Gulf Hotel installs gold-dispensing machine.
We’re not talking about the Gulf Coast in US waters in which liquid gold is being dispensed hour by hour. We are talking about the Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace Hotel.
“The reason we chose Emirates Palace is because it really fits with the surroundings here,” said German entrepreneur Thomas Geissler, creator of the “Gold to Go” brand and chief executive of Ex Oriente Lux. In other words, it’s a place where the average “Joe the Plumber” would never be able to afford.
The machine has a coating of gold and offers customers 320 items to choose from, ranging from gold bars that can weigh up to 10 grams, to customized gold coins.
“All the gold is imported from Germany, and soon we will have a customized gold bar with a print of the Emirates Palace logo, which will be a nice souvenir for guests to take home,” said Geissler. (Don’t look for the bars to replace the mints on your pillows.)
The ATM-like gold machine updates the gold price every 10 minutes to match international markets. An option of using credit cards will soon be introduced. For now, the currency to use the machine is the local dirham currency.
The cash-for-gold machines were first tested in Germany in 2009.