This is for preview purpose only. It is unlisted and unindexed on the Internet
Meet Olia Gurnani
Olia Gurnani is the Founder and Creative Director of inLUXEspirit, a Dubai based hospitality concept focused on intimate, curated experiences for private clients and brands. Born in Russia, shaped by New York, and now building in Dubai, she works at the intersection of creative direction, relationship building, and modern hospitality. Alongside her immersive gatherings, she also advises clients on hospitality led living through her work with Christie’s International Real Estate Dubai.
A Room Prepared with Care
When Olia Gurnani speaks about hospitality, she does not begin with hotels, design trends, or luxury. She begins with how a room feels when you enter it. Whether the light is soft enough for conversation. Whether the chairs invite you to stay. Whether someone has noticed that you prefer still water over sparkling.
For her, the smallest details hold emotional weight. Atmosphere is not decoration. It is intention made visible. It is the quiet signal that says you were expected.
She has always been sensitive to beauty and to the invisible cues that shape an experience. Some people walk into a space and see furniture. Olia walks in and studies energy. She observes how people move, how they gather, where conversation slows, where it opens.
That instinct became the foundation of inLUXEspirit, a concept she describes as modern hospitality shaped by human dynamics. It is less about spectacle and more about softness. Less about performance and more about presence.
Between Cultures, Between Cities
Olia was born in Russia and later shaped by her years in New York. It was there, in a city that rarely pauses, that she felt a pull in the opposite direction. After years working within the wellness industry, she felt a quiet nudge to travel east. She wanted to understand the origins of the practices she had studied and worked with.
She moved across continents, from traditional havelis to refined resorts and intimate hotels, absorbing what could not be taught in a classroom. She noticed that in many Asian cultures, hospitality was not staged. It was not transactional. It was woven into the fabric of daily life.
She recalls observing that hospitality was not something performative, but an extension of culture. It was innate. That realization shifted her thinking. You can learn service techniques, but true hospitality comes from care, timing, and sensitivity.
As she traveled from East to Europe, she paid attention to detail with almost cinematic focus. The way tea was poured. The pacing of a meal. The quiet choreography between staff. She understood that experience is built from layers, and that beauty is not excess. It is harmony.
When she returned from her travels, she could not ignore what she had absorbed. She began developing her first experiential lifestyle brand. The project remained pre launch, yet the lesson stayed with her. Momentum matters. Timing matters. And sometimes growth requires letting go.
She learned to recognize when an idea had been outgrown. She also clarified her strengths. Creative direction. Conceptual development. Building relationships with the right partners.
There was another insight during that time. She noticed she could sense what would become culturally relevant before it fully arrived. Concepts she explored quietly began appearing globally in similar forms. It confirmed her intuition, yet it also taught her something more important.
If she was not personally connected to what she was building, the project would never reach its full expression. Passion was not optional. It was structural.
Choosing to Step Into the Room
A deeper turning point arrived when Olia realized she no longer wanted to remain behind the brand. In earlier projects, the concept stood at the front while she worked in the background. Over time, that arrangement felt incomplete.
She did not only want to design the room. She wanted to hold it.
Relocating from New York to Dubai sharpened this awareness. Both cities are vibrant and global, yet they can also feel isolating. Surrounded by people does not guarantee connection.
She began noticing a quiet hunger among professionals and creatives alike. People wanted introductions. They wanted trust. They wanted real conversation beyond screens. But they often did not initiate it easily.
Connection, she realized, was becoming the true luxury.
Her direction became clear. She could combine her understanding of hospitality with curated, intimate gatherings designed to soften the edges of networking and replace it with something more human.
She launched inLUXEspirit before it felt perfect. That decision required courage. She chose to grow with the business rather than waiting for flawless conditions. She trusted momentum.
Then came a difficult season. Financial pressure surfaced. Doubt followed. She invested time and resources without certainty of return. At one point, she asked for help and did not receive it. That moment forced clarity.
She let go of things she valued in order to reinvest in what she believed could work. She committed fully.
She reflects on that period with honesty.
“As a founder, not just an entrepreneur, the hardest part is the uncertainty. You invest time, energy, and money without being able to fully predict the outcome. Doubts show up, financial pressure is real, and insecurities can surface.”
