DUBAI — In an era of instant gratification and Youtube sensations, is there such a thing as too many selfies?
According to The Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah, the answer is a resounding yes! Karry On reports that the five-star hotel recently found itself at the centre of a public relations frenzy when a group of over 20 Russian models checked in for a glitzy photoshoot. As many people do, the women took no time at all to post selfies on Instagram in their rooms and by the pool, something most hotels would welcome as free publicity. But here’s the thing: most of the selfies showed the women clad only in lingerie and skimpy bathing suits while striking provocative poses.
Of course, posing sexy selfies is not a new phenomenon. But to a family-friendly hotel in a conservative Arab country, these selfies could’ve done with a lot less skin.
After being barraged by posts on their Instagram feed, the hotel asked the models to untag the property, a request that went largely ignored.
The hotel was reported as saying that some of the images would be more befitting of an erotic lingerie catalogue, something that just didn’t jive with its “family-friendly image.”
Hotel bosses also said their main concern was the comfort of their guests: “You have to understand that this is an Arab country. We have had a lot of complaints from families with children. We do not want to see our geolocation on photos of girls in semi-naked and erotic poses. Let the photographs simply state the location as Dubai.”
What do you think? Did the models behave inappropriately? Or did the hotel overreact?
