Cover The Lana, Dorchester Collection’s latest addition to Dubai’s vibrant hotel landscape, is designed by Foster+Partners (Photo: courtesy of Dorchester Collection)
The Lana, Dorchester Collection’s latest addition to Dubai’s vibrant hotel landscape, is designed by Foster+Partners (Photo: courtesy of Dorchester Collection)
1 / 1
Dorchester Collective’s joint CEOs share insights on their approach to modern luxury and how their latest hotel, The Lana, reflects Dubai's vibrant spirit
April 2024 saw a hospitality brand viewed often seen as staunchly and traditionally British open an outpost in that most decadent and forward-looking of Middle Eastern cities, Dubai. Luxury hotel operator Dorchester Collection unveiled the 225-key The Lana in the city’s bustling Business Bay district, overlooking Marasi Bay Marina.
The Dorchester Collection hotels include some of the most famous and classic venues in the world: the titular hotel in London, Plaza Athénée in Paris and the Bel-Air in Los Angeles are the stuff of legends. Tatler visited the property and spoke to Dorchester Collective’s joint CEOs Helen Smith and Eugenio Pirri about the property, hospitality and what makes a Dorchester hotel unique.
You might also like: Tatler’s guide to Dubai: 15 must-try experiences for first-time visitors
Above Dorchester Collection CEOs (from left) Helen Smith and Eugenio Pirri (Photo: courtesy of Dorchester Collection)
Dorchester Collection CEOs (from left) Helen Smith and Eugenio Pirri (Photo: courtesy of Dorchester Collection)
1 / 1
Compared to some of the more familiar Dorchester hotels, The Lana is something of a different proposition—a new build, with a very clean, modern design, in a new comparatively young market. Why Dubai, and why at this time?
Helen Smith: We’ve learnt with our brand to go where our customers want to go. When you look at how the world is moving—and Dubai is the second busiest airport in the world now—it seems like a logical stopping off point. And it’s not just [people in] Asia coming across to Europe, it’s going the other way too, so for us, there’s a market and a demand here. We don’t only want to have historic hotels, we want to be live and relevant to whoever’s travelling. And so the opportunity to have a new legend? Perfect.
Eugenio Pirri: When you have such iconic and legendary hotels that have been around for a long time, the opportunity to build something from the ground up is very exciting. You’re taking all of your experiences, all of your learnings but bringing something new. It’s a unique property for Dorchester Collection. But we really do feel it complements the family very, very well—we’ve been able to infuse different Dorchester collection DNA into it.
Above Burj Al Arab and more of Dubai's impressive skyline: a view from the tub (Photo: courtesy of Dorchester Collection)
Above The Lana's Marina Duplex suite (Photo: courtesy of Dorchester Collection)
Burj Al Arab and more of Dubai's impressive skyline: a view from the tub (Photo: courtesy of Dorchester Collection)
1 / 2
The Dorchester Collection properties are known for reflecting something of the spirit of the city they’re based in. How does The Lana achieve that?
HS: Dubai is an exciting city. But when we were first coming up with the branding for the concept of the hotel, we were looking at Dubai and thinking everything else here is multirestaurant, multigeneration, multiwealth. And we thought: what could we do that would fit in with our brand and still be inviting, still relevant, still authentic. We thought: well, there’s another world in Dubai that’s developing [around] museums, history and building culture. And we thought: maybe we can slot in there very nicely and be what we’re good at being.
EP: Dubai is such an international city and such an eclectic mix of different people. You think about all of the different nationalities that have come here and all the businesses that have come up; the timing was really good for Dorchester Collection. As Helen rightly said, the spirit of Dubai is changing, [as is] what visitors and the people that live here are looking for. We’ve come into that market where we didn’t want to be that typical Dubai hotel; we wanted to be a unique place for people to come and experience something different. I think we’ve accomplished that.
What does Lana mean—and what does it mean for the brand?
HS: In the Arab world, it means “for us”. To me, that had an instant connection with our service delivery, which to me was “we’re giving: for you, from us”. But I think some other research suggested that it also could be tied to calm waters—and we have the marina [outside]. So I think the local interpretation is “for us”, but if it’s known internationally as “calm waters and serenity”, it nails it.
Dorchester Collection hotels are renowned for their hospitality; how has that been realised at The Lana?
EP: We’re a big believer that when you go to Paris, you should experience French service and if you’re in Italy, Italian service, etc, etc. Before we even got here, we conducted a study: what is Dubai? What does it offer? What came across very clearly was that there was a certain inconsistency in service. So we decided our thing was going to be very consistent service, and very warm and embracing [in a way that reflects Arab culture]. It’s also very unassuming, because it’s about the whole philosophy that you receive service rather than see service.
What is the Dorchester Collection hotel experience?
EP: It’s really about the service culture and that idea that when guests are coming to you, they’re experiencing something that was created [especially] for Dorchester Collection guests. There’s a certain expectation of this spirit of generosity; a beautiful graciousness, the idea of manners, the idea of welcoming guests into the family. That’s what how I like to describe the brand and how I think about it. And that goes two ways: how we create those experiences for our employees so in turn, they create them for our guests. It’s a beautiful symbiotic relationship that we have with our employees, with our guests and how we bring it all together.
HS: Just in a nutshell, if you walk into one of our hotels, and you stand still in the lobby, and you think: I feel like I belong here. And that’s done by little things: the smile of a doorman; you’re not jumped on, but you’re not ignored; just that feeling that, yeah, this is where I should be. I think that’s very important.
The rooftop infinity pool at The Lana at sunrise (Photo: courtesy of Dorchester Collection)
1 / 3
You’re set to open a Tokyo hotel in 2028 in the Torch Tower, which is scheduled to be completed in 2027 and will be the tallest building in Japan. How will that property reflect both the Japanese culture and capital city, and your brand’s essence?
EP: Dorchester Collection is perfectly suited to go to a [tradition-rich] country like Japan simply because we have such legendary hotels that have actually been part of the fabric and culture of the communities. For example, the Beverly Hills Hotel was created, then the city of Beverly Hills was named after it and built around it. We already have this idea of understanding what it means to be part of a culture so we can bring that knowledge and that experience. Then you have this other side of Japan, and Tokyo especially, that is all about the future and how they look at it. Our first hotel in Asia is just the perfect match for us.
Can you sum up the DC experience in five words?
HS: We put the guests first.
EP: Legendary culture; spirit of generosity.