The lesson was not about resilience as a slogan. It was about steady action. Belief alone was not enough. Daily steps created outcomes.
Curated Circles, Shared Tables
Today, inLUXEspirit operates through small curated circles, private immersives, and brand collaborations designed around atmosphere and pacing. The format often centers on shared tables, intimate salons, or hosted evenings where guests are carefully selected.
She does not design for mass appeal. She designs for resonance.
Her philosophy rests on discretion, integrity, and attention to detail. Privacy is not a marketing tool. It is a value. Guests are welcomed in a way that feels personal and composed.
When describing her work, she is clear about what has shifted in the industry. “Guest experience and brand experience are not enough anymore. Today, it’s about how we connect, and what we connect around.”
One collaboration brought this philosophy into focus. A wine tasting evening designed in partnership with the Spanish wine house Clos Cien at BOCA DIFC in Dubai. It was not only about the wine. It was about pacing, conversation, and the subtle choreography of introductions.
She has observed that when a room is prepared with care, people soften. Conversations rarely begin with agendas. They unfold organically. Even professionals arriving with business objectives often leave having formed something more meaningful.
An upcoming concept, Aperitivo Salon, draws inspiration from the Italian ritual of gathering after work to unwind. She adapts such rituals thoughtfully, ensuring they feel culturally aligned with the city she is building in. Dubai, with its global population and refined dining culture, offers fertile ground for this form of hospitality.
Her long term vision extends beyond one city. Marrakech remains part of her original dream. She imagines hosted lifestyle weekends where guests are enveloped in place and culture. Morocco appeals to her for its layered identity at the intersection of African, Arab, and European influences. She envisions curated circles gathered in open air settings, sharing wine and conversation, departing renewed.
Alongside her immersive gatherings, Olia also works as a Branded Residences Specialist with Christie’s International Real Estate Dubai. There, she connects architecture, service philosophy, and daily rituals to help clients view a residence not simply as property, but as lived experience. For her, a home should carry the same coherence as a well hosted evening.
Both paths share one core idea. Luxury is personal, and it is most deeply felt when design, ritual, and emotion move in harmony.
Building with Integrity and Soft Power
Olia often speaks about the kind of presence she admires in women of earlier generations. Elegant. Intelligent. Carrying soft power without force. That quiet authority influences how she leads.
Integrity guides her decisions. If she cannot deliver something to her standards, she will not promise it. Reputation matters. So does transparency.
She is aware of her tendency to immerse herself in details. She wants each experience to reach its highest expression. Yet she reminds herself of the larger vision. The emotion behind it fuels her.
Success, for her, is not the absence of obstacles. It is progress. Measurable growth from yesterday to today. It is allowing herself to be seen and heard, even when judgment is possible. It is cultivating quiet confidence.
To sustain that growth, she returns to simple rituals. Movement. Meditation. Nourishing food. Laughter with a friend over wine. She chooses beautiful places to work from, ideally outdoors, where harmony surrounds her. The environment she creates for others must also sustain her.
Toward an Expansive Hospitality Future
Looking ahead, Olia is building toward a more expansive hospitality direction. The concept remains close to her until it is ready, yet its outline is clear. Curated rooms and culture as platforms for connection rather than isolated events. Shared tables that become ongoing circles.
She believes that when the right people connect with the right people, momentum becomes easier to build. The host’s role is not to dominate the room, but to guide its energy.
Her advice to others reflects her own path.
“Don’t give up on what you personally believe in, even when the world around you isn’t confirming it yet. Keep moving, keep refining, and let time prove what you already feel.”
It is a philosophy rooted in patience and persistence rather than spectacle.
In a world saturated with noise, Olia Gurnani is choosing something quieter. She is choosing rooms prepared with care. Conversations that linger. Introductions that matter.
Modern hospitality, as she practices it, is not about excess. It is about intention. And in that intention, connection becomes effortless, trust becomes natural, and luxury returns to its most personal form.
For More Features
Be Featured in The Real Edit!
Every story has the power to shape how we see innovation, leadership, and purpose. If you’re a founder, creator, executive, or changemaker with a journey worth telling , we’d be honored to help you share it.
To inquire about being featured:
Email us at: info@realedit.site
Follow The Real Edit
No Comments