Report InterContinental Hotel 1980

Intercontinental Hotel-: Every art needs a frame, and the frame of the

InterContinental Hotel is Khalidiya Street with its rows of buildings that create a majestic entry. Built on top of an artificial hill, it shows royalty in a desert city where the land is mainly flat.

Location: -

This five star luxury hotel is located on the beach of Abu Dhabi and is around 5 km from the city center.

The Intercontinental is perfectly behind the beach and is less than 10 minutes from both downtown and the International Exibition Center.

The Heritage village, the cultural foundation and the Lulu Island are also close it. For an extremely unique shopping experience, the Gold Souk is a must, while the more modern Marina and Abu Dhabi Mall are near.

- history :

When the InterContinental was built, Abu Dhabi was still a blossoming capital. In 1975, Sheikh Zayed created the government-owned Abu Dhabi National Hotels Company to build and manage hotels. In the same year, the company signed a 50 million dollar deal for the construction of the InterContinental Hotel in the Bateen area, by paying 90% of the total sum while the InterContinental Hotel Group provided the residual 10%. With the Hilton and the Sheraton Corniche hotels, the InterContinental observed the beginnings of the tourism industry in Abu Dhabi. The hotel was intended to provide accommodations to the six heads of the Gulf Cooperation Council states during their first summit in the year 1981.

The Intercontinental hotel is the only hotel that was opened by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan may he rest in peace, since it is the Hotel that has been built to attend the first summit of the Gulf Cooperation council in 1981.

THE ARRIVAL OF GCC LEADERS IN 1981

-Designer:-Benjamin Thompson (July 3, 1918), known as Ben Thompson, was an American architect.

He was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, graduated from Yale University in 1941, and then spent four years in the United States Navy fighting in World War II. He moved to Lexington after the war, Massachusetts, where he participated in the design and creation of Six Moon Hill, a neighborhood of modern houses. Thompson began his career as an architect in 1946, when he helped persuade Walter Gropius and six other architects to form The Architects' Collaborative in Cambridge, Massachusetts.In 1953, he founded Design Research, a company that provided interior furnishings and accessories. Design Research was the first U.S. importer and retailer of the Finnish clothing and textiles of Marimekko. The firm eventually added stores in New York (1964) and San Francisco (1965). In 1969, he designed the company's revolutionary second Cambridge store, notable for its extreme openness and use of glass. In 1970, Ben lost financial control and ownership of Design Research.

- Architecture: The InterContinental has white solid walls that show contrast with the green of the land and the blue colors of the sky. The façade contains simple rows of windows organized in a regular pattern. The architect Benjamin Thompson prevented monotony by splitting the hotel into two parallel planes. By this effect, the hotel looks like it has an added dimension. The break in between the planes is used to make the presidential and royal suites more expansive, thus quite suitably forming the crown of the building.

-Access (Entrance(s)):

-One main entrance to the hotel.-2 entrances for the wedding hall.-One VIP entrance and one behind the main entrance.

  - Lighting: In this hotel they used artificial and natural lighting; they put a lot of opening in every single side of the hotel to have natural light and also because they have many awesome views to look at, but this opining didn’t stop them to put artificial lights, they placed a huge chandelier behind the entrance inside restaurant and inside balls.

-Interior:- Benjamin Thompson understood that modern simplicity will not meet his client’s expectations, so the interior of the hotel was decorated in gold and Orientalist with geometry, repetition and luxuries.

The hotel has a total of 387 rooms and 54 luxury suites. All rooms come with either a great view of the city skyline or a view over the Arabian Gulf. Guest rooms come furnished with the latest in technology, with satellite TV, pay per view movies, and direct dial telephone with voice mail, work desk / space and free standard services of the internet. Luxuriously furnished room come with private bathrooms with a Bathtub, minibar and tea and coffee maker.  Spacious and comfortable suites, have king bedrooms with large seating area and a dining area, the marble bathrooms give a double vanity. Suites enjoying privacy and can be opened into an adjourning bedrooms.

-Repetitive to Unique/ Geometry:- The designer used repetition in many ways in chandelier,

columns, designs, also in geometry.

This

mar

ble in the photo are from Egypt. It’s the last one from its kind because it's very expensive.

