PDA

View Full Version : For my next Middle East vacation

Jethro Tull
12-03-2004, 11:45 AM
The Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai

http://www.chessbase.com/images2/2004/dubai27.jpg

http://www.chessbase.com/images2/2004/dubai26.jpg

http://www.chessbase.com/images2/2004/dubai28.jpg

A sample suite:

http://www.chessbase.com/images2/2004/dubai29.jpg

It has been described as the world's only "7-star" hotel.

More here: http://www.burjalarab-hotel-dubai.com/


Name: Burj Al Arab
Location: Jumeirah Beach Road,Dubai
Address: PO Box 74147,Dubai,UAE
Classification: 5 Star Deluxe.Member of The Leading Hotels of the World

Accommodation- 202 duplex suites:
142 Deluxe Suites (One Bedroom)
18 Panoramic Suites (One Bedroom)
4 Club Suites (One Bedroom)
28 Two-Bedroom Suites
6 Three-Bedroom Suites
2 Presidential Suites
2 Royal Suites
Travel Information: Dubai International Airport 25 km
Rolls-Royce limousine service

Structure & Design

Construction of this architectural and engineering marvel commenced in 1994. Piling goes 40 meters deep into the seabed.

At 321 meters high, Burj Al Arab is taller than the Eiffel Tower and only 60 meters shorter than the Empire State Building.

Burj Al Arab is the world's tallest hotel building. With its helipad on the 28th floor and a restaurant seemingly suspended in mid air, this hotel has already become a landmark and icon on the Dubai skyline.

The sail façade represented an astonishing technical challenge, featuring a double-skinned Teflon-coated woven glass fiber screen. It is the first time such technology has been used vertically in such form and extent in any building worldwide.

It is dazzling white by day and used as a canvas for a rainbow of spectacular light displays at night, providing a brilliant entrance to the marvels that await the guest inside.

Combining the latest technology with a long-standing reputation of Arabian hospitality, Burj Al Arab symbolizes the very essence of Dubai, embracing the best of the new alongside traditions of the past.

Technology

Within the luxurious fittings of each suite lies a hidden network of technological wizardry. Lighting, curtains and air-conditioning throughout the suite comes to life at the touch of a button. The multimedia system has up to 57 cable channels -the largest selection available in the Middle East.

Guests can take advantage of the video-on-demand system and can watch any film in the selection available even if other residents are enjoying the same movie. The real-time recording system enables guests to take a break from a programme - even a live broadcast and resume to the point at which they left the programme.These facilities can be enjoyed in surround-sound stereo on the 42-inch plasma television screens.

The television and its remote control manage numerous functions and services. It can record items for viewing later, while one channel is linked to a camera outside the suite allowing room guests to see who is at their door. Visitors can allow entry with the push of a button. All of these media functions are controlled from a single remote.

Every suite has its own laptop computer, scanner and printer which interface with the television. Guests can phone home from anywhere in their suite. A one-bedroom Deluxe suite has 10 telephones and each Royal Suite boasts no fewer than 17 handsets.




Rooms start at $952 US per night, but go up from there . . . nice place . . .

;D
BrandonL
12-03-2004, 11:55 AM
Nice building. I just don't see "Dubai" on my list of must-see places...hmmm....
WCP
12-03-2004, 11:58 AM
I hope they don't allow any filthy Arabs there. They'd probably spit in the food. Plus, they don't use toilet paper in Arab countries. I wouldn't want to shake the hands of one of them.

It will be bombed within the next year.
McBp_2003
12-03-2004, 11:59 AM
57 cable channels? I get more than that in my dorm.
BrandonL
12-03-2004, 12:36 PM
57 cable channels? I get more than that in my dorm.
Yeah, but they are 57 different versions of the Spice and Hot! networks.
Larry_Oldtimer
12-03-2004, 03:12 PM
My experience while traveling was that a 5 star hotel in other countries was about equivalent to a 3 star hotel here in the US. ;) Another difference was that here in the US, the offered amenities always functioned . . . not always the case in other countries. Things like AC, refrigerators in rooms, ice machines, swimming pools and the like.
I-RIGHT-I
12-03-2004, 04:36 PM
I hope they don't allow any filthy Arabs there. They'd probably spit in the food. Plus, they don't use toilet paper in Arab countries. I wouldn't want to shake the hands of one of them.

It will be bombed within the next year.


[attachment deleted by admin]
BrandonL
12-03-2004, 04:40 PM
Darnit, IRI-you coulda done better than that!?
I-RIGHT-I
12-03-2004, 04:43 PM
Darnit, IRI-you coulda done better than that!?


All I've got is paint, a touch pad and too little imagination.
Whiskey4bfast
12-03-2004, 04:51 PM
I hope they don't allow any filthy Arabs there. They'd probably spit in the food. Plus, they don't use toilet paper in Arab countries. I wouldn't want to shake the hands of one of them.

It will be bombed within the next year.
I think they wipe with their left hand.

But then, who cares?

Refer to original comment.
Jethro Tull
12-03-2004, 10:48 PM
The Emirates have been pretty reliable allies to the US. They allow us to us their facilities and air and sea space, even if we're planning to kick some Arab ass. These aren't a bunch of poor Egyptians or Palestinians who blow themselves up or burn US flags.

These folks are rich. They have so much oil income and so few citizens that there is no tax. The government gives citizens a check instead. Of course, the royals get the biggest share, but nobody is complaining. They don't do shit work. They import Phillipinos and Iranians for that stuff.

It's a shopping paradise with great deals on a wide variety of merchandise, although almost all of it is imported. Businesses get such substantial government subsidies that they can keep prices cheap and still make a healthy profit.

There are plenty of nightclubs and bars that serve alcohol are plentiful, but all are in hotels, by law. Muslims are not allowed to drink . . . just as well. Non-muslim citizens have to have a license to buy alcohol anywhere.

While the vast majority are Muslims, and many are Wahhabis, they aren't the wacko type. Western women can wear skirts and shorts, it is recommended that nothing too revealing be worn, though. Tourists shouldn't photograph or tape those in traditional dress without permission, or offer their hands to native women. But they are very tolerant of westerners who screw up their customs, don't get angry, just explain the custom to the tourist. Even the Wahhabis aren't the nutcase variety.

The policy is to welcome westerners and treat them well.
wendy
12-04-2004, 04:42 AM
Their policy is to make money and cater to the hypocritical muslims who want to drink and whore on a large scale....and know they can't do it in their own country or they'd loose their grip on the "lower classes".

I don't know what it's like any more....but it used to be standard procedure for Arabs flying to London from Saudi Arabia to get on the plane wearing traditional dress in Jeddah....and as soon as it was announced that they'd left Saudi airspace, many women would immediately change into western clothing and the hidden booze would make an appearance. ::)
SamHill
12-04-2004, 08:06 AM
I understand that it is incrediably elegant and luxurious, and that Bill Clinton has stayed there a few times, but I wouln't trade it for my regular 17th floor suite at the Mirage in Las Vegas on a bet.

As I recall, that Sultan's suite goes for about $24K per night, and it takes some 18 hours of flight time to get there from the U.S.

I'm with Badnews; I don't want to go anywhere that nasty Arabs might sabotage the food. ;D