By Tony Smyth
Nestled in the grounds of the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, the Westin Abu Dhabi Hotel is a luxury destination resort and focal point of a community that has been built in and around the sprawling fairways and greens of this championship course. Owned by Abu Dhabi-based development company, Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), the interiors were designed by the international hospitality design firm Gettys.
The concept for the whole resort was that of creating an oasis. TDIC wanted this property to feel like a departure from some of the newer urbanized resorts in the city.
“We really wanted this to be a place of elegant yet relaxed respite,” says Meg Prendergast the project’s principal-in-charge from Gettys’ Chicago office. Being adjacent to the golf club, the developer anticipated that the hotel would be hosting and entertaining a variety of guests. Golfing enthusiasts, locals, business and pleasure travelers from around the world, as well as visiting dignitaries and major sports and arts media for events in Abu Dhabi would feel welcomed by the relaxing environment. Building on the themes of oasis and natural environment, Gettys developed the interiors to be reflective of discovery, relaxation and restoration.
The exterior of the building is clad with rough, chiseled limestone that wraps an extensive amount of the façade. Gettys continued this natural element into the interiors, creating a lobby of dynamic proportions where stone is complimented by bronze and metal screen partitions. Unexpectedly undulating and angled ceiling design also relates back to the organic nature of the property’s architecture.
“For the guest’s primary introduction to the hotel, we designed the lobby and grand staircase to feel like a continuation of the out-of-doors; walking the materials in with the guests felt like an extension of the exterior’s natural elements,” says Prendergast.
Gettys kept the lobby décor to a minimum, focusing on a simple palette. From the top of the grand staircase, crafted from hand-awled reclaimed wood and seeded glass balustrade panels, guests can look through 45 foot tall floor-to-ceiling windows out to the golf course, creating an intimacy with the greenery of the fairways, essentially creating a massive picture window.
To create this dramatic arrival experience, Gettys combined different materials and lighting that referred to the ancient history of the region. The back wall of the front and concierge desks features translucent slices of petrified wood suspended behind the embossed bronze desks. The complex circular striations of the wood fossils provide a striking visual experience as well as adding an additional layer of texture and color.
As the hotel has several grand spaces, Gettys wanted the guestroom experience to act as a form of departure from public area activity. They viewed the guest journey as a series of crafted experiences starting from departing “real life” at the hotel arrival and walking through the grandeur of the public areas to the more intimate guestroom corridors culminating in the guest rooms and suites. These corridors compress the journey to each guest’s room in terms of scale, lighting and materials which become saturated, deeply toned and restful.
“There are times, when in the Middle East it’s nice to get away from the sun and the heat; Emirati locals have known this for hundreds of years. We used that guest need as a leverage point between taking people from a very public experience to a very private experience,” says Prendergast.
Upon entering the guestroom, visitors find themselves in rooms that are light and bright with high ceilings and wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling windows looking out to the golf course. Gettys paid attention to the fact that all of the guestrooms and suites have golf course views’ and let the scenery be the primary focus. The team then layered different textures and tonality to create a restful guestroom experience. The resulting palette combined caramel, honey, cream and walnut, with sea blue and sunset orange accents. The overall detailing incorporated stone, custom styled wool carpeting, several complimentary wood species, and rich bronze appointments.
Guest baths feature tile surrounds made from a natural horn mosaic that infused luxury and craftsmanship into the guest bath experience. The artisanal tiles pick up on local colors of medjool date, raffia, and coconut complimented by a vanity washstand with a hand hammered nickel finish; thus giving a classic washstand look but with a modern twist.
“The suites accommodate families or guests looking for more “elbow room”,” says Anne Faherty, Senior Project Designer, “Distinct living and dining areas are fully separated from sleeping rooms and the bathrooms are upgraded to include freestanding oval stone soaking tubs with a basket weave tile surround.”
As a destination resort there was an increased need to provide guests with a variety of upscale food and beverage experiences. Gettys worked with TDIC and Westin to develop the concept and function of the all-day-dining restaurant, concentrating on a wellness and discovery based lifestyle along with a variety of experiences over the course of a guests’ stay. Whilst the restaurant looks quite contemporary the roots for its design are based on the open air dining that might be found in a town square. Gettys used some interesting details throughout the space; some of note are the Asian action station’s Chinese dim sum steamer baskets as column cladding and the Arabic station’s saffron-colored lava stone wood-burning oven. While allowing for a variety of lighting and sound options, they also developed an interpretive lighting installation for the dining areas that referred to old European street lighting, bright and sparkly during the day, dimmed and glowing for evening.
Another space pivotal to guests’ needs is the Café on the lobby floor catering to modern day coffee convenience yet also acknowledging the longstanding Middle Eastern coffee and tea culture. The Café was developed as a modern grab ‘n go coffee bar with fresh, light food offerings but with available service. The Western traveler could feel very comfortable ordering from a counter “to go” and the local guest could feel just as comfortable sitting down having a server take and deliver their order.
“The design provides this coffee and light bite venue with dining and lounge seating and a library-esque area to give people different options on how to use these spaces through the course of their visit”, says Prendergast. “It’s definitely a casual spot, but guests still feel like they are in a dramatic space with fantastic views.”
According to locals, it is the Moroccan restaurant that has garnered a lot of attention. Designed to refer to an old Moroccan home (riad) Gettys layered finishes, found objects and authentically crafted elements resulting in an eclectic vintage Moroccan feel. Gettys worked with the owner to capture Berber styled detailing. Low levels of multiply cushioned and pillowed seating areas with collections of meze tables add to its exotic appeal. In pleasant weather, the mood can cascade out onto the leisure area terrace softly illuminated with candles and captured by colorful foliage of the area. Taking elements from ancient fortresses the restaurant reflects a modern authenticity and plays homage to a rich and ancient culture.
With 20,000 square feet of function space both the operator and owner wanted to cater to the local community for a variety of social, business and conference uses. Careful planning was implemented to maximize a gracious guest experience, state of the art meeting room facilities, sensitivity to local traditions, and appropriate levels of décor for anticipated formal functions.
Pre-function floors and ceilings accented in stone and rusticated wood continue the overall natural materiality of the hotel. Textured stucco finishes combined with rusticated wood beams create an air of local style. The design team developed a softly curved pre-function feature wall which in turn gives the interior of the grand ballroom its distinctive shape.
Gettys designed the Ballroom’s main entry doors in a unique hand-carved wood design again referencing the local architecture however with a modern eye. Ballroom walls are rich with wood millwork, upholstered in a slubby faux silk and accented with layered mother-of-pearl. The ballroom looks out onto its own private green-space courtyard that bathes the room in natural daylight and gives guests an outdoor area to enjoy during their event. Muted colors throughout the function spaces include elegant shades of abalone, pearl, aubergine, and dark cocoa which work well for business functions yet are also neutral enough for more formal events requiring specialty.
“We picked up on the idea that within an oasis one expects the rewards of water,” says Prendergast. “The chandeliers look like thousands of crystal droplets which are then reflected in the carpet pattern looking like the resultant ripple effects, creating a dramatic no-repeat signature carpet design.”
As with the overall hotel, each space delivers on an authenticity of materials and detail, treating each guest to a relaxed and luxurious experience throughout their stay. “We are thrilled to bring the multiple levels of Gettys’ expertise to the design of the Westin Abu Dhabi,” said Andrew Fay, president and COO of Gettys. “It is our largest completed project to date in the Middle East. We’re most satisfied with the results of this endeavor and we’re delighted to be working on several projects within the region
