Dubai Unveils Ciel Tower, Claiming Title of World’s Tallest Hotel
DUBAI, UAE – Dubai’s skyline has gained a new landmark with the opening of Ciel Tower, a 360-metre (1,181-foot) structure now recognized as the world’s tallest hotel. The 81-story tower, featuring over 1,000 guest rooms across eight dozen floors, officially welcomed guests this week, adding another aspiring feat to the city’s portfolio of record-breaking architecture.
While Dubai is renowned for opulent resorts, Ciel Tower distinguishes itself with a focus on understated luxury and sustainable design. The building incorporates a dozen atria filled with trees and plants, strategically positioned to maximize daylight, provide natural cooling, and offer communal spaces for guests. This approach, according to the tower’s designers, represents a shift in architectural ideology-moving towards “porous” structures that integrate nature rather than imposing upon it.
The tower’s design incorporates computer-controlled glass louvers to harness sea air for cooling and energy efficiency. Guest accommodations embrace a minimalist aesthetic, contrasting with the expansive views offered through large French windows overlooking the harbor, Palm Jumeirah, and the Persian gulf.
Ciel Tower boasts eight restaurants, three swimming pools-including one on the 76th floor-and aims to demonstrate a deliberate embrace of “restraint” within a city frequently enough associated with extravagance. “The towers of the future will be different from the towers of 50 years ago,” says Jan,a representative of the project. “They will be porous, you will bring nature into these towers.”