Does the Dhiyafa heritage element have to be in the hotel lobby?

Not by the published wording: the Dhiyafa release asks Abu Dhabi hotels for the heritage element in at least one guest-facing public area, without naming the lobby. A majlis, a lounge or a restaurant entrance may also be guest-facing public areas, but DCT decides whether the space you choose qualifies. If the protocol and logo walls already crowd your lobby, another public room may give the heritage piece more space.

We run hotel apartments in Abu Dhabi. Is the heritage element mandatory for us?

Plan for it as possible, not certain: DCT Abu Dhabi’s Dhiyafa release lists it as mandatory for hotels, but does not name the 5 mandatory standards for hotel apartments. Hotel apartments adopt at least 10 standards from a shorter list, 5 mandatory and 5 chosen by the property. We suggest you ask DCT which 5 are mandatory for you before you budget for a heritage piece. If you decide on one anyway, a single canvas is a complete order.

Can a studio outside the UAE paint the Emirati heritage piece for our Abu Dhabi hotel?

PaletteMomento can paint an Emirati heritage-inspired canvas for an Abu Dhabi hotel in its Dafen studio, from reference photos your team approves. Whether it counts as your Dhiyafa element is for DCT to decide. The September 2026 release does not say where the design element has to be made, so we suggest asking DCT or your classification consultant before you order.

Can you paint portraits of the Rulers for a suite or a majlis instead of the lobby?

We suggest no painted portraits of the Rulers in any room of an Abu Dhabi hotel, including suites and majlis rooms. DCT Abu Dhabi’s Circular No. 3/2024 sets strict rules for the official photographs of Their Highnesses, and that wall is best left to your team. For a suite or a majlis, an Al Ain heritage subject or a calm abstract can give the room its character instead.

What sets the price of one Emirati heritage canvas for an Abu Dhabi hotel?

An Abu Dhabi hotel’s heritage canvas is priced by its image size, the detail in its subject and whether it arrives stretched or framed. For example, a falaj channel lined with palm trunks holds more detail than a wide, soft view over the oasis canopy at the same size. Ordered on its own, the canvas is priced as a single piece. Rolled is quoted too, if a framer in Abu Dhabi will stretch it for you.

Hand-Painted Hotel Art Supplier, Abu Dhabi

01 / Pick the heritage element

Decide early whether a painting will be your Emirati heritage element

What the Dhiyafa standard asks of Abu Dhabi hotels

In September 2026, DCT Abu Dhabi launched its Emirati Dhiyafa Standards for hotels and hotel apartments. Dhiyafa means hospitality. The release from the Abu Dhabi Media Office sets 65 standards, and each hotel adopts at least 20 of them. Among the mandatory ones, at least one guest-facing public area must include at least one Emirati heritage-inspired design element. DCT plans full implementation across the emirate in the first quarter of 2027. The standard speaks of a design element, which could take many forms. A commissioned painting is one way some hotels may choose to meet it. DCT’s guidance, or your classification consultant, can confirm what counts for your property.

Choose a subject from Abu Dhabi’s own heritage

The Cultural Sites of Al Ain became the UAE’s first UNESCO World Heritage site in 2011. They include oases watered by falaj channels, and the Hafit tombs, about 5,000 years old. The largest oasis covers about 1,200 hectares, with more than 147,000 date palms. Pearl diving is another Emirati thread, if your hotel faces the sea. DCT counted more than 8.6 million visits to the emirate’s cultural sites and libraries in 2025. Some of your guests may look closely at a heritage painting, so we suggest a reviewer who knows the subject well approves it.

A lobby wall plan for an Abu Dhabi hotel, with what goes on each wall and what to send us
Wall	What goes there	What to send us
Protocol wall	Official photographs of Their Highnesses, hung as the DCT circular sets out. Its preferred print sizes are 50 × 70 cm and 44 × 61.6 cm, and frames add to that.	Only where it sits on your plan. No painting is planned for this wall.
Logo wall	Your hotel logo, on a different wall from the official photographs.	Its position, so all three walls appear on one plan.
Heritage wall	Your Emirati heritage-inspired painting, if you choose a painting as your heritage element.	The wall size, the subject, your reference photos and your heritage reviewer’s name.
Feature walls	Paintings for reception, lounges, lift lobbies and corridors.	A photo of each wall with its width and height, plus your design book.

03 / Share the wall plan

Mark the protocol, logo and heritage walls on one lobby plan

The first three rows of the table above are the walls with rules. You are welcome to mark them on a floor plan or a phone photo of the lobby. The walls left over are for feature paintings, and you choose the width and height of each one.

Any notes from DCT or your classification consultant about your heritage element are useful to us as well.

