Simply Abu Dhabi VI

No rooms, just suites Usually when you want to stay at a hotel, you ask whether you can book a room. But you don’t do that at the Burj Al Arab, because here there are no rooms. Or to be more precise, every room is a suite. On this occasion, ours was a duplex on the 12th floor - room 1203 - and as soon as we got there, we went straight to the bedroom window to marvel at the spectacular view, looking out over the expansive ocean. We could also see the famous world development. It halted a few years ago, but the situation is now known to be getting noticeably better: work had recommenced and seemed to be getting into full swing. At 321 meters above sea level, Burj Al Arab is the tallest all-suite hotel in the world. It stands proud as one of the tallest buildings in the world and the tallest single structure on a manmade island. Visible from almost everywhere in the city, the island is linked to the shore by a gently curving causeway. It was little wonder, we thought, that Dubai is now one of the world’s top holiday destinations. After all, it has perennial sunshine, world- class leisure, first-class hotels and a mixture of rolling desertscapes and dramatic shoreline, where white sands meet the Arabian Gulf. But most conveniently, it is only 45 minutes drive away from Abu Dhabi. The bedroomwas on the first floor of the suite, alongside a large bathroom, shower and Jacuzzi. (There was also another bathroom on the ground floor). The bathroomwas wonderful, spacious and fabulously designed. But it’s sometimes the little touches that make all the difference. So we just have to mention that every day the bathrooms were replenished with complimentary Hermès His and Hers toiletries. That’s shampoo, shampoo conditioner, body lotion, bath tablets, and soap: and every time it was replenished for both of us each. His and Hers versions of everything – wow! And not the small bottles - the full retail size versions. And that was just the beginning of their amazing generosity: every day at 6pm complimentary amenities were provided: smoked salmon, sushi, sandwiches, an array of canapés which included items like mini quiches, the finest olives stuffed with mushrooms and even one day the rarest truffles. Even better, every day we were also given 2 complimentary drinks. We had a choice of alcohol or non-alcoholic, and we always went for the non-alcoholic version. And that wasn’t even the start of it. Every night during the turndown service a gift was left for me and Jordana. The first night there was La Prairie Caviar Crème and Sleeping Lavender Spray - each individually gift bagged on either side of the gigantic bed. (And let’s not forget that the bed itself would accommodate a family of 4 with ease – OK, a slim family!) I think it’s about time that I mentioned that the interior design of the hotel, both within and outside of the suites, is absolutely sumptuous, with a robust and vibrant colour palette seemingly derived from the elements; earth, air, fire, and water. We learned that the finest and most exclusive materials were used for finishing the interiors of Burj Al Arab, and fittingly for a place that is utterly dedicated to quality, they have been sourced from 6 0 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I

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