A Look Inside Dubai’s Burj Al Arab Hotel
We arrive by taxi, a good half an hour prior to our booking for the Indulgent Afternoon Tea at Burj Al Arab’s Skybar lounge in Dubai. The small crowd gathered outside the security gate wears a look of disappointment. Unless one is a hotel guest or has a written confirmation for afternoon tea or a restaurant reservation, the public is not allowed inside the Jumeirah group’s prestigious 7 star hotel.
I show the security guard our email confirmation and he waves us in. The taxi hugs the gentle curve of the private bridge that connects the mainland to the man-made island. The sail-like building rising from the sea finally becomes a reality.
Views from Outside Burj Al Arab
Outside Burj Al Arab hotel
Looking onto Jumeirah Beach hotel from the private bridge
An imposing view of Burj Al Arab
The helipad
The entrance to the hotel
The Lobby of Burj Al Arab
The Entrance Level
The aquarium wall
The Upper Level
Musical fountain
Views from Burj Al Arab’s Skybar Lounge
Views of Dubai
The 360° Bar at the end of the pier
The Skybar Lounge
The Skybar Amenities
Burj Al Arab at Night
After sunset, Burj Al Arab wears a more opulent shade due to the warm lighting of its interior while the outside can take on an ethereal glow.
Click here for the in-depth article and food photography of the Indulgent Afternoon Tea at Burj Al Arab
This article is posted on Gourmantic.com. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2012
Simply stunning! Will be back for a more in-depth look (and comment) later…
Thanks Chris!
Wow! That aquarium wall is out of this world. The whole place is ridiculous. We saw a special on the building of the hotel and were blown away by how indulgent it looked.
When we go to Dubai eventually, we want to do exactly what you did and just have a drink there because we definitely can’t afford a room. Out of curiosity, how much did a drink cost?
Akila: You can’t just go in for a drink. To go to the bar in the evening, you need to have a reservation for a bar package. The price is AED 275 per person, roughly $90 AUD. The Indulgent Afternoon Tea cost AED 395.00, roughly $130.00 AUD. (Prices and conversions current as of Oct ’09 – Mar ’10). There is another afternoon tea held on the fist floor of the hotel, in the The Lobby Lounge and that costs 375AED but you don’t get the views.
Consider the cost to include entry to the hotel. You are better off going there for the afternoon tea for the views over Dubai and Palm Island from the 27th floor. At night, there isn’t much to see. We stayed a little after the sun went down, when the Skyview bar was gearing up for the evening service and there was little to see at that time.
I highly recommend it if budget allows it and I’m very pleased we made it part of our visit to Dubai.
It’s incredible how humans can change a landscape. The aerial pictures show how much transformation the place is undergoing.
Anil: It’s not just the landscape but the seascape. I look forward to returning in a few years to see the changes. They’re also ‘building’ The World archipalgo which would be worth an aerial tour if it gets completed.
I too remember seeing a documentary about this development while it was being built. I thought at first they were making it up. Absolutely amazing – thanks for giving a close up view.
Margo: Hi and welcome :) As much as I’d seen in photographs and video before going there, nothing prepared me for the grandeur of seeing it in person. Well worth the ‘admission’ fee to visit the Burj.
[...] much as Dubai offers gigantic shopping malls, soaring architecture with 7 star luxury hotels, fun desert safari tours and glitz reminiscent of Las Vegas, this is a tour that is well worth the [...]
[...] into music. Over the tent-filled terrace, the full moon casts a silvery light while the majestic Burj Al Arab hotel rising from the Arabian Gulf puts on a spectacle of colour and [...]
[...] We spot the Dates Section with a mouth-watering range of fresh dates from this region. Dates, or tomoor in Arabic, feature prominently in this part of the world and are often served in welcome, as they do at the lobby of Burj Al Arab hotel. [...]
[...] Inside Burj Al Arab hotel [...]
[...] their air conditioning set to low temperatures. If you’re having afternoon tea at Burj Al Arab, the hotel will send you advice on what to wear when you make your [...]
[...] we can see Atlantis the Palm in Palm Jumeirah directly ahead. To the right, the 7 star luxury Burj al Arab hotel rises from the [...]