Bulgari has added a Dubai address to its hotel portfolio, with the opening of The Bulgari Resort & Residences Dubai.

Situated on the manmade Jumeirah Bay – an island carved into the shape of a seahorse – the resort features a 1,700sq m (18,300sq ft) Bulgari Spa with eight treatment rooms designed by WTS International in collaboration with Italian Interior Design firm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel (ACPV), and developed with consultancy, development and management firm GOCO Hospitality.

A spa suite includes a private rasul, and the spa also has vitality pools, an aroma steamroom, sauna, hammam, rainforest showers, ice fountains and space for yoga, Pilates and boxing.

An indoor, 24-hour fitness centre features a Workshop Gymnasium fitness studio along with Technogym equipment, and the spa also boasts an Italian barbershop, a beauty salon and a 25m indoor pool with floor-to-ceiling windows and views of the sea.

The hotel has been designed by Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel – the Italian architectural firm that has created all of the Bulgari Hotels & Resorts – and created with a Mediterranean village feel. Six residential buildings house 173 sea-facing apartments, private mansions and Bulgari’s first marina and yacht club.

Citterio said he would embrace a juxtaposition of both new and conventional architectural styles for the project, which covers 1.7m sq ft (158,000sq m).

Local limestone has been used to reference both Dubai’s desert outcrops and the sculpted architecture of Citterio’s native Italy.

The resort features public space created from lava stone and basalt, designed to subtly contrast with the resort’s buildings and to integrate the physical elements of the island.

This marks the fifth hotel for Bulgari and comes on the heels of the opening of the Bulgari Beijing, which opened in September and included a two-storey spa created by GOCO Hospitality.

The brand also has plans to open a Moscow outpost in 2019, which will be housed in a historic residence overlooking the Kremlin.