Jun 14, 2006 01:54 PM
2536 Views
Dubai as everyone knew is the most luxury and rich country with full of style and enjoyment.In Oct 2005 I went to Dubai with my wife for 15 days, and as soon as our plane land to the airport we got so surprise seeing the beautiful airport with new creation,plain goes in between the sea and really the picture at that time pretend that we are not on earth and in heaven.
I spent one night at the Burj al Arab and confess that I'd like to have spent at least one more. It is without doubt the most opulent hotel imaginable. But... rather detached from reality.
The rooms are out of this world and the architecture breathtaking, but on leaving your room you feel as though you've stepped into a cross between a high-class bordello and a plush cinema.
Nothing gels, there's too much gold leaf, too many stark colours, no style, your mind screams, "less would have been so much more guys!"
The exception is the Spa floor, an oasis of style in a modern Ariabian theme. Had the whole hotel been based on variations of this theme, then it would have scored a true hit for me.
I found the service quite variable, from extremely friendly and helpful to average to almost frosty (particularly the desk outside the main restaurant, which by the way takes 'garish' to new and almost unimaginable lows - though the view is stunning).
The butlering is also rather otherworldly, "may I run your bath, Sir?." Though I guess you could get used to it.
If you already are then you'll feel right at home.
Another feature of the hotel that enhances the feeling of disconnected reality was its eerie low hum caused by the waves breaking constantly against it's base (presumably).
No matter where I was in the hotel I could hear it. It wasn't annoying, but it was rather like being in an episode of Star Trek!
The hotel is shaped like a spaceship, and 90% of it's interior has no exterior view, giving you the impression, along with the constant hum, of rushing through space inside one!
Without doubt, the Burj Al Arab is the ultimate way to treat yourself for a night or two, if you can afford it.
But if your pre-requisites for a holiday include staying somewhere with a beach where you can relax, be at ease, and bring the kids - then stay a few hundred yards down the road at the Al Qasr Hotel in the Madinat Jumeirah (also owned by Jumeirah International).
I stayed there for five nights. The suites are beautiful; the service is just as good as the Burj, probably better, certainly friendlier; there's a fabulous beach; and the place is stunning. It looks like a palace (Al Qasr means Palace) and you feel like royalty whilst staying there.
For me, the Burj was something quite extraordinary that I'm glad I got the opportunity to try but the Al Qasr was simply the most pleasurable hotel experience of my life (which includes the likes of The Palace at Sun City and Raffles in Singapore).
If Jumeirah International gave me a free choice of their hotels for one night, I'd probably take the Burj again. But for any longer I'd go for the Al Qasr.
