The iconic fashion label Gucci is to lend its name to a string of luxury boutique hotels over the next 15 years.
Hoteliers Elizabetta Gucci, named after the daughter of designer Paolo Gucci, will open the first in Dubai at the end of 2010 – an 87-room establishment. The hotel was supposed to open in 2009 but the downturn slowed progression.
The group plans to open its second hotel in China next year and then develop in Russia, the Far East, Africa and South America, particularly Brazil.
Said partner Lorens Ziller: “We would like to have 40 hotels in 15 years.”
Ziller added that Dubai, which saw a steep fall in hotel revenues in 2009, was experiencing a recovery.
Said Ziller: "If we had a 300-room hotel I would be seriously concerned. But even in the downturn there’s great potential for boutique hotels in Dubai."
