At the glassworks in Baccarat, a flaw too small to notice sends a piece back to the furnace. That one rule explains how a French house of crystal came to put its name on towers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and on a resort in the Maldives, and where it goes next.
Sixty per cent
At the glassworks in Baccarat, a goblet, a candlestick or a chandelier drop with a flaw, even a tiny one, is melted down and made again. Starwood said in 2012 that nearly 60 per cent of what the factory produces never reaches a customer for that reason.
That figure is the reason for this article. A maker of glasses and chandeliers now puts its name on towers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and on a resort across five islands in the Maldives, and what it sells there is what it sells in Lorraine: a refusal to ship anything imperfect.
A village in Lorraine
The story begins in 1764 in Baccarat, a village in Lorraine in eastern France. With the permission of Louis XV, the region’s prince-bishop, Cardinal Louis-Joseph de Laval-Montmorency, set up a glassworks there. It made window panes, mirrors and stemware at first. The first crystal furnace was lit in 1816.
Royal orders followed. The first came in 1823 from Louis XVIII, and others came from courts around the world. When Starwood launched the hotel brand in 2012, its announcement named Tsar Nicholas II and the Maharajah of Gwalior among the clients. Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul still has Baccarat chandeliers and the crystal balustrade of its main staircase. Crystal was part of architecture long before anyone sold an apartment under the name.
The standard
Starwood’s 2012 announcement spelled the rule out: only perfect objects may carry the name. Barry Sternlicht called it “a nearly 250-year-old pursuit of perfection” and applied it to hotels in the same breath: “only flawless service will be acceptable”.
The house now talks about itself with more swagger. It claims “unapologetic creativity with a free spirit” and a “dialogue of contrasts between heritage and avant-garde”. It makes lighting, décor, barware and objects for celebration, and sells them through boutiques, bars, hotels and restaurants in more than 80 countries under one idea, the French art de vivre.
Why a crystal house builds hotels
Barry Sternlicht founded W Hotels and built St. Regis into a brand during his years at Starwood Hotels & Resorts, so he knew how a hotel name is made. In 2005, through his firm Starwood Capital, he bought Baccarat.
He announced Baccarat hotels in 2007 and called them “living innovation labs” for a brand moving into fashion and design. The first, in Wailea, Hawaii, was due in 2010 and never opened. In 2012 he tried again with a sharper pitch: “We’re going to marry Louis XV with the modern era.” Baccarat would reach the public as a way of living, with light as the theme of the design. The announcement named Rabat, Foshan, Dubai and Marrakech. Of the four, only Dubai is still on the brand’s list.
New York opened in 2015: 114 rooms on the lower twelve floors of a tower across from the Museum of Modern Art, with interiors by Gilles & Boissier, in a building that the announcement said would glow “from the inside out”. Eleven years later it is still the only Baccarat hotel open anywhere.
The pace follows from the business model. The crystal house has changed hands since, while the hotel brand sits with Starwood’s SH Hotels & Resorts, which holds the licence and operates it. Local developers build and sell: Aldar in Abu Dhabi, H&H Development with Shamal Holding in Dubai, Related Group in Miami. The brand brings its name, its standards and its service. It is a licence, so every date and every handover below belongs to a developer.
Light
If one word runs through the whole story, it is light. Crystal is a way of handling light, and Sternlicht said from the start that the hotels would be designed around it. The brand’s pages speak of Destinations in Light and of a commitment to beauty, service and the art of living well. The Dubai brochure opens with Life in New Light. Aldar’s page for Saadiyat describes “a home that is not simply built, but composed”.
Service has its own name, La Vie Baccarat, which the Dubai brochure calls “empathetic and unpretentious” hospitality and extends from hotel guests to the owners of the residences. The crystal stays in the room as well. On Saadiyat, Aldar promises Baccarat crystal in the central living spaces, priority access to the brand’s events and advice on crystal, lighting and design. That is a bigger commitment than lending a name to a building.
Selective by design
“Baccarat is a brand we treat with immense care,” Sternlicht said in February 2026, and places are chosen “very selectively”, where ambition, cultural investment and a long view come together. The list bears it out: the Louvre and the Guggenheim next door on Saadiyat, Diriyah in Saudi Arabia, a former grand hotel on Rome’s Via Veneto, Downtown Dubai under the Burj Khalifa.
