind the project why the Burj Al Arab has competition

THE MEYDAN

The Meydan Hotel held its grand launch at the Dubai World Cup this year, welcoming more than 80,000 race goers just weeks after its soft opening on March 4. With 285 rooms spread over eight floors, many with panoramic views of the racecourse, The Meydan is designed to impress.

While all eyes were on The Meydan during such a high-profile event, the pressure was on for the hotel to deliver, and Meydan Hotels and Hospitaltiy VP Abdin Nasralla says that the team was well aware of the impending opening date during the planning stages.

“We knew the World Cup was happening. There was no escape, it was happening on March 27,” Nasralla says. “So we said OK we want it to be March 26, we want it to be March 25, and we worked backwards. We had the team and we had to break it up. With my 40 years of experience, I’d like to advise any hotel manager and any operator: don’t take it as a big project — take it as small units and break it down. Your life will be easier.”

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Aiming for the top

Nasralla’s new position heading up The Meydan meant that he had to say goodbye to his previous role as general manager of Jumeirah Bab Al Shams Desert Resort and Spa, where he had been working for the past six years.

“I felt sorry to leave my baby,” Nasralla says of Bab Al Shams. “But people should look forward to a challenge and a change. I am sure with Jumeirah I handed over to capable managers who inherited what I built and it will continue in the right way, so it wasn’t really sour.”

It was in this role with Bab Al Shams that Nasralla was named the general manager of the year at the Hotelier Middle East Awards 2009. And, according to Nasralla, things will only get better — he is eager for The Meydan to be counted among established names such as the Burj Al Arab.

“The sky is the limit. We always aim for the highest, the best. I want to be the best hotel. I have been selected as the best manager of the year. So now I want to be the best manager of the world through Meydan,” Nasralla asserts.

“With Meydan we are going to make a great success. I think it will take me to where I want to be. Best, of course, or greater. Among all these big giants to stand here and say I’m next to The Address or next to Burj Al Arab or next to other big hotels — I want to be one of the best. And Meydan will help me to be there.”

On board for the final two years of the project, Nasralla was initially unaware that his position with Meydan would be anything other than an advisory role during the preparatory stages of the hotel launch.

“I was involved for two years; the chairman asked me to play the role of advisor and consultant. So I was involved two years ago but I didn’t think I would come to run this place because its huge, it’s got grandstands, marina, and horse racing. I was doing the consultation but I didn’t know who would operate it. At least not in the beginning, until I was told ‘you have to come over here’”, says Nasralla.

“So it’s nice. To be associated with Meydan is a privilege — I’m very lucky to be one of the people given this opportunity. Meydan’s going to be the talk of the town, not just in Dubai, but in the region, for a long time. Dubai always surprises people with who is the best. So it is going to be one of the good units in the country and I am happy to be part of it.”

And if Meydan is to be the talk of the town, much of the conversation will surely focus on the design of the hotel. There is a clear equestrian theme throughout — unsurprising when considering the location — but what is surprising is the detail. The brunch bar is surrounded by miniature horseshoes, while images of horses can be seen in the internal brickwork of the hotel.

Design

Teo A.Khing Design Consultants managing director and architect Teo Ah Khing is responsible for the design of the Meydan; which not only encapsulates the theme of horse racing but also retains a strong Arabic influence throughout the hotel.

“The colour scheme focused on three main colours; gold, black, and silver, which convey a strong sense of “richness” and modern sophistication,” explains Khing.

“These elements were complemented by warm tones of fabric, leather, and timber materials. The combination of the textured and smoothened surfaces produced an eclectic design that is modern, timeless, and elegant,: he continues.

“Throughout the hotel interiors, onyx stone, leather, gold and silver mosaic, real horseshoe, and 3D glass blocks (with horse figure) and silver were used as main features or as accents. The modern theme was made apparent with the use of stainless steel, metal trims, and glass.”

“Arabic geometry, which is a regular design feature in the region, was represented by the regular use of horseshoe patterns in the interiors — a contextual reference to the Arabians and to the Meydan racecourse. References to horses were also used in grandstand atria which outline horse figures in concentric graphic forms when viewed from the ground level,” adds Khing.