Review: Shangri-La Dubai still sets the pace for the savvy business traveller

If you have not stayed at the Shangri-La Dubai for a while then be prepared for a surprise with the recently-completed, less-minimalist and more-bling reception and lobby, although its Asian service standards remain outstanding and unchanged.

The location of this 302-luxury room and suites' hotel is ideal for doing business in Downtown Dubai and the views from this 42-storey tower are awe-inspiring.

My premier deluxe king room on the 33rd floor provided a grandstand view of the Burj Khalifa and the "Manhattan" district of the Sheikh Zayed Road, particularly spectacular at night. It was competitively priced at Dh950 per night on the hotel website.

This newly-refurbished 45-square metre room - in trendy shades of grey - was calm, elegant and ready for business. The complementary broadband internet clocked 11 Mbps, the fastest I have come across in the city.

In-house dining options for the hungry executive traveller range from Asian specials such as a Thai red duck curry for Dh125 to old western favourites such as an Dh75 club sandwich and Dh70 Margherita pizza; Evian water will set you back Dh30 and a coke Dh25.

A slimline desk and comfortable office chair also benefited from the exceptional view out of the premier room window, although with one square-pin and one multi-plug socket you might find need for an adaptor.

I’ve known people live at the Shangri-La, and for longer stays its 126 serviced apartments have similar levels of comfort.

If you require a printer then head up to the club lounge, part of the package with the premier room category. There is one Microsoft PC, an HP printer and another suitable for producing presentation hard copies.

The club lounge itself is always a welcome home-from-home for the travelling business person, with various food presentations through out the day, evening sundowners and breakfast. This can also be taken in the new golden lounge on the reception floor where the range of options is more comprehensive.

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London's Park Lane Hilton still sets the benchmark

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I took the precaution of an early morning workout in the gym first to free up some space after an excellent dinner in the Hoi An restaurant the night before. Here the courteous and efficient management, serving staff and chef all hail from Vietnam.

For Chinese cuisine the Shang Palace is a glamorous and similarly authentic experience.

The gym, equipped by Technogym, has six running tracks, four cycling machines and two skiing machines as well as a huge array of other exercise machines. Only the abs-cruncher was out-of-order.

Cross a bridge to a swimming pool complex on top of the hotel’s car park if you want an open air pool for sunbathing or one of the two tennis courts. For a small indoor infinity pool and gym that most guests probably don’t notice, turn right out of the lift on the 42nd floor.

Another very popular feature of this hotel is its Zen-like Chi spa with extremely able therapists. An hour’s massage costs from Dh520 in a series of spacious rooms.

However, this remains a quintessential downtown business hotel with meeting and conference facilities to match any requirement.

The Al Nojoom Grand Ballroom can seat 462 and Al Bader Junior Ballroom 396 guests. Both have great views over the bustling Dubai downtown and out over the the Arabian Sea.

Level three has no less than eight meeting rooms that can be used as boardooms to accommodate from four to 36 people, of which four can also be theatres seating 50 to 100.

That said I would give this hotel the highest markets for its general service standards. Staff were unfailingly polite and quick to act, even with the hotel at 90 per cent occupancy.

Hotels have struggled with service standards after the recent rapid expansion of the sector in Dubai. Only last week I waited for what seemed like ages to be served a glass of water at lunchtime by a rather unenthusiastic waitress in an empty restaurant in one new hotel.

You just won’t have that problem in the Shangri-La Dubai. It is as good as on its opening night 13 years ago that I remember well.

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

Election pledges on migration

CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"

SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"

Temple numbers

Expected completion: 2022

Height: 24 meters

Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people

Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people

First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time

First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres

Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres

Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor

The rules on fostering in the UAE

A foster couple or family must:

be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
not be younger than 25 years old
not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially

Explainer: Tanween Design Programme

Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.

The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.

It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.

The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.

Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”