The Four Seasons Hotel currently under construction at the Dubai Festival City site will rise to 320-metres, just a metre shorter than the landmark Burj Al Arab.

Isadore Sharp, the charismatic founder and chairman of the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, was in Dubai to meet with Al Futtaim Group, developers of the 2,000-acre Festival City project. In an exclusive interview with Gulf News he revealed blueprints for the hotel's size had been revised upwards.

When the project was first announced in September last year, it was reported the five-star luxury hotel would contain 250 rooms and villas. However this has also now been increased.

The hotel tower will also contain a residential element and the Four Seasons group, which signed a deal for a 300-room hotel in Abu Dhabi back in September, will also manage and operate the festival city's golf resort and spa.

The development is expected to open in mid 2008. As with most other hotels in the emirate the facilities on offer at the Four Seasons will be on a par with other five-star locations in the emirate, offering luxuries now expected when visiting Dubai.

However, Sharp said the Four Seasons Dubai promised to be an 'emotional' experience for guests. "Luxury today is not about architecture and décor any more, it is about an exceptional experience.