Often debated as the most luxurious hotel in the world, there is certainly no debate that the Burj Al Arab is an iconic symbol that is the face of one of the world's most fascinating and mysterious metropolises. Situated 280 meters off of the coast of Dubai on a private island, this uniquely constructed 321 meter tall building is a modern architectural masterpiece.

When the Burj Al Arab comes to mind, everyone pictures its massive white steel structured shell floating above the ocean below. Few people have seen pictures of the inside of the building and even fewer have been lucky enough to physically walk through the inside of the building. The luxurious and ambitious interior design is surprisingly even more impressive than the world famous exterior.

After entering the building you find yourself standing in the middle of an atrium so tall that you could fit the Statue of Liberty fully inside of the building. As you walk through the atrium you encounter a fountain that shoots water over 150 meters up into the indoor atrium sky. Take the elevator to the top floor of the building and walk out onto a massive restaurant and bar that is literally hanging off of the side of the building. Ride the elevator back down to the basement and dine in an intimate restaurant with a 10 million liter aquarium in the middle filled with sharks and rays. This is just a small taste of the surprises that are found everywhere throughout the entire building.

On our first trip to Dubai in 2012 we were lucky enough to get the Burj Al Arab to take us on a full tour of the property as we represented AbsoluteVisit! As we moved from room to room throughout the building we found ourselves continuously having to lift our jaws back up into place. The Burj Al Arab is the most luxurious and ambitiously constructed hotel in the world.

 

• The Burj al Arab is the tallest hotel in the world, and it isnt even on real land! It sits on an artificially constructed island 919 feet (280 meters) offshore in Dubai.
• The island is held in place with 230 concrete piles in the sand underwater. The entire process took 3 years to claim the land from the ocean, and three years to build the hotel.
• The exterior isnt the only impressive part of this swanky hotel, with rooms ranging from $1000-$15,000 (U.S. dollars) a night! Thats not all, either; the Royal Suite and most expensive room is $28,000 a night!
• The smallest room in the hotel covers an impressive 1,819 square feet (169 square meters) and the largest spanning 8,396 square feet (780 square meters!)
• The top of the hotel has a 79 foot (24 meter) wide helicopter pad 689 feet (210 meters) high.