The Kleindienst Group first opened its doors for business in Dubai in 2003, with Chairman, Josef Kleindienst, explaining: “I was a member of a business group invited by an Australian bank to visit Dubai. Unlike now, in 2002 we did not know much about Dubai and after arriving here I was surprised by the amount of construction and major projects, such as Dubai Marina, Emirates Hills, and Palm Jumeirah. We quickly decided that we wanted to become a part of this fantastic growth, and started to invest in 2002.
Rain, Snow, and Weddings!
Kleindienst believes that nothing is impossible in Dubai, something that is underlined in the design and build of The Heart of Europe through seven world firsts:
- The first underwater hotel with gym and spa – The Floating Venice
- The first dedicated wedding hotel – Empress Elizabeth Hotel
- The first floating and underwater living experience – The Floating Seahorse Villa
- The first five-star family only hotel – Portofino Hotel
- The world’s first artificial rainy street on Main Europe Island
- The world’s first outdoor snow Plaza on Switzerland Island
- The region’s first and only Coral Institute
“Kleindienst is inspired by the spirit of the UAE Government’s Vision 2021 to continue to evolve Dubai as a destination that will support the local economy both short and long-term, helping to position the Emirate as the number one tourist destination,” Josef says. “The Heart of Europe is bringing the best of European experiences and culture to a Maldivian inspired island location with unrivalled attractions.”
The Group is undertaking a number of projects on The Heart of Europe, including 13 hotels. Two hotels are currently under construction in Phase 2, whilst 10 more hotels are set to start construction (most of them this year) in Phase 3. Honeymoon Island (Phase 1) will be completed before the end of 2019.
The Heart of Europe is an ambitious project on The World, comprising seven islands including: Germany, Sweden, Honeymoon Island, The Floating Venice, Switzerland, and Main Europe. The 13 hotels will include Ibiza Hotel, Cote d’Azur, London Hotel, Amsterdam Hotel, Munich Hotel, Marbella Hotel, and Tsar Hotel.
Walk Along Cobbled Streets
Building pioneering projects is one thing, but how is it possible to instill European culture in the heart of the Middle East? Well, this will be achieved in a number of innovative ways, not least through the opportunity to walk through cobbled streets and feel refreshing light rain fall on your face in the world’s first climate-controlled resort. No matter what the summer or winter temperatures in Dubai, it will always be 27°C with light winds of 5km/h and 60% humidity.
Then there is the opportunity to witness the magic of snowfall, even perhaps building a snowman, in the Main Europe Island Centre Plaza. Other amazing features include:
- A grand circus and underwater museum
- Unique European and Tropical Island Flora, including ancient olive trees more than 1,500 years old brought in from Andalusia in Spain
- More than 100,000 corals will be planted annually with 514 different ocean species from The Heart of Europe’s own coral nursery, which will attract a variety of underwater life to create beautiful seascapes to entertain divers and snorkelers
- The ability to dive for pearls, resurrecting the UAE’s heritage for oyster pearl diving
And once guests step foot on The Heart of Europe, the time zone and currency changes to that of the countries actual time and currency (Euros)!
Preserving the Environment
Through great vision and innovation, Kleindienst’s own coral nurseries will have grown 100,000 corals by 2020, which will form new reefs to support and conserve the existing marine life.
“Ensuring sustainable development while preserving the environment and achieving a perfect balance between economic and social development are key pillars of the UAE National Agenda,” says Josef. “Kleindienst has designed The Heart of Europe from the start to have a zero-discharge policy and zero micro-plastics policy to protect the Arabian Gulf and the 514 species of marine life resident around the islands for future generations.”
In order to achieve this important ambition, Kleindienst is using advanced techniques to filtrate water to remove micro-plastics from bathing products, recycle shower water to flush toilets and irrigate the beautiful landscaping, and is laying down silicon discharge installations to ensure this irrigation water does not creep into the ocean.