The plan is small. The brand’s own page lists six projects to come: Rome, Miami, Diriyah, Dubai, the Maldives and Saadiyat. Rome, 87 keys in the old Hotel Majestic, was first announced for 2025 and now stands at spring 2027 in Starwood’s announcement of June 2026. Three of the six are in the Gulf and a fourth is in the Maldives, so most of the energy is going east. In 2024 Starwood’s chief executive said Baccarat and its sister brand 1 Hotels would turn towards destination resorts.
From a hotel to a home
New York was a hotel with residences above it. The newer projects tip towards the home. In Downtown Dubai two towers hold 145 hotel keys and 91 residences. On Saadiyat there is no hotel at all, only 77 homes. In Miami a 75-storey tower is going up with 360 residences, due in early 2028.
The commercial logic is easy to read. A stay lasts a week and a home lasts for years, so an owner lives with the crystal every day. The developer gets a name that lifts the project above its neighbours, and the brand gets a longer relationship than a booking. For a buyer, the useful question is what the brand adds that you can use. Analysts disagree widely about the price premium a brand brings, so we have left the figure out and suggest asking what is included: service, design, access.
Two emirates, two architects
Downtown Dubai. Two towers stand side by side facing the Burj Khalifa, designed by Studio Libeskind with interiors by 1508 London. Baccarat Residences Dubai, the second, holds 42 homes of three and four bedrooms, half-floor apartments and full-floor penthouses. The brochure calls it a “crystalline-inspired tower”. The whole project, including the first tower with the hotel, is still under construction.
The specification reads like a list of names you can check: herringbone floors in the living rooms, Gaggenau kitchens, Calacatta Oro counters, Dornbracht and Gessi in the bathrooms, and in the penthouses a private office, a cigar room and a wine store. Owners use the pool, spa and restaurants of the hotel next door. The developer’s page gives 2027. We would take that as the earliest date, and nothing more.
Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi. Baccarat Residences Saadiyat was announced by Aldar in February 2026: 77 homes in two buildings by Sou Fujimoto, his first residential project in the UAE, with curves that follow the island’s shoreline and views of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the sea. The interiors by StudioPCH draw on neoclassical design, and owners choose between light and dark finishes.
Raul Leal, Starwood’s chief executive, described the aim as turning “centuries-old craftsmanship and legacy into an enduring residential expression”. In practice that means a residents-only spa with a rain room, an infinity pool with private cabanas, a 24-hour concierge who can arrange private dining and private aviation, and crystal in the rooms where you sit. Aldar’s page gives completion in the third quarter of 2029.
Same name, two architectural languages: Libeskind’s crystalline tower in the city and Fujimoto’s waves by the sea. In both, the crystal is what ties the building to the name.
The Maldives
The third project in our region is Baccarat Hotel & Residences Maldives, the first Baccarat in Asia Pacific. At the announcement in March 2024 Sternlicht said it fuses the “timeless elegance and modern sophistication of the House of Baccarat” with the islands. Five connected islands cover more than 111 acres in South Malé Atoll, 30 to 40 minutes by boat from Velana airport depending on the sea. There are more than 50 hotel villas, 53 residences for sale, and mansions and private islands of six to nine bedrooms. HKS is the architect and 1508 London the interior designer; the plans include a crystal garden, a golf course and a spa. The opening was announced for 2027, and we will tell you where it stands when you ask.
Beside Aman and Six Senses
Aman starts from stillness and Six Senses from wellness and place. Baccarat starts from an object and the standard it demands, the glassworks’ rule of perfection applied to a home. It is the most formal of the three and the most visual: it talks in light, craft and finishes you can name.
What is still ahead
None of these homes is finished. Delivery dates belong to the developers and can move, as Rome has shown.
Residences in these projects are available through us on request, with current availability, terms and a named advisor.
Baccarat residences in development
Baccarat residences that are still under construction are available through us on request: current availability, terms and a named advisor.
Baccarat Residences Dubai
Baccarat Residences Saadiyat
Baccarat Hotel & Residences, MaldivesRealtimo Luxury is an independent platform and is not affiliated with Baccarat. This is an editorial article based on information published by Baccarat Hotels & Residences, Starwood, the developers and, where stated, independent sources. It is not an offer. The projects described are under construction; dates and details are as published on 1 November 2026 and may change.