Burj Al Arab Hotel

The Burj Al Arab calls itself a seven-star hotel. There is no official seven-star rating category in hospitality; the designation is self-assigned and exists as a marketing claim. What is true is that it opened in 1999, stands 321 metres on its own artificial island connected to the Dubai coast by a private curved bridge, and is instantly recognisable from most of Dubai’s shoreline. Its cost, its exclusivity, and its deliberate excess are the point.

What It Costs and What You Get

The cheapest room (the Deluxe 1-Bedroom Suite) runs from around AED 6,000 to 10,000 per night (roughly USD 1,600 to 2,700). All 202 rooms are suites across multiple levels. Butler service, 24-hour concierge, private transfer from the airport by Rolls-Royce: the service is as complete as the price implies. The rooms themselves are elaborately decorated in a style that is either magnificent or overwhelming depending on your aesthetic position. The views from the higher floors are genuinely extraordinary.

You cannot enter the hotel without a reservation to stay or dine; the security at the bridge is real. Day visitors attempting to see the interior without a booking are turned away.

Dining

Al Mahara is the restaurant inside a floor-to-ceiling aquarium tank: you eat surrounded by marine life and pay accordingly. The seafood is excellent and the spectacle is specific; mains from around AED 250. Al Muntaha at the top of the structure has contemporary French cuisine and the best views in the building. Both require advance reservations.

For people who want to see the interior without staying, afternoon tea in the lobby or the Skyview Bar is the accessible option at around AED 400 to 500 per person.

The View from Outside

The best free view of the Burj Al Arab is from Jumeirah Public Beach looking north; it appears as a sail on the water above the shoreline trees. Souk Madinat Jumeirah, a short walk south, has canal-side restaurants with good sightlines. The view from the water during a Dubai Fountain show at the Burj Khalifa is also worthwhile because you see both in the same evening.

Dubai Beyond the Burj

The Burj Al Arab is Dubai’s most photographed building, not its most interesting. The Dubai Museum in the Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood, the oldest surviving area of the city, gives considerably more context for what Dubai actually is and where it came from.