- Leisure, sports and recreational facilities :

There is an outdoor swimming pool that looks over the hotels own private marina and Yacht Club, tennis courts and squash court as well as a state of the art gym and health club with sauna, Jacuzzi, steam room and plunge pool.

There is also an on-site Spa, with treatment rooms offering a range of massage and facial treatments.

- Restaurants:

CHAMAS

Is a Brazilian Churrascaria restaurant where they Used dark brown wood in floors, ceiling, walls and furniture’s. Also, they had luxurious chandeliers .

BELGIAN CAFÉ

Ever since it's opening in the year 2009, the Belgian Café has been the city’s primary restaurant amongst locals, expats and tourists offering the best of Belgium. The restaurant is designed in a classically European setting. The Belgian Café is a little piece of old Brussels right in the heart of Abu Dhabi.

In addition, the Belgian Café terrace serves up for any occasion. Add to that a marina view that never

disappoints anyone.

FISHMARKET

It is one of the first and most famous restaurants in town and InterContinental Abu Dhabi’s flagship outlet. The Fish market first opened its doors 30 years ago. You can pick the freshest seafood, cooked Thai-style and served in a relaxed setting along the beach and you have the recipe for a truly legendary dining experience.

They designed the fish market like classic Emirati houses with a modern touch this is shown in every single item such as the chairs, tables, chandelier and even jars and accessories. This makes the customer feel the Emirati culture and way of life.

CIRCO

Circo offers expensive Italian flair built upon groundwork of signature Tuscan recipes from the kitchen of Maccioni matriarch Egidiana and prepared by Chef Luca. The menu is served in a lively, stylish setting reminiscent of the old-style European circus tents which motivated the restaurant's name. The menu features signature Tuscan dishes with accurate recipes passed down through the generations of the Maccioni family who originated the restaurant. With locations in New York and Las Vegas, Circo is the only restaurant in the UAE, exclusively at the iconic, InterContinental Abu DhabiCirco’s dining room takes guests on a journey from the lively streets of Abu Dhabi to a playful European carnival tent through its imaginative and charming design. The radiant colour palette and cheerful decor creates a vibrant, unusual and lively ambiance that is enhanced by luxurious interior design. 

THE YACHT CLUB

This brand is a new Asian attraction inspiration from hotspots like Hong Kong, Hanoi, Tokyo, Bangkok and more.

The Yacht Club is a hot favored in Abu Dhabi for a many reasons. It’s a gorgeously designed club, with mirrored walls, high ceilings and colorful décor. Very obviously a nightclub, the floor plan hearts around the bar and dance floor, though the place still achieves its dining section on quiet nights beautifully

 The outdoor seating has comfortable enormous couches, overseeing the marina, with charmingly designed lighting and ambiance. That being said, we opt for a table indoors, feeling it’s just a tad warm to quite appreciate the outdoors, and so comfortable up in one of the spherical booths elevated over the sides of the dance floor.

BYBLOS SUR MER

 This restaurant has a Lebanese dining experience; it's over two floors with expansive terraces,

It delights guests with its charismatic atmosphere and stylish decor reminiscent of traditional Phoenician forts. Adding to the heart-warming ambiance.

At the InterContinental Abu Dhabi they are continually bringing together the stylishness and sophistication of the modern world with world-class traditional flavors

The 300 seat restaurant is set over two floors. The ground floor and terrace will be the exclusive dining areas, where guests will be transported to the coast of Byblos and

able to appreciate the magnificent seaside view. The second floor will host Byblos Sur Mer’slounge bar where singers and performers will amuse guests throughout the evening

They designed the enterance with shesha because they have a special taste for it, it’s a very luxuious restaurant.

Also for the logo they used a Lebanese traditional dancers.

- Renovations :   Renovation happened in

2007, where only the ballrooms were left untouched ever since Benjamin Thompson designed them. Curtains and carpets were

changed because they were spoiled. This is because the ballrooms are

one of the hotel’s historical places: it is there that Sheikh Zayed welcomed the heads of the GCC states, and where many princely weddings were celebrated, too. In addition, the striking contrast between the simple exterior and the opulent interior was conserved.

All rooms and suites were completely renewed because they were of an old design such as the Marie Antoinette and others with classic taste but the outside was kept the same. This resulted in people not believing how a place so simple from the outside could be so luxurious from the inside.

