Building and Launching a Lifestyle Brand from Concept to Hotel Opening
Brand Development | Guest Experience Design | Go-To-Market Strategy
Rove Hotels, a joint venture between Emaar and Meraas Holding, was conceived to cater to a new generation of travellers — connected, culturally curious, and seeking value without compromise. With Dubai's luxury hospitality market saturated and Expo 2020 on the horizon, the opportunity was clear: to create an entirely new lifestyle hotel brand with a pipeline of properties and a distinct proposition of its own.
To establish solid foundations ahead of the first property opening, the brand needed to be built holistically — inside and out. In close collaboration with agencies and experts across design, talent, F&B, events, and communications, I led the work from naming and trademark search through brand positioning, tone of voice, identity toolkits, digital, PR, social media, and hotel-specific elements.
The brand was equally embedded into its people — defining profiles, recruitment process, role naming, and department structure so that every Rovester embodied its character as much as any physical detail. Conceived for the modern nomad, Rove was designed around community, co-working, cultural discovery, and sustainability, drawing its identity from contemporary Dubai's energy, diversity, and spirit of exploration.
Rove launched as Dubai's first homegrown lifestyle brand in 2015. It has since grown to 12 properties and accumulated more than 50 awards recognising the innovativeness of its concept.