We all love crazy festive statistics and as Abu Dhabi lights up, the displays speak for themselves – but if you need numbers to be impressed, we’ve collected the most outstanding.
Check out the holiday setups at these venues and impress your friends when you rattle off these festive facts:
A towering tree
At the centre of every Christmas display is, of course, the tree. Visitors to the Al Raha Beach Hotel will be dazzled by an 8-metre tree decorated with 4,800 blue and silver ornaments and 250kg of baubles. The cost of this enchanted evergreen? Dhs50,000 – and that’s just the one tree.
Abu Dhabi-Dubai Road (02 508 0555).
Giant gingerbread
Biscuit lovers will be in gingerbread heaven at The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal, which will feature an arch made from gingerbread at the entrance to their Christmas market. Yes, the entire arch will be made of actual gingerbread – but you won’t be able to take a bite because the base is made of wood so the structure isn’t safe to eat. To make it, the pastry team will require 50kg of sugar for the icing, 200kg of gingerbread, 50kg of chocolate and 1kg of sweets for decoration. The whole project will take the team 24 hours to complete.
Khor Al Maqta’a (02 818 8888).
Having a ball
The St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort will honour its island location with 500 ornaments representing the ocean. Complementing the hotel’s waterfront view, the holiday décor will feature turquoise and silver colours imitating the water and white sand. Two 3.65-metre trees will hold 2,000 lights each and 25-metres of Christmas garlands.
Saadiyat Island (02 498 8888).
Snow me the money
No one can accuse Le Méridien of skimping on Christmas, as its set to spend Dhs100,000 on decorations this month. The money will be spent on creating a winter wonderland in and around their garden. There will be Christmas trees outside the Versailles Ballroom and in the Eden Spa. Hotel chefs are also set to make 400kg of gingerbread!
Tourist Club Area (02 644 6666).
Behind the scenes
While the final product always looks effortless, it’s what visitors can’t see that allows for these spectacular displays. This year the Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche will use 1,200 metres of transparent string to hold together their Christmas wonderland. All of that string will help to support a 5-metre Christmas tree adorned with 200 black, silver and purple ornaments. Over 40 spotlights in the shape of the hotel’s logo will light up the festive interior.
Corniche Road East (02 813 7777).
Santa galore
It wouldn’t be Christmas without old St Nick! The Crowne Plaza Abu Dhabi knows this and will display three Santa statues as part of their decorations this year. In a rather unique holiday effort, they will also plant 65 pairs of Santa shoes around the hotel as decorations. The theme continues in the hotel restaurants with all of the staff donning festive Santa hats.
Hamdan Street (02 616 6166).
Dazzling décor
You may want to keep your sunglasses on inside the InterContinental this Christmas. The hotel makes an impressive appearance on this list by using a total of 20,000 light bulbs to illuminate Christmas trees throughout the building. One 20ft tree alone will hold 8,000 tiny light bulbs. But the powerful pine won’t look out of place in Abu Dhabi, because the InterContinental is bringing in 100 metres of white cotton topped with 40kg of artificial snow to line the hotel’s interior and exterior. Looks like it will be a white Christmas here after all.
Al Bateen (02 666 6888).
Santa’s stats
Executive chef Carl Moore will be standing in for Santa this year at the Holiday Inn. We asked him if he had any crazy numbers to share with us. Here’s what he had to say:
This will be my second year playing Santa – and it may be my last! Last year 60 kids sat on my lap, and three cried. I’ve been having lessons with a voice coach for an hour a week for the past two weeks to prepare my voice, because all that deep ‘ho, ho, ho’-ing isn’t as easy as it looks.
It only takes me five minutes to get into my costume, but the work is tiring – I thought Santa was meant to have little helpers, but last year I had none. That’s why I now have an assistant elf. Last year about 20 youngsters asked for an iPad, so I wonder what this year’s trend will be.
Catch Carl at the Holiday Inn Christmas Tree Lighting on December 5 from 5pm. Muroor Road and Airport Road (02 657 4888).
