DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A luxury hotel crafted by designer Giorgio Armani opened yesterday as the first landmark tenant in the world’s tallest skyscraper, hoping to entice the wealthy Gulf region’s image-conscious big spenders with Italian runway style.

The 160-room Armani Hotel Dubai is a welcome bit of good news for Dubai’s leaders after the troubled debut of the more than half-mile-high (828-metre-high) Burj Khalifa in January. An elevator malfunction forced a two-month closure of the spire’s observation deck — the only part of the tower open to the public.

The Italian designer was on hand for yesterday’s opening ceremony, which was delayed a week because of the travel chaos caused by the Icelandic volcano. He said his goal was to build a comfortable and stylish hotel that would leave an impression.

“I wanted something very important, something to be remembered,” Armani said, dressed in a dark T-shirt and white trousers. “Something not just for the present, but beyond.”

Armani was joined by the chairman of Burj Khalifa’s developer, Emaar Properties, which has a deal to open more Armani-branded hotels, including the next one in Milan.

They have not disclosed financial details of their partnership.

A key selling point is that the hotel was designed by Armani himself, even down to individual details such as selecting the chocolates sold in a hotel gift shop.

“He really loves the Armani line, so I believe this could have been a personal challenge,” said Claudia D’Arpizio, a luxury goods expert at consulting company Bain & Co. “The designers are brand advocates and they are really on top of these procedures.”

Armani’s Dubai outpost relies on sleek, minimalist detail and earth tones like rich cocoa-coloured wood panelling throughout. It stretches from the base of the tapering, metal-and-glass Burj through the eighth floor, then skips some two dozen stories before continuing on floors 38 and 39. It includes multiple restaurants, a spa and an outdoor swimming pool.

The luxury doesn’t come cheap. The least expensive rooms offered at the moment go for more than $750 a night — before tax. High-end suites — which boast a living room, dining room, walk-in closet, study and full service bar — cost about $2,180 a night.

“What they’re after is the aspirational traveller. … It’s trying to make a statement to a certain type of luxury consumer,” said Alex Kyriakidis, who heads the global tourism division at professional services firm Deloitte. “Will that work? Time will tell.”

The opening comes as Dubai’s economy is reeling from the global economic downturn, which has revealed deep debt problems in the city-state.

Many of Dubai’s high-end hotels were forced to slash rates to cope with the slump, though business has begun to improve in recent months, according to Deloitte.

Dubai’s newest five-star hotel is the first part of the 2,717-foot (828-metre) Burj Khalifa to open to the public since the 124th-floor observation deck welcomed its first visitors in January.

The lookout unexpectedly shut down a month after the opening when an elevator malfunctioned. Emaar never disclosed details of what happened, which it attributed to unexpectedly high traffic and electrical problems. The deck quietly reopened earlier this month.

The Burj Khalifa rises more than 160 stories, though the exact number of habitable floors is not known. Much of the building remains empty as work continues inside.

Armani’s hotel will soon have more competition. Rival Italian fashion house Gianni Versace Spa plans to open its own luxury hotel in Dubai later this year. Its claim to fame: an artificially cooled beach designed to keep sunbathing guests from getting too uncomfortable in the Gulf’s scorching summer heat.