In a city known for extravagance, indulgence and modern glamour, Dubai’s new 25Hours hotel more than stands out from the rest. Just a stone’s throw from the new flagship exhibition space, the Museum of the Future, the hotel has the personality to match this stand-out landmark. It’s also tearing up the rulebook on Dubai hotel design.
25hours – an inclusive brand known for its LGBTQ+ advocacy – is breaking boundaries at its newest hotel, which features the emirate’s first outdoor mixed gender sauna and provocative slogans such as “come to bed with me”.
“You are coming here for an experience that’s unlike any other,” Sunny Chawla, the hotel’s director of marketing and communications told i.
“You are coming for a very modern hotel with all the touches of the past. You can see the future of Dubai here.”
He added: “It’s like nothing else in Dubai, it’s different, it’s creative and quirky. Our main goal here is to be different.”
The ambience
Unlike other hotels in Dubai, you won’t find any monochrome here, but instead pops of bright colour. Walking into the lobby is a little like entering a museum, with the Fountain of Tales library – encompassing more than 5,000-books and a rotating globe – immediately catching your eye.
The ceiling is decorated with space-themed art, which contrasts with the antique-looking objects that fill the shelves above reception and the colourful hanging basket chairs.
As is typical of Dubai, it’s a vast space. The walls stretch 5m up, but the friendly concierge – happy to help with even the smallest of requests – immediately makes guests feel welcome. There’s also a coffee shop and plenty of free-to-use co-working spaces.
Upstairs, guests have the opportunity to rifle through the hotel’s expansive vinyl collection and even record their own in the “Analogue Circus”. If that’s not nostalgic enough, typewriters, videos, Polaroids and vinyl are available on room service, and guests can borrow old-school films and tracks from a giant trunk-case. Huge carts full to the brim with books line the guestroom corridors, which guests are encouraged to borrow and exchang.