Your lobby plan or photos, with those three walls marked and the width and height of each
The date DCT or your consultant expects the heritage element to be in place
Your FF&E (furniture, fixtures and equipment) art schedule, or photos of each guest room type, if the guest floors are part of the order
Image width and height, the quantity of each design, and rolled, stretched or framed
The delivery address in Abu Dhabi

Studio order & delivery terms

Made by hand: Painted directly on premium linen, with no printed base. Acrylic is standard; oil is available on request. One painter takes each canvas from the first marks to the last.
One piece or a collection: Orders start at one painting, with quantity tiers from 6 and 21 pieces. Mixed designs count together. A sample is a separate single-piece order, priced on its own and not credited against a later order.
Rolled, stretched or framed: You choose the image width and height. Suitable rolled work includes an extra 5 cm of blank canvas on every side for stretching or framing. Please mention a larger allowance before production. Heavy texture should travel stretched or framed.
A complete delivery quote: Your quote sets out the artwork, presentation and delivery charges. We work with more than 200 logistics partners to compare express and sea options. Most destinations are served on DDP terms, with exceptions where local customs rules require another arrangement. The quote states the delivery terms for the UAE.
Time for each stage: Painting, your review, transport and any local framing are separate stages. Rush production can be requested, and we confirm a feasible date for the actual order.
Payment: Usually a 50% deposit, with the balance after final approval and before shipping.

04 / Clear the photo, name the reviewer

Choose a reference photo you may use, and a reviewer to check the paint

If the Grand Mosque is your subject

Every painting is made from a reference image. The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque’s visitor rules do not allow photography for commercial or media purposes without a permit issued by the mosque’s management. Personal photos with non-professional equipment are allowed only at the designated photo stops. If the mosque is your subject, we suggest a licensed image, or one taken under the mosque’s own permit.

Your heritage reviewer compares the daylight photos of the finished canvas with the reference photo. For an oasis scene, that means the line of the falaj channel and the spacing of the palm trunks. These are the same photos you approve before anything ships, so the reviewer’s notes arrive while the canvas is still in the studio.

An oasis scene goes to a painter matched to landscape subjects. You can read how our painters are matched to each subject.

Large hand-painted black horse canvas in the studio with a person standing close to inspect it — Close checkA large finished canvas, inspected from close range.

A canvas on the easel at the first stage of painting, with the first colored shapes blocked in — First marksThe first colored shapes, blocked in on the easel.

Both photographs were taken in our studio in Dafen.

05 / Hang the heritage piece first

Abu Dhabi’s winter events run into the rollout quarter, so the heritage canvas goes up before them

An Abu Dhabi hotel may not empty out for works in summer, and August 2025 set a record for the month, at 79.3% occupancy in preliminary industry data. The coming winter is full too. Its big weeks run from November into late January 2027, and January opens the quarter DCT has planned for the full Dhiyafa rollout.

Frieze Abu Dhabi, the art fair, 20 to 22 November 2026, at Manarat Al Saadiyat.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, 3 to 6 December 2026, at Yas Marina Circuit.
The opening of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, 11 December 2026, in the Saadiyat Cultural District.
IDEX, the international defense exhibition, 25 to 29 January 2027, at the ADNEC exhibition center.

Large closed plywood art shipping case with metal fittings, feet and fragile labels — A closed plywood case for one large canvas. A stretched heritage canvas sent ahead of the room paintings can travel on its own like this.

Give the heritage canvas a batch of its own

The heritage piece is one canvas for one public wall, so hanging it takes no guest rooms out of service. That makes it a natural first batch, ahead of the event weeks. The guest floors can follow later, while the rest of the hotel keeps selling rooms. We can ship those in batches by floor or phase.

06 / Then refresh the guest floors

Few new rooms are opening, so the art goes onto walls you already have

Measure from the art that hangs there now

The National reported in August 2026 that Abu Dhabi’s hotel stock held steady at 33,650 rooms, with about 120 more expected by the end of the year. No major hotel projects were completed in Abu Dhabi or Dubai in the second quarter of 2026. That suggests much of the near-term guest-room work may be in hotels that are already open. Some Abu Dhabi projects this year are conversions to a new brand, where new art usually goes onto existing walls under the new brand’s look. In an open hotel or a conversion, the walls, beds and hanging points are already in place. Keeping the image size of the current art can be the simplest choice, because nothing on the wall has to move. You are welcome to send a photo of each wall type, with its width and height and the size of the art there now. The brand or design book helps too.

Further ahead, several resorts announced for 2029 and 2030 are small villa properties, and announced dates can move. If your project is one of them, we suggest sending the villa plans early.

Hand-Painted Art for Abu Dhabi Hotels, from the Dhiyafa Heritage Wall to the Guest Floors