The Hard Rock Cafe in Dubai first opened in the late 90's on what was then a largely empty Sheikh Zayed Road, then some 30 km out of Dubai, headed toward Abu Dhabi. It was nearly across from the Emirates Golf Club, which at that time was surrounded by a whole lotta desert. A few kilometers away sat a handful of lonely beach resorts, easily missed if you were driving on the main road. It's only maybe 15-16 years ago, but at that time Dubai was seemingly in another century. Hardly anybody from the US (and none of my family or friends) knew where it was or could even pronounce it.
It was a strange site for any kind of pop culture tourist attraction, consisting of a miniature Empire State Building (maybe 50 m high if that) with a Hard Rock globe spinning around on top, with the two iconic guitars in front. Parking was on the sand lot next to the building, taxis parked on the paved service road in front, a disco (Amnesia) was its neighbor in the same fake skyscraper. Behind it was a low slung building called the Dubai Park Hotel which was said to house Jebel Ali workers, and whose existence allowed the building of a renowned restaurant and bar serving alcohol on its property, in the middle of nowhere, in an officially Muslim country.
Today, the site of the original HRC sits behind a billboard, empty, surrounding by 100-story buildings and 16-lane highways on the north end of Dubai Marina, in the midst of a local community within a 2 mile radius which went from population zero to well over 150,000. The HRC was closed in 2008 after 10 years of being an expat hub and the first place I drove to in Dubai by myself on a weekend day. It was 2 pm, the place was quiet but open. It was 2001, on my first trip to Dubai, the first of some 4 dozen trips made to the UAE on business over the following decade, eventually culminating in my move here in 2012. My only regret was not buying the HRC-Dubai "Save the Planet"spare tire cover in the gift shop which sold for $50, and fit on the outside spare tire of the SUV I didn't own yet but would have bought just to show it off. I always enjoyed telling people I had reached the end of the world, and there was a Hard Rock Cafe there.
On subsequent trips, I would drive down a two lane Al Sufouh Road at twilight, and encounter a row of hotels on the Gulf that stood by themselves in the middle of nowhere, although in reality not far from HRC. They felt like the end of the world too, especially the Hilton and Sheraton. Those hotels, now surrounded by the gross overdevelopment of Jumeirah Beach Residence and the construction of malls ON the beach, also look like relics from another century (which in reality, they are). The infamous Barasti beach bar, hidden away in Mina Seyahi, was there too, but substantially less crowded. I recall never getting served there when I was by myself. They apparently were really particular on who they let in, and couples and cliquey groups congregated just like today, but much less so.
My subsequent visits with colleagues to the HRC at night saw a place that was busy every night, the chipper live band covering 90's and 00's pop hits and singing Happy Birthday to the little British and Aussie kids who were the core of HRC's customers, along with families, groups of singles and workers from the then infant Media City and Internet City developments. In 2004, it was even rumored Bill Clinton stopped by after a speech at American University of Dubai, but it is possible there was no one sober enough that night to confirm it.
Dubai is not known for reminiscing or honoring its history outside the well-worn areas near Dubai Creek which are rarely promoted anymore (but were the core of Dubai until circa 2001 or so). But HRC along with the long gone Cyclone club (the "UN of prostitution" which closed in 2007 to make way for Healthcare City) were for many visitors (maybe not families in the case of Cyclone) the highlights of a Dubai trip.
The original Hard Rock closed in 2008 to make way for a Marina/Media City development which of course never happened in light of the real estate apocalypse which nearly vacated many areas of the new Dubai for a few years. A Hard Rock Hotel was proposed in the crazy development era but never built, but eventually the HRC we know today in Festival City (ironically much closer to Old Dubai) was built and opened in 2011. It is larger, glitzier, and while there are no guitars in front (perhaps the only HRC in the world without guitars in front!), the building looks like God's own drum kit. My wife's expat organization had a party upstairs in the VIP area earlier this year, and I can't really complain about the place. The band is very similar-sounding to the band of 10 years ago, and actually plays most of the same songs, even the crappy 90's-00's pop tunes. But there is no connection to the old HRC, no pictures on the walls, no evidence of the place in the middle of the desert, the unlikeliest location for a tourist and expat haunt, the last stop before the oblivion (or Abu Dhabi).
