BURZ AL ARAB

BURZ AL ARAB :
The Burj Al Arab is shaped like a billowing spinnaker sail (see photo). The Burj Al Arab (means "The Arabian Tower" in Arabic) is built on a tiny man-made sea island, a mere football kick from the Dubai mainland. A short causeway (see photo) links the hotel to the Dubai mainland. The structure is firmly rooted. The foundation pillars reach 40 meters (120 feet) underneath the seabed.

The hotel is significantly taller than it appears to the eye. It rises measures 332 meters (1053 feet), making it one of the world's highest buildings. To grasp the Burj Al Arab's height, imagine the 102 floor Empire State Building standing next to the the Burj Al Arab, which is just 16% shorter.The building is an all-suite hotel. There are 202 double-floor suites. Each is sumptuously decorated and equipped with high-tech devices. The Burj Al Arab suite windows stretch floor to ceiling, offering grand sea and land views. Each suite has its own private butler.

Guests take a short submarine ride from the Burj Al Arab hotel lobby to reach the hotel's undersea Al Manhara seafood restaurant. Seated diners view teeming Gulf ocean life in a hangar size aquarium tank through a long curving wall of sizable picture windows.A helipad dramatically juts out from one of the upper Burj Al Arab's floors. Helicopters ferry guests to and from Dubai's modern international airport. "Budget-minded" guests take the hotel's Silver Cloud Rolls Royce limousines.

The Emirate of Dubai - the home of the Burj Al Arab hotel - is itself a Hillman Wonder. It ranks in the 101 to 200 class, thereby winning the Hillman Wonder Silver Medal. According to the United Nations, Dubai is now the world's fastest-growing travel destination.