Burj Al Arab, also known as "Arab Sail", is the most expensive and luxurious hotel in the world. The are no "standard" rooms here. Each one of the of 202 rooms is a deluxe suite. All rooms are two-storied, the smallest being 1830 square-feet large, and the biggest - 8400 square-feet. The cheapest suite will cost you $1500 per night. Claiming to be the world's first 7-star hotel, it has truly become the symbol of Dubai.
Sergey Dolya traveled to this magnificent place to tell us more.
Before the economic crisis, one could only book a room number half-a-year in advanced. Right now, rooms are usually available within a week or so...
Sheikh Mohammed - the ruler of Dubai - perfectly understood that his emirate needs a recognizable symbol. Same as the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Statue of Liberty in New York. For that purpose, he hired the British architect Tom Wright. The idea of building a Sail-shaped hotel came to him accidentally. He was once sitting in a bar, drinking beer, when a Dhow boat drifted past the window. "Eureka!", he exclaimed, "here's a simple form even a child can draw!".
You can't just walk in on Burj Al Arab territories just like that. The hotel stands on an artificial island, only accessible through a secured bridge.
Two city tour options are available at the airport: a simple guided tour for $55, or a tour to the Burj Al Arab for $175. I, of course, refused to drink tea with cookies for $120.
On entering the hotel, you would face the staircase fountain, with an escalator on each side. The fountain periodically starts to play, spitting short streams of water.
The registration process is very simple. You give your passport to the employee and have a seat on the couch, eating dates and drinking coffee. I don't drink coffee and instead chose a wonderful hot drink made of ginger, lemon juice and honey.
All restaurants and elevators are located on the floor above, reachable through the escalator.
Upstairs there is another fountain.
Burj Al Arab has the highest hotel lobby in the the world: 180 meters. The hotel is shaped into a triangle and the front side actually looks like a taut sail from the inside.
Look above and you'll see a huge kaleidoscope.
Each floor slightly differ from the previous. The corridors have convex walls. The color of the ceiling changes from floor to floor.
Each floor has it's own reception desk and a concierge for the guests' comfort. You will always be greeted and accompanied from the elevator to your room. The butler always jokes, shows interest in how you spent your day and is extremely pleasant at all times. So you are unlikely to get lost in these surrealistic corridors. The fencing is very prominent and wide. It is uneasy to get a glimpse downstairs. I've made the following photo while holding the camera on stretched hands. The lobby looks tiny from above.
Usually I try not to book standard rooms (standard deluxe rooms in this case). By paying a bit more, you can get a much better room and more attention from the personnel. So I ordered a Panoramic Deluxe room with a total area of 2750 square feet. Panoramic rooms are larger than others on the floor and provide views to both sides of the hotel. Here's the evacuation plan for our room (hanging in a golden frame):
The hotel includes a total of 27 floors. I was provided with a room on the 14th floor, but keep in mind that each floor actually includes two. I say the following picture on entering the room:
Each room is equipped with a notebook, fax machine, photocopier and a color printer.
Our personal butler welcomed us on entering. He treated us to orange juice and showed us the suite. We began from the first floor:
Most of the area is taken by a large living room.
The TV is placed in a golden frame. Over 86.000 sq. ft. of gold leaves have been used for the construction of the hotel.
The pantry and the guest toilet:
The bedroom is located on the second floor.
The TV set can be raised from the mini-bar using the remote control.
The remote control deserves special attention. I especially liked the "Butler call" button. You can also open and close the blinds, light the DND sign or even open the front door, to avoid the hassle of coming downstairs...
And, of course, there is a huge bathroom with a jaccuzi upstairs.
The bathroom is "filled" with Hermes cosmetics. The butler said we can take it all with us, which we did. He also "allowed" to grab along the slippers and the beach bag.
Soon, our suitcases were brought in. I was completely shocked by the butler's question: "Would it be comfortable for you if I unpack the suitcases right now?". I hesitated for a little bit and responded: "Sure!". He unpacked our suitcases, put everything carefully on shelves and took the dirty linen for laundry.
When I woke up on the next morning, I didn't recognize the landscape. We were above the clouds and the nearby hotel's flags were barely visible through the clouds.
I couldn't hold the temptation of making a "World at my feet" photo.
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