The place sat empty while skyscrapers popped up surrounding it (of course nothing was ever built on the HRC site). Finally, it was totalled in spring of 2013, a piece of history in a place not known for its history.
It was a strange site for any kind of pop culture tourist attraction, consisting of a miniature Empire State Building (maybe 50 m high if that) with a Hard Rock globe spinning around on top, with the two iconic guitars in front. Parking was on the sand lot next to the building, taxis parked on the paved service road in front, a disco (Amnesia) was its neighbor in the same fake skyscraper. Behind it was a low slung building called the Dubai Park Hotel which was said to house Jebel Ali workers, and whose existence allowed the building of a renowned restaurant and bar serving alcohol on its property, in the middle of nowhere, in an officially Muslim country.
Today, the site of the original HRC sits behind a billboard, empty, surrounding by 100-story buildings and 16-lane highways on the north end of Dubai Marina, in the midst of a local community within a 2 mile radius which went from population zero to well over 150,000. The HRC was closed in 2008 after 10 years of being an expat hub and the first place I drove to in Dubai by myself on a weekend day. It was 2 pm, the place was quiet but open. It was 2001, on my first trip to Dubai, the first of some 4 dozen trips made to the UAE on business over the following decade, eventually culminating in my move here in 2012. My only regret was not buying the HRC-Dubai "Save the Planet"spare tire cover in the gift shop which sold for $50, and fit on the outside spare tire of the SUV I didn't own yet but would have bought just to show it off. I always enjoyed telling people I had reached the end of the world, and there was a Hard Rock Cafe there.
On subsequent trips, I would drive down a two lane Al Sufouh Road at twilight, and encounter a row of hotels on the Gulf that stood by themselves in the middle of nowhere, although in reality not far from HRC. They felt like the end of the world too, especially the Hilton and Sheraton. Those hotels, now surrounded by the gross overdevelopment of Jumeirah Beach Residence and the construction of malls ON the beach, also look like relics from another century (which in reality, they are). The infamous Barasti beach bar, hidden away in Mina Seyahi, was there too, but substantially less crowded. I recall never getting served there when I was by myself. They apparently were really particular on who they let in, and couples and cliquey groups congregated just like today, but much less so.
My subsequent visits with colleagues to the HRC at night saw a place that was busy every night, the chipper live band covering 90's and 00's pop hits and singing Happy Birthday to the little British and Aussie kids who were the core of HRC's customers, along with families, groups of singles and workers from the then infant Media City and Internet City developments. In 2004, it was even rumored Bill Clinton stopped by after a speech at American University of Dubai, but it is possible there was no one sober enough that night to confirm it.
Dubai is not known for reminiscing or honoring its history outside the well-worn areas near Dubai Creek which are rarely promoted anymore (but were the core of Dubai until circa 2001 or so). But HRC along with the long gone Cyclone club (the "UN of prostitution" which closed in 2007 to make way for Healthcare City) were for many visitors (maybe not families in the case of Cyclone) the highlights of a Dubai trip.
The original Hard Rock closed in 2008 to make way for a Marina/Media City development which of course never happened in light of the real estate apocalypse which nearly vacated many areas of the new Dubai for a few years. A Hard Rock Hotel was proposed in the crazy development era but never built, but eventually the HRC we know today in Festival City (ironically much closer to Old Dubai) was built and opened in 2011. It is larger, glitzier, and while there are no guitars in front (perhaps the only HRC in the world without guitars in front!), the building looks like God's own drum kit. My wife's expat organization had a party upstairs in the VIP area earlier this year, and I can't really complain about the place. The band is very similar-sounding to the band of 10 years ago, and actually plays most of the same songs, even the crappy 90's-00's pop tunes. But there is no connection to the old HRC, no pictures on the walls, no evidence of the place in the middle of the desert, the unlikeliest location for a tourist and expat haunt, the last stop before the oblivion (or Abu Dhabi).
The place sat empty while skyscrapers popped up surrounding it (of course nothing was ever built on the HRC site). Finally, it was totalled in spring of 2013, a piece of history in a place not known for its history.
Just before demolition, 2012.
The guitars were destroyed too.
The new one (kind of a half-assed drum kit, no guitars)
