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Dubai: Inside Burj Al Arab Tour
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The Burj al-Arab, translated as ‘tower of the Arabs’, is the icon of Dubai in the world. It is a 280-metre-high sail-shaped hotel, which has described itself as ‘the only seven-star hotel in the world’, even though international classification has awarded it ‘only’ five stars.
It is located on an artificial island built just off Jumeirah beach and is connected to the mainland by a private bridge.
The Burj al-Arab was opened in December 1999 and is managed by the Jumeirah Group. It has 28 floors and houses 202 rooms, the smallest of which is 169 square metres in size while the largest is an impressive 768 square metres.
Attention to detail, guest care is at the highest level and the hotel has become one of the symbols of world architecture, so much so that it has inspired similarly designed buildings in Barcelona, Lisbon, Panama and even Yerevan in Armenia.
As can be easily imagined, staying at the Burj al-Arab is a luxury few can afford, with prices per night running into the thousands of euros. Visiting the hotel therefore seems like a mission impossible, but there is a way to do it.
As mentioned above, it is impossible to approach the Burj Al Arab unless you are a guest of the hotel: a few dozen metres from the main entrance, security controls every car that attempts to approach, raising the barrier only to authorised persons.
It would be easy to take a photo and turn around, were it not for the fact that the perspective you get from this angle is certainly not the iconic sail shape that we all know and that appears on all the postcards, but that of a gaunt and ungainly hotel.
So how do you photograph the Burj Al Arab in profile and perhaps with good lighting conditions? Very simple. In the morning you have to go to the Jumeirah Public Beach, located just beyond the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, and you can take some great pictures with the beach, the sea and the Burj Al Arab with the light behind.
In the afternoon, however, you will have to photograph it from the opposite side, so the postcard photo of the Burj Al Arab becomes the one you take from inside the Madinat Jumeirah, from any of the vantage points of the inner lagoon.
Another way to admire and photograph the Burj al-Arab is certainly from the water: a speedboat tour will give you the opportunity to take beautiful shots of the city skyline and its most famous hotel.
If you can’t afford a room at the Burj al-Arab (and we don’t blame you), you can book an afternoon tea at the hotel’s Skyview Bar from home via the Internet and thus become an authorised guest to enter the building.
To do this you will have to contact the hotel management to fix the day and time: the price is high, we are around 100-120 euros depending on the current exchange rate, but it is certainly a cheaper experience than an overnight stay, and it will also be unforgettable.
If you have money to stay at the Burj Al Arab it will certainly not be a problem to get there by taxi and use it for every move, also considering that they are very cheap. However, if you are just a tourist who wants to see it from the outside to take a picture of this masterpiece of modern architecture, you can reach it from metro stop number 32 (Mall of The Emirates).
From there you have to cross Sheikh Zayed Road using the elevated walkway and the Burj Al Arab will be right in front of you, you will be able to admire its tall and imposing shape right away.
Unfortunately, however, it is not as close as it looks, being about 4 km away, the equivalent of an hour’s walk in the middle of nowhere in the interior streets of the Jumeirah district: a tedious walk that you can very well avoid by using bus no. 81, which has the Mall Of The Emirates as its terminus and stops 100 metres from the Burj Al Arab, or take a taxi as soon as you get off the metro: it will cost you only a few dirhams and the journey will be short and comfortable.
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