Burj Al Arab Plans Dashed
25 Feb
I wrote this post about Dubai a long time ago and how I wanted to stay at the Burj Al Arab (Considered the best hotel in the world) for a night.
Every room is at least a 2-storey suite, and the smallest room is roughly 1,800 sq. ft.. I priced it out and found it would be between $2,000 and $2,200 per night (depending on currency fluctuations).
Well I’m officially spending New Year’s 2009-2010 in Dubai this year, so I thought whilst there I would snag a suite at the Burj Al Arab for the night and have a big party with my friends and then everyone could stay over.
I called around, and the problem is I can’t have that many guests (pretty much no guests at all)….especially to stay over. So what’s the point in getting a big room like that without the fun of throwing a big party in it? Basically it’d be me sitting in a big room….no fun.
So I think the limited guests policy they have officially nixed my plans to stay there. A little more poking around and I was told NOT to stay there. The reason I was told it’s rated the best hotel is each room is large, nice and has expensive gold finishes, art work etc….basically crap I don’t care about. The hotel I’ve been told is actually very quiet, boring and a little stuffy….it’d be great to stay at some point, but it’s definitely not a party spot nor guest friendly…deal breaker.
Friends in Dubai recommended I have breakfast or dinner there to get a taste of it, but staying might be a little much.
Still curious to see the rooms, a quick YouTube search showed several guest tours of various suites:
Who needs to travel, we have YouTube!
That’s a real buzz kill. Its a nice place, but I wouldn’t pay $2200 / night either.
I’m not sure why anyone would want to go to Dubai anyway, unless they wanted to visit friends or family. If you’re going there to party, you’re in for disappointment – don’t even think about kissing in public. Apparently it’s viewed the same as having sex on the beach, which can land you in jail as seen in the news recently.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article5132581.ece
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/19/news/dubai.php
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080707/NATIONAL/480879389/0/FRONTPAGE
Beautiful place, but is it really worth that much?
I’ve got a relative working in the Dubai area and I’ve been considering going there myself whenever I can fit it in. I haven’t been to that area yet. Thanks for the feedback on this hotel, it will be interesting to see what you end up doing over there. Sounds like a great trip for New Year’s!
Forget about Dubai. Look at the fresh polish market here: http://www.kredyt24centrum.pl/
No! I was totally looking forward to your trip here so I could take you out and show you around Dubai.
Don’t give up just yet, there are several other great hotels that would be more than happy to cater to your party needs (Atlantis, The Address at Burj Dubai, The Raffles etc.)
Thanks for the post. I always wondered how much it cost to stay there. Personally, I wouldn’t be able to relax with that price tag. For me, not being able to relax in a hotel room is a big drawback.
Don’t worry about currency fluctuations so much, things should get more or less stable, like the us dollar gaining back some ground from the euro and gbp for the past 6 days.
Making those $22000 for a 10 day stay and the extra for shopping and fun is bigger pain than the currency fluctuations :) (for most people)
On another note, yeah we got youtube…
Just FYI I’m still going to Dubai for New Year’s, but staying at the Burj seems lame so I won’t do that.
But Dubai is still on!
Hi Nev – we went to Dubai last year and were going to book the Burj. However I was told the same – no atmosphere to the place, as most of the people who can afford to stay there have suites, and never bother with the bars or restaurants. In the end we booked into next door – the Jumeriah Beach Hotel (owned by the same people apparently), and I have to say it was wonderful, especially the open air nightclub on a Friday night.
Its really amazing to know of such places, but i honestly believe that they should reduce the charge so that we can enjoy it even more to have lasting memory
For those of you going to Dubai, how can you justify supporting this…
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html?
If you thin it’s beautiful, fun, full of riches, think again!
I wish I can afford a 1 night stay at Burl Al Arab.. Someday I’ll go there if I have the money already. =)
to all,
burj al arab is not for people with limited cash. it's for people with problems on how to spend it, and those who looks for excellent and quality service. it is not just proud of the building itself but by the sevice those people working in burj al arab would gladly provide.