Before there were four restaurants (Mexican, Moroccan, buffet restaurant, and fish market) but after that they opened the Italian, Belgian, Lebanese and Brazilian restaurant. They also added 2

pools.

Before Renovation After Renovation

Reception Before Renovation Reception After Renovation

- Site Plan:

-How my research was done:

I started my research on the Intercontinental by surfing the internet on 28th of January. I have found information about the designer and the history of the place as well as many pictures of its interior. However, I couldn’t find any close up images of the exterior also there are many designers named Benjamin Thompson and none of them have a specific information that he did the hotel so I choose the closest one with his works and timing. My internet surfing took about 1 week but I couldn't find the site plan, sections and elevations anywhere on the internet and when I tried to get the top view of the hotel from Google earth it was not possible. After 2 weeks, I called the hotel and booked an appointment with Ms. Reema El Baroode to talk about the hotel and to provide me with any information that can help my research. At the interview, 90% of what she told me was already provided on the internet and when I asked about the site plan she refused to deliver it because it is part of the hotel's privacy and that she would send me images of the hotel before and after the renovations but after 2 days when she contacted me, she sent me only 4 photos that were already on the internet. After that, I contacted her once more to try to give me the site plan; she refused again because she cannot let it out of its place. Also because they don’t allow people to know all of the hotel's entrances and exits as well as other details since it can be a danger for the hotel. However, she told me that I can get it only by getting the signature of the owner of the hotel Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak and that was difficult for me to achieve but a family friend that works with the royals spoke to Mr. Nasr at the hotel but he also refused and said the Sheikhs signature is needed. So, I tried once again and asked for two letters from the university one for the owner of the hotel (so I found out his office and I gave the massage to his secretary Ms. Judy (02-4440062)) and the second one for the manager (to allow me to get the site plan but they still didn’t reply). So for the last time, I went to the hotel and drew a small sketch of the site plan.

-Things I learned:

Before entering the hotel, it's simple exterior gave me the idea that it is simple in the interior as well .however, when I entered its interior was completely different in many ways than the exterior and this allowed me to know that in design, the exterior doesn’t always represent the interior and how in the internet photos of maps and Google earth it looked smaller. However, in reality it was much bigger and has enormous spaces which made me not believe everything on the internet. My research also showed me how hard it is to gather any information in the Arab world.

-References:

1- http://www.f-in-d.com/stories/abu-dhabi-guide-2014- intercontinental-hotel

2- https://www.google.ae/maps/place/ InterContinental+Abu+Dhabi/@24.457961,54.329398,2a,90y/data=!3m5!1e2!3m3!1s15871724!2e1!3e10!4m2!3m1!1s0x3e5e65f2733ee575:0xdc9256595a122f92!6m1!1e1?hl=en

3- http://www.lux-hotels.com/uae/intercontinental- abudhabi/image_gallery.php

4- http://www.arabiahorizons.com/InterContinental-Abu- Dhabi/

5- http://www.otelow.com/intercontinental-hotel-abu- dhabi.html

6- http://www.dining-intercontinental-ad.ae/ restaurants/byblos-sur-mer

7- http://www.tripadvisor.com.eg/Hotel_Review-g294013- d299238-Reviews-InterContinental_Abu_Dhabi-Abu_Dhabi_Emirate_of_Abu_Dhabi.html

8- http://uaehistory.com/ %D8%B5%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%88%D9%84%D9%89-%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE/?tag=555

9- http://news.travelerpedia.net/tourism/%D8%AA %D9%88%D8%B3%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%81%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%83%D9%88%D9%86%D8%AA%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%A3%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%B8%D8%A8%D9%8A/

10- http://www.ihg.com/hotels/ae/ar/ abu-dhabi/auhha/hoteldetail?qAdlt=1&qBrs=6c.hi.ex.rs.ic.cp.in.sb.cw.cv.ul.vn&qChld=0&qFRA=1&qGRM=0&qPSt=0&qRRSrt=rt&qRef=df&qRms=1&qRpn=1&qRpp=12&qSHp=1&qSmP=3&qSrt=sDD&qWch=0&srb_u=1&icdv=99618341&siclientid=9086&icdv=99618341

11- reema.baroudi@ihg.com 12- The Architecture of united Arab

Emirates- Auther: Salma Samar Damluji