Versace’s requiem to classic Italian design and luxury

The Italian luxury fashion brand, Versace, set up by the late Gianni Versace and his sister Donatella, is also known for something beyond fashion. The absolutely decadent and stunningly beautiful hotels are under the brand name Palazzo Versace, a Preferred Hotels & Resorts member. Hotelier India had the opportunity to review the Palazzo Versace hotel in Dubai. The Dubai property is the newest, at least newer than the Gold Coast one. It also happens to be one of Emirate’s most opulent and glamorous properties. A £500 million neo-classical palace built on the banks of Dubai Creek, the hotel took over ten years to build.

Palazzo Versace has suites in confection colours of pink, blue, peach and lilac, with accents of gold. The cavernous vanity area holds the famous Donatella show mirror. The sprawling ninth-floor Imperial Suite, the highest category suite, is inspired by the rock-baroque Miami palazzo, owned by her late brother and designer, Gianni, like much of the hotel’s 215 rooms 169 private residences. It sprawls over 1,200 sq.m. and offers an 180 degree views of the Dubai Creek. The 1,300 sq.ft. luxuriously appointed apartments or ‘mini palaces’ feature two bedrooms and a living space linked by a corridor, gigantic wooden doors, crystal chandeliers and hand-blown glass-bottomed lamps. All across the bedrooms, Versace brand icons abound, with the Medusa head embroidered on towels and engraved on the base of crystal tumblers, and the distinctive Greek key pattern hand detailed in gold around cornices. Versace’s vivid baroque prints feature peacocks, falcons and Arabian horses – a nod to the local culture.

The hotel is overrun by lights, lamps and opulent chandeliers, like the 3,000 kg Bohemia crystal beauty in the foyer, moving with the rhythm of a slowly flowing river at even a little gust of wind, which was handcrafted in the Czech Republic. Dining at Palazzo Versace is clearly an occasion. The outdoor space Enigma, a modern Turkish restaurant, has beautiful views of the Dubai creek and the luxury yachts. At Q Bar and Lounge, a jazz bar in partnership with Quincy Jones, everything is black; even the walls are covered in black leather. La Vita, a chic and vibrant smoke-free bar upholstered in leather and matelassé textile, along with the living room setting is the perfect place for either pre or post-dinner drinks. Palazzo Versace is a requiem to great design, luxury, beauty and Italian way of life, or dolce vita, transported through design, art and great hospitality to the shores of Dubai.