This is the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai in the United Arab Emerirates. It is located directly on the beach and has an unobstructed view of the Burl al Arab Hotel (the world’s only seven-star hotel).

The thing I enjoy the most about this picture isn’t the view of the hotel or where it was taken or a memory it triggers. I enjoy the color of skin on the woman in the bottom-right corner of the picture. She’s bright red from enjoying the beach a bit too much.

I’ve been sunburned pretty bad before, but it was nothing like she has. Mine was in Bali and I was a little rosy leaving the beach. Her sunburn is completely covering her backside and she’ll sleep miserably for the next few nights.

In reality, I really only laugh because I’ve been in her boat before, and this time I’m glad it’s not me.

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In an earlier blog entry, I wrote about the opulence inside the world’s only seven-star hotel, the Burj al Arab, located in the United Arab Emirates. This picture is another example of the building’s exquisite design.

After getting cleared at the security gate, crossing over the private bridge and exiting our taxi in front of five mint Rolls Royces, my wife and I walked through the hotel’s lobby doors and entered a world of $2,000 a night hotel rooms. We were approached immediately by a well-dressed and attractive young woman from the staff to ask how she could help us. We explained we had tea reservations and arrived early in hopes of taking a few pictures of the beautiful hotel.  In keeping with the staff’s efforts to be extremely accommodating, she encouraged us to take all the pictures we wanted.

I am not an architectural photographer, but even I had a blast taking pictures of the beautiful decor.

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Soaring high above Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is the Burj Khalifa.  Its the tallest building in the world.

The trip to the top of the Burj Khalifa’s observation deck is made up of a variety of long hallways with graphics and videos of the building’s construction process.  After the observation deck, there are more twists and turns down hallways showing the original design and how it was adjusted along the way.  It’s a quick and interesting tour for someone like myself, who is easily bored by tours, but I’m sure an absolutely riveting tour for someone who is into architecture (complete with various wind tunnel models).

Small museum pieces aside, however, and the view from the top of the Burj Khalifa is worth the price of admission.  Taking a page from the John Hancock Building in Chicago, one of the highlights from Dubai’s tallest structure is an outdoor observation deck, complete with large openings to get an accurate idea of the wind and to, most notably, look down.  (The John Hancock Building’s outdoor area is completely fenced in.)

The only downside of the visit is the amount of desert sand blowing in the wind. Instead of watching the United Arab Emirates fade off into the distance, the view is eventually obscured by sand.

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Located in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is the Burj Al Arab hotel.  The hotel boasts its rating as the only “seven star hotel in the world,” but since hotel ratings only go up to five, it’s just a self-proclaimed title.  What you need to know is it’s a fancy place.  Reeeeeally fancy place.

The Burj Al Arab hotel sits on reclaimed land in the ocean and has a private bridge connecting the property to the mainland.  At the start of the private bridge, security is heavily controlled and only those with reservations may enter. Knowing this, Alisha found we could still enter by making “afternoon tea” or “cocktail hour” reservations.  (Those, too, are pricey, but far cheaper than the $2,000 per night for a room.)

We decided to show up a bit earlier than our afternoon tea reservation so we could wander around the hotel to see what opulence looks like.  For as nice as the staff was, as clean as the facility was and as comfortable as the hotel is, I can understand the four-digit price-tag per night.  I just can’t afford the four-digit price-tag per night.

So today’s picture is looking directly up from the second floor of the seven-star Burj Al Arab hotel.  Out of context it’s a crazy looking tunnel that reminds of something I’d see in a space movie (in the Middle East Gallery is a black and white version that’s really space movie-like). Having been there and viewed things first hand, it’s no space movie set, it’s sheer opulence.

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