When Petter Stordalen, the rockstar of the global hotel industry, came thundering on a jet-ski through the canals of Malmö in his hand made Balmain-jacket, thousands of baffled spectators thought they were on the set of Mission Impossible 5. Then he crashed head first into the concrete stairs.
And that is how you open a hotel.
Petter Stordalen – Clarion Hotel & Congress Malmö hotel opening – crashes jet-ski in concrete from Ellioth & Winther Film on Vimeo.
Named the “the flashiest Scandinavian on the planet” by Forbes Magazine, the 52-year old Petter Stordalen has completed an Iron Man race, been chained to a bridge while protesting a UK nuclear treatment plant and once did a double Arabian flip on stage with Prince. Forbes magazine earlier this year ranked Stordalen as the world’s number one thrillionaire – billionaires who loves thrills – in front of people like Richard Branson and Elon Musk.
His latest stunt, culminating in doing a double donut on the water before gunning his jet-black jet-ski onto a ramp. But the jet-ski, due to the excessive speed, continued passed the ramp into the stairs, propelling Stordalen into the concrete stairs. High on adrenaline Stordalen, with security guards and media in tow, ran through the crowd and jumped on stage screaming “Malmö!” And just like that, in front of 10,000 thousand Swedish celebrities, industry professionals and business leaders, Clarion Hotel & Congress Malmö Live – the 400 million dollar development that is changing the Malmö shoreline forever – was inaugurated.
On his twitter account @PetterStordalen the billionaire was making fun of his jet-ski mishap, stating “So… I just landed in Malmö, on my back, From a jetski. In 40mph” and later asking “Is there a competition for ‘Best Assailant from a Jeski’ I can nominate myself to?”
The Norwegian daredevil and billionaire (his estimated fortune of 1.6 billion USD ranked him at #1226 on the Forbes list of world billionaires in 2015) is known for his spectacular hotel openings. For his hotel on Arlanda airport he spent two days practicing so called Australian abseiling, before running down the facade of the hotel to mark the opening of the 57 meter tall hotel. For the opening of his hotel in Drammen, Norway, he set fire to an electric guitar onstage and for his 200 million dollar Clarion Hotel Post in Gothenburg, Sweden, he descended from the ceiling inside a giant disco ball rigged out with drums he was playing. Three months later he opened a giant hotel in Trondheim, Norway, driving through the audience on his 2200 cubic custom built motorbike. In Tromsø, for Hotel The Edge, he did off-piste skiing together with two Olympic Medalists.
And now, for the opening in Malmö, according to Stordalen it is Europe’s first combined hotel and concert hall, he went even bigger. On huge outdoor screens the audience could follow him descend from his Riva Rivarama onto his jet-ski, jetting full speed in the canals of Malmö finally arriving like something out of a Hollywood-movie by hitting a ramp and crashing on the concrete, jet-ski and all.
Thousands of people had gathered in the Swedish city, recently ranked the world’s 4th most innovative city, to watch Stordalen open the city’s new landmark hotel, Clarion Hotel & Congress Malmö Live. A project which is basically a city within a city.
Norwegian director Preben Winther Hansen shot the Mission Impossible -inspired video of the opening. “We knew he was a sporty dude, but we have never seen anyone drive a jet-ski like that. He just went for it. He must be the definition of a thrillionaire,” says Winther.
The custom made 12 pound Balmain jacket which will forever be on display in the reception of the hotel, possibly inspired by the rock star memorials of Hard Rock Hotels. The jacket was specially made for the opening speech, they call it Art by Balmain, and a total of 165 hours was put into the embroidery alone. The jacket is composed of 18 different parts and materials like buffalo bones, glass beads and cord. Number of jackets available in the world? One. Price tag? Unknown. According to Stordalen, who was the awarded title of Norway’s best dressed man latest in 2012, it is the cheapest piece of art in the hotel. He has spent around 2 million dollar on making it something of a mini MOMA, most noticeably including a 98 feet wide painting by Fabian Marcaccio.
