The Burj al Arab
Rising majestically from its own man-made island just off the coast of Umm Suqeim is the peerless Burj al Arab (“Tower of the Arabs”), one of the world’s most luxurious hotels and de facto symbol of the city. Commissioned by Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, the aim of the Burj al Arab was simple: to serve as a global icon which would put Dubai on the international map. Money was no object. The total cost of the hotel was perhaps as much as US$2 billion, and it’s been estimated that even if every room in it remains full for the next hundred years, the Burj still won’t pay back its original investment.
As a modern icon, however, the Burj is unmatched, and the building’s instantly recognizable outline swiftly established it as a global symbol of Dubai to rival the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and the Sydney Opera House. Even the top-floor helipad has acquired celebrity status: Andre Agassi and Roger Federer once famously played tennis on it, while Tiger Woods used it as a makeshift driving range, punting shots into the sea (before ringing room service for more balls).
The Burj is home to the world’s first so-called seven-star hotel, an expression coined by a visiting journalist to emphasize the unique levels of style and luxury offered within. Staying here is a very expensive pleasure, and even just visiting presents certain financial and practical challenges. Fortunately the building’s magnificent exterior can be enjoyed for free from numerous vantage points nearby.
The building
Designed to echo the shape of a dhow’s sail, the Burj al Arab forms a kind of maritime counterpart to the adjacent Jumeirah Beach Hotel’s “breaking wave”. Its sail-like shape offers a modern tribute to Dubai’s historic seafaring traditions, enhanced (as is its very exclusive aura) by its location on a specially reclaimed island some 300m offshore. The building was constructed between 1993 and 1999 by UK engineering and architectural firm W.S. Atkins under lead designer Tom Wright. The statistics alone are impressive. At 321m, the Burj is the third-tallest dedicated hotel in the world. The spire-like superstructure alone, incredibly, is taller than the entire Jumeirah Beach Hotel, while the atrium (180m) is capacious enough to swallow up the entire Statue of Liberty – or, for that matter, the 38-storey Dubai World Trade Centre tower.
The sheer scale of the Burj is overwhelming, and only really appreciated in the flesh, since photographs of the building, perhaps inevitably, always seem to diminish it to the size of an expensive toy. The Burj’s scale is tempered by its extraordinary grace and the sinuous simplicity of its basic design, broken only by the celebrated cantilevered helipad and (on the building’s sea-facing side) the projecting strut housing Al Muntaha (“The Highest”) restaurant and the Skyview Bar. The hotel’s shore-facing side mainly comprises a huge sheet of white Teflon-coated fibreglass cloth – a symbolic sail which is spectacularly illuminated from within by night, turning the entire building into a magically glowing beacon. Less universally admired is the building’s rear elevation, in the shape of a huge cross, a feature that caused considerable controversy among Muslims at the time of construction, though it’s only visible from the sea.
Most of the interior is actually hollow, comprising an enormous atrium vibrantly coloured in great swathes of red, blue, green and gold. The original design comprised a far more restrained composition of whites and soft blues, but was significantly altered at the insistence of Sheikh Mohammed, who called in interior designer Khuan Chew (responsible for the colourful lobby at the adjacent Jumeirah Beach Hotel) to jazz things up. The contrast with the classically simple exterior could hardly be greater, and the atrium and public areas look like something between a Vegas casino and a James Bond movie set, the casual extravagance of it all encapsulated by enormous fish tanks flanking the entrance staircase which are so deep that cleaners have to put on diving suits to scrub them out (a performance you can witness daily 2–4pm). For many visitors, the whole thing is simply a classic example of Middle Eastern bling gone mad (that’s not gold paint on the walls, incidentally, but genuine 22ct gold leaf). Still, there’s something undeniably impressive about both the sheer size of the thing and Chew’s slightly psychedelic decor, with huge expanses of vibrant primary colour and endless balconied floors rising far overhead, supported by massive bulbous golden piers – like a “modern-day pirate galleon full of treasure”, as Tom Wright himself neatly described it.
Visiting the Burj Al Arab
Non-guests are only allowed into the Burj with a prior reservation at one of the hotel’s bars, cafés or restaurants. Big spenders might enjoy the hotel’s two fine-dining restaurants: choose between Al Mahara seafood restaurant and Al Muntaha, perched at the very top of the building. Alternatively, sign up for a less expensive buffet at the Arabian-style Al Iwan or Asian-style Junsui (lunch and dinner 505/560dh at both). Most visitors, however, opt for one of the Burj’s sumptuous afternoon teas, or just visit for a drink. Choose between the Sahn Eddar lounge in the spectacular atrium (minimum spend 290dh, afternoon teas 400/560dh) or put the high back into high tea with a table in the Skyview Bar at the very top of the hotel (minimum spend 350dh; afternoon tea 620dh). If you want to go the whole hog, try the novel “Culinary Flight” (lunch/dinner 1075/1350dh), comprising drinks at the Skyview Bar followed by a four-course meal, with each course served in a different restaurant, rounded off with dessert at Sahn Eddar.
Jumeirah Beach Hotel
On the beach right next to the Burj sits the second of the area’s landmark buildings, the huge Jumeirah Beach Hotel, or “JBH” as it’s often abbreviated. Designed to resemble an enormous breaking wave (although it looks more like an enormous roller coaster), and rising to a height of over 100m, the hotel was considered the most spectacular and luxurious in the city when it opened in 1997, although it has since been overtaken on both counts. It remains a fine sight, however, especially when seen from a distance in combination with the Burj al Arab, against whose slender sail it appears (with a little imagination) to be about to crash.
