THE St Regis brand of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has recently entered into an agreement with Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), to manage the latter’s luxurious, five-star St Regis Hotel & Residences Saadiyat Island on the Saadiyat Island development.

The project to be built and owned by TDIC, will transform the island into a signature leisure, residential and cultural destination, in the upscale Saadiyat Beach district just a five minutes’ drive from the island’s planned Cultural District.
Set to open in the final quarter of 2009, St Regis Hotel & Residences Saadiyat Island will flank the 72-par, championship standard Saadiyat Beach Golf Course, which has been designed by golfing legend Gary Player.
The hotel will have 380 luxurious guest rooms and suites, all with balconies and either Gulf or golf course views. It will have contemporary interiors making extensive use of natural products, an impressive range of food and beverage outlets, including all-day dining, eight themed restaurants, three lounges and more than 2,800 sq m of meeting and conference space. Adjoining the hotel, will be a separate St Regis-branded residence with 280 apartments of one, two and three bedrooms.
Conceptualised by Creative Kingdom as a refined Mediterranean-style coastal retreat reminiscent of California’s St Regis Monarch Bay, the $600 million Abu Dhabi property has been designed by Australia’s Woods Bagot, with interiors by Atlanta’s Hirsch Bedner Associates and Dubai’s Mirage Mille as the project manager.
The St Regis Hotel & Residences Saadiyat Island is one of nine world-class hospitality retreats being built on Saadiyat Beach which has been masterplanned to deliver an A-list, celebrity ‘see-and-be-seen’ environment. TDIC’s aim for Saadiyat Beach is to have highly landscaped resorts noted for their tranquil sanctuary designs and ambience. The company laid down strict development guidelines for the resorts which have a series of natural dunes and fauna lying directly behind their beachfronts. Development concepts for the beach have taken into consideration the natural environment while offering hotel guests recreational amenities and entertainment on a par with the world’s finest resort settings.
TDIC selected a limited number of select investors for Saadiyat Beach projects and the resorts approved, which are due to open at the end of next year, are designed to create a destination in harmony with nature while providing premium hospitality.
Guests will access the resorts’ beaches by a series of boardwalks and pathways that will meander through a picturesque dune environment. Once on Saadiyat Beach, visitors will experience a completely natural setting only a few minutes walk from their hotel rooms.