Simply Abu Dhabi XXVI

1 2 4 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I “We held up to ten interviews each before choosing a supplier,” explains design manager Nassim Yaghmaei. “We wanted people who were truly committed, passionate experts – craftsmanship at its best.” On its reopening in June 2016, interiors designer Thierry Despont and his cast of 800 stonemasons, upholsterers, gilders, and painters revealed their labour of love to the world. One of the most memorable updates is undoubtedly the painting of the 180sqm trompe-l’oleil ceiling over the swimming pool, a work of art signed by Pierre Finkelstein, Pascal Amblard, Stefano Luca and Jean Sablé. Intended to be multi-purpose, used for banquets, haute couture fashion shows or grand balls thanks to the floor that can cover it, the beautiful neoclassical-meets-Art Deco swimming pool now sits within the entirely redesigned Ritz Health Club, renamed the Ritz Club Paris. Offering a unique and customised sensory experience, the Chanel au Ritz Paris – a spa area within the Ritz Club Paris dedicated to Chanel in honour of Coco – blends the art of skincare, fragrance and makeup within five elegant alcoves, each featuring a private bathroom. Even the rooms and suites (71 of each) within the Ritz Paris hark back to a bygone era of glitz and glamour. Its 15 historic prestige suites, decked out in Italian marble, bear the names of their most illustrious tenants like a badge of honour: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Maria Callas, Charlie Chaplin, Frederic Chopin…