Abu Dhabi: Full speed ahead
BY LORI RACKL Travel Editor Mar 30, 2010
American pilot Michael Goulian soars above the Emirates Palace hotel and the Etihad Towers during the Red Bull Air Race last week in Abu Dhabi, a city that loves to go fast whether it be in planes, Formula 1 race cars or development.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - The world's fastest roller coaster - a white-knuckle thrill ride said to approach speeds of 150 mph - is slated to open later this year in Abu Dhabi.
It's fitting symbolism for a city that goes ga ga over anything that goes fast, whether it be camels or Formula 1 cars zooming around a track, or the season opener of the Red Bull Air Race season last weekend.
It seems as if nothing - not even a global recession - can slow down the oil-rich capital of the United Arab Emirates, a country that's younger than Jennifer Aniston. While the economic crisis has put the brakes on development projects around the world (including many in neighboring Dubai), Abu Dhabi has managed to keep its foot on the accelerator.
I had the chance to visit this city/construction zone last month as a guest of Etihad Airways, which, like the emirate it's based in, is no stranger to rapid growth.
Two years ago, the young airline placed one of the largest orders for commercial aircraft in aviation history: a total of 100 Airbus and Boeing planes carrying a price tag of $22 billion. Since its launch in late 2003, Etihad has expanded its network by more than 50 destinations, branching out to Chicago late last year with daily nonstop service between O'Hare and Abu Dhabi.
All of those airline passengers need somewhere to stay - a fact that hasn't been lost on the hotel industry. Abu Dhabi added 5,000 hotel rooms last year. Another 3,000 to 4,000 are expected to come on the rolls in 2010, a year when Abu Dhabi's name has popped up on Lonely Planet and Frommer's "top destination" lists.
Much of the city's recent hotel activity has centered on Yas Island, a 15-square-mile patch of land that's poised to be an entertainment and sporting playground. Ferrari World, the planet's largest indoor theme park, is set to open here later this year.
At Ferrari World, thrill jockeys will be able to have a G-force experience, shooting 200 feet through the park's roof. You can feel what it's like behind the wheel of a Ferrari in a racing simulator, or take a flume ride through a giant 12-cylinder engine. (Did I mention that nearly 75 percent of the U.A.E.'s population is male?) This also will be the home of the world's fastest roller coaster.
Not far away from Ferrari World is a real racetrack: Yas Marina Circuit. The course opened in the fall, just in time to host the inaugural Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Big-ticket events like this are becoming increasingly common in Abu Dhabi. The city has ponied up lots of prize money to put on international golf and tennis tournaments and all kinds of races. Cultural events include a major music and arts festival (March 20-April 7) featuring the London Symphony Orchestra. Chicago's own Charlie Trotter joined a gaggle of Michelin-starred chefs in Abu Dhabi last month for the city's 15-day gourmet food fest, now in its second year. The Formula 1 Grand Prix returns to Abu Dhabi Nov. 14.
A portion of the F1 racetrack goes underneath the futuristic five-star Yas Hotel, one of seven new hotels on the island. The straight-off-the-set-of-Star-Trek property is covered by a shell made up of 5,000-plus panes of glass that turn different colors, making it look like a surreal spaceship glowing in the desert night sky.
Yas isn't the only island swarming with construction workers, many of whom come from India and other countries. (Four out of five Abu Dhabi residents are immigrants and expats.)
Saadiyat Island is set to become Abu Dhabi's hot spot for culture vultures. A branch of France's Louvre - the first outside of Paris - is supposed to open in 2014, a year after the scheduled debut of the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Abu Dhabi devoted to modern art.
Other plans for Saadiyat call for a national museum, a massive performing arts center and a state-of-the-art maritime museum where visitors can watch people dive for pearls, a grueling job that was huge in this part of the Persian Gulf until the discovery of something even more lucrative: black gold.
Abu Dhabi has dibs on 9 percent of the world's oil reserves, which helps explain why this emirate is able to bankroll such lofty projects - and occasionally bail out its wild and crazy sister Dubai after a bout of binge building.
One of the more obvious testaments to Abu Dhabi's deep pockets is the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, named for the late founding father of the U.A.E. Made of marble imported from Greece and sporting 82 domes topped with gold, the sprawling white mosque can hold upwards of 40,000 worshippers. It's one of only two mosques in Abu Dhabi open to non-Muslims, with free tours held every morning except Saturday and Friday, the Muslim holy day.
I could see this Taj Mahal-like structure - and occasionally hear its call to prayer -from my modern Arabic-style room at the Shangri-La Hotel.
The luxury resort includes 214 guestrooms, long-term stay apartments, villas, a pool and private beach, a spa and several top-notch restaurants. The Shangri-La had up to 6,000 workers on site before the property opened in 2007.
That's also when construction came to a halt on a high-profile building in downtown Chicago that was supposed to contain, ironically enough, the country's first Shangri-La Hotel.
Waterview Tower at Clark and Wacker was meant to soar 90 stories, but the developer ran out of money. Earlier this year, the long-idle crane that towered over this concrete shell finally came down.
Information for this article was gathered on a research trip sponsored by Etihad Airways and Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts.
Comments Click here to view or make a comment