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- One of the most decorated luxury hotels in the world, the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, was recently named the “best hotel in the world” by the Ultratravel Awards. The Burj has frequently been called “the world’s first seven-star hotel” and “the most luxurious hotel in the world” by travel writers and critics.
- I recently stayed at the hotel on a trip to Dubai to see if the Burj Al Arab could possibly live up to the hype.
- Adorned with more gold and marble than any reasonable person would choose, the Burj Al Arab impresses through the sheer force of its vision of luxury.
- A guest’s every whim is attended to, the architecture and design astounds with color, patterns, and vertigo, and extravagances like caviar and truffles find their way into numerous dishes at the hotel’s restaurants. It’s like living in the dream world of an Emirati royal or President Donald Trump.
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to vacation like a billionaire, the Burj Al Arab in Dubai is likely the closest we normies will ever get.
Shaped like the sail of an Arabian dhow ship and built for $ 1 billion, the hotel is full of extravagances like a Rolls-Royce chauffeur, a 14-piece set of Hermès toiletries, personal butlers — Burj says the staff-to-guest ratio is 6:1 — and 24-karat gold everything.
Since the hotel opened nearly 20 years ago, the Burj Al Arab has won accolade after accolade for its bonkers approach to luxury.
In just the last year, it was named the Best Hotel in the World by The Telegraph’s ULTRA Awards and given a Five-Star Award by Forbes Travel Guide. When it first opened, a journalist was supposedly so enamored with the Burj that she exclaimed that it must be a seven-star hotel, a rating that does not exist.
Gold-plated luxury usually makes me roll my eyes, making me think something along the lines of, This is what the richest people in the world waste their money on?
I certainly had that reaction when I stayed at the Burj Al Arab on a recent trip to Dubai, but I also found myself overwhelmed by the sheer audacity of the hotel’s luxurious vision.
While I can’t condone spending the $ 1,500 a night minimum it costs to stay there, I can say that staying the night inside the dreamworld of an Emirati royal is a very interesting trip.
Keep reading to see what it was like:
The Burj’s vision of luxury starts with its location. The hotel was built on a tiny man-made island a few hundred meters off the Dubai coastline. That means any would-be visitors must enter via guard-monitored bridge.
Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider
Most people arrive via complimentary chauffeured Rolls-Royce pick up. Your other option is to arrive in a private helicopter — to a private helipad, of course.
Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider
Compared to the rest of the Burj, the lobby is nothing to write home about, with low ceilings and a pared-back design. But that’s by design. The lobby is mostly used to corral tourists coming to marvel at the structure, not guests.
Annie Zheng/Business Insider
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