Rare Finds

1 · POSITION

Rare Finds gives Kerzner a collection organised around the identities of individual properties. Its launch was announced in April 2022 when Kerzner assumed management of Bab Al Shams, a Dubai desert resort owned by Meydan. The arrangement placed a new operator behind an established name, making continuity as important to the proposition as change. [1]

2 · AN EXISTING HOUSE BEGINS AGAIN

Bab Al Shams first opened in 2004. Following closure for redevelopment, it welcomed guests under Rare Finds from 10 February 2023. These dates identify two different beginnings: the resort's original life and its new operating chapter. Keeping the name allowed the reopened hotel to draw on an existing identity while introducing a revised experience. [1, 2]

3 · THE SETTING SUPPLIES THE PROGRAMME

The reopening announcement describes low-rise buildings, desert excursions, dining and wellness experiences. Together, they give the surrounding landscape several roles: view, place of activity and reference for the resort's design. Rare Finds' wider proposition is easier to understand through this example than through a generic promise of individuality: the operating idea has to become things guests can actually do. [2, 3]

4 · A COLLECTION WITHOUT IDENTICAL HOUSES

Kerzner's directory also presents The Meydan Hotel under Rare Finds. The collection can therefore accommodate a different Dubai setting without requiring every member to resemble a desert retreat. The shared commitment is to the property's own character; architectural consistency is not the organising rule. That leaves the individual hotel name doing much of the work of attracting guests. [3]

5 · ⚑ CANDOUR

⚑ Rare Finds is not exclusively a programme for reopening older hotels. Its stated remit is broader, and Bab Al Shams is one documented route into the collection. Directory inclusion also needs an operating-status check before every named destination is counted as open. Meydan's ownership and Kerzner's management were explicitly separate in the 2022 agreement; that distinction belongs in the history. [1–3]