Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

UK singer Robbie Williams reveals Dubai hotel plan

Robbie Williams Reuters
Robbie Williams, seen here at the Cannes Film Festival, plans to open a hotel in Dubai, including a performance venue
  • Take That star plans Dubai resort
  • 700 rooms and performance venue
  • Branded properties surge in value

UK pop singer Robbie Williams has revealed plans to build a hotel resort in Dubai.

The 49-year-old former member of Take That, who performed in Abu Dhabi last month, told Wondery’s Brydon & podcast that he is building a 700-room hotel in Dubai.

He explained to host Rob Brydon that the development was spurred by an experience at a Wynn hotel in Las Vegas where has was charged $240 for breakfast.

“I got really angry and then I was just like, I’ll build my own hotel,” he said.

He added that the resort in the emirate would include a purpose-built venue for him.

“I then thought Dubai and then I thought, actually, there’s no residences for artists like me in Dubai,” Williams said. “And then I thought, ah, that’s interesting, I’m going to do that. I’m going to start that.”

Williams has a net worth of $300 million, according to CelebrityNetWorth.com.

He will be hoping his venture is more successful than a list of celebrities who have previously put their names to projects to be built in Dubai that failed to materialise.

This includes former US President Donald Trump, golfing superstar Tiger Woods, Bollywood legend Shah Rukh Khan and ex-Liverpool and England footballer Steven Gerrard.

Former Hollywood couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were linked with the purchase of an island on Dubai’s The World back in 2007.

Pitt was also reported to be part of a team that had partnered with developer Zabeel Properties to design and build an environmentally friendly hotel in Dubai.

The number of branded residences in Dubai increased from 71 to 92 developments in the first half of 2023, according to a report from Morgan’s International Realty.

It revealed that the average price per square foot for branded residences in the emirate witnessed a 33 percent uptick since December 2022, reaching AED4,188 ($1,140). 

The premium for branded residences against non-branded properties surged to 96 percent during the first half of this year, almost doubling the average premium seen in the latter half of 2022, which stood at 42 percent. 

“This noteworthy increase signifies the growing appeal and perceived value of branded residences in Dubai’s real estate market,” the report said.

Latest articles

Giorgia Meloni, Italy's prime minister, with Sultan Al Jaber, the minister of industry and chairman of Masdar, at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week Summit, in Abu Dhabi

Masdar views Middle East as biggest growth market

UAE’s renewable energy company Masdar considers the Middle East its biggest market, even though its target is to grow globally, a senior executive has said. “The Middle East is the biggest market for us, we are a company from here, and this market is growing significantly,” Abdulaziz Alobaidli, chief executive officer of Masdar, told AGBI […]

Kenya's President William Ruto says the Kenya-UAE Cepa will 'more than triple' some food exports and provide investment opportunities

Kenya-UAE Cepa may increase food exports and investment

The UAE and Kenya have signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (Cepa) that is predicted to lead to a threefold increase in food exports from the East African nation.  The trade deal, which was agreed in February last year, is expected to accelerate trade and investment in agriculture, infrastructure, healthcare, travel and tourism, financial services and […]

Economic risks were the biggest concerns for business leaders and experts across the Middle East

Inflation, not war, is Gulf states’ top concern, says WEF

Economic concerns such as inflation dominate risk perception for the coming year in the Gulf and across Mena, according to the World Economic Forum. Its survey of thousands of experts and business leaders, the Global Risks Report 2025, found that geopolitical conflict was the No 1 risk globally, selected by respondents as the “most likely […]

Workers preparing for loading crude oil form ship to taker in Chonburi, Thailand

Adia to help fund $1bn Malaysian oil and gas firm

Abu Dhabi Investment Company (Adia) is to invest in an oil and gas equipment-making unit in Malaysia. Adia is participating in the $1 billion funding round for Yinson Holdings’ equipment-maker alongside Asian investment firm RRJ Capital and British Columbia Investment Management. The funding, expected to close in the first quarter of 2025, will primarily support […]