I Stayed At The Burj Al Arab Dubai, And I’m Speechless

I was really surprised to see the tone of this review, from someone who is an experienced world traveller, no less. While it ends on a note of grudging admiration, I feel it very greatly misses the mark of what is really important about the experience of staying at the Burj al Arab.

For instance, it's not important to obsess over the number of Chinese or Russian tourists gaping through the lobby. Who cares? A guest at the hotel will spend most of their time at the hotel enjoying their thoroughly-lavish suite, or the facilities, or the wonderful restaurants. I don't travel, or stay in a hotel, to people-watch.

I feel this review does a disservice to this fascinating hotel, and the staff who work incredibly hard to deliver something that might be said to be beyond a world-class product. But it also does a disservice to the readers who might get a mistaken impression of the place, and because of it deny themselves an opportunity to spend a night or two in a hotel that they'll thoroughly enjoy and never forget.

We have stayed, for instance, at the Baur au Lac in Zurich, Claridge's and The Savoy in London, The Waldorf-Astoria, The Plaza in New York, The Adlon in Berlin, and any number of other 5-Star hotels. One can only conclude that if these indeed are 5-Star hotels, then the Burj is in truth and in fact a 7-Star hotel, and yes, that it is therefore now truly "a thing". The Burj leaves most other hotels in this class so far in the dust that it is in no way fair or realistic to lump it together with the others.

As someone who has stayed at the Burj al Arab several times, who thoroughly and unabashedly enjoys it, and very much looks forward to our next visits, let me give your readers a somewhat different view of the place. The author doesn't seem to enjoy it all that much, so let me offer a take on why royalty, and celebrities, and presidents, top business executives, and the uber-wealthy DO enjoy the place, and like me, want to come back time and time again.

Yes, it's flashy. It's flamboyant. It's unique. It's dazzling. It's over-the-top. It's unrestrained. It's even at times borderline delightfully ridiculous. And that's because IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE!

This is Dubai, after all. This is a city whose DNA is to take visual and architectural risks, to push the envelope, to do things done nowhere else on earth, to achieve the seemingly impossible. Thanks to the remarkable vision of the ruler of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and his family and predecessors, something has been created out of pure desert that has added a new dimension to human civilization and has set new standards for us to aspire to; it has helped redefine what is possible. People who've been to Dubai can understand what I mean; those who yet haven't can hopefully just take my word for it that the world would be poorer for it were the place to not be there and to have become what it is.

Over 200 international designers worked to create the interior and exterior visual.product. Are they stupid?

Or did they intend to deliver something vastly different and well out of the ordinary? This is Arabian culture, after all, and part of why I and others enjoy it so much is their love of the visually-dazzling and the effect it has on the viewer. One only has to visit the Presidential Palace in Abu Dhabi, or the Alhambra in Grenada, or the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, or any number of other mesmerizing Islamic works of art to understand and appreciate that culture, and to quickly learn to not judge it with exclusively Western eyes and tastes.

For instance, yes, there is gold everywhere in the hotel. Gold plated bathroom fixtures, gold leaf on the furniture, tons of gold decorating the lobby and other parts of the building. And.......?

It's part of Arab culture. Arabs love gold. And so do I. And so do most people. And so have people throughout all of recorded history. What's wrong with that? Just because you don't ever see it in, say, a Marriott, does that make it a bad thing?? I for one think it's wonderful to be surrounded by that level of opulence if one has worked hard and can afford it, and so do most people of means.

So yes, there are bold primary colors juxtaposed against each other in a way that one wouldn't find in a Four Seasons in Toronto, for instance. And thank God for that, since I'm bored to death with that minimalist, sterile, ultra-modern look that one can find in dozens of cookie-cutter hotel chains around the world. I for one can't wait till my next visit to the Burj and be dazzled by bold reds set against gold, set against bright blue (intended, for instance, to reprise the color of the ocean outside).

It was to me especially off-putting, and thoroughly missing the mark, to so relentlessly characterize the hotel's decor as "hideous". Not to mention "weird", "ugly", or "gaudy", or "absolutely ridiculous". "Tacky"? "Superficial"? Compared to what? The Plaza? The St. Francis?

I agree with the commenter who characterized the review as "intolerant" and "judgmental", and that the place was simply "not to the author's taste". Perhaps Ben was just having a grumpy day when he wrote it?

As someone who has been fortunate enough to enjoy luxury offerings around the world, I can't fathom the meaning of the comment that "it's the furthest thing from bespoke luxury". I wonder why the afore-mentioned royalty, celebrities, uber-wealthy and the others don't seem to agree with this at all. In my view, it's luxury of its own unique style and dimension, but still absolutely and thoroughly luxurious.

Yes, I too wouldn't "want my home to look like this", because, for one thing, it's not supposed to be anyone's "home". It's supposed to be a fun and flamboyant vacation spot, at which it succeeds in spades. The author may "not want to stay in a hotel like this for a week", but I and countless others can assure you that I love nothing better than to spend a week (or more!) at such a magnificent hotel.

Ben says he appreciates "great service", so I'm at a loss to understand why he went into the hotel expecting anything less. After all, that is in fact part of its reputation, and I can assure readers that it does in fact deliver, in spades. It hits all the right notes of warm, classy, gracious and friendly hospitality, without crossing over as do so many other luxury venues into ever being overfamiliar, oversolicitous, intrusive or annoying. The staff has been trained to read guests needs very well, and I feel they raise service to a fine art. I'm glad that the author at least had his epiphany moment and reality check, and attitude adjustment, when he at last granted that the staff do a job that defines truly great service.

The author also neglected to go into detail of one of the best experiences of the hotel, the amount of included benefits and "freebies" that it offers guests. It absolutely positively doesn't nickle-and-dime its guests for every little thing, like most (supposed) luxury hotels these days so infuriatingly do. Like one reviewer notes, given the size of the suites and the value of included amenities, it's not really that expensive a place at all. Try staying at your typical 5-Star and having to pay $8 for a bottle of water, and maybe the graciousness of the Burj will be better appreciated.

I do agree with the author that one shouldn't stay there if one is looking for a "typical luxury hotel experience". I, for one, have been spoiled by the Burj and a few others so badly that I'm afraid that a "typical luxury hotel experience" for me these days makes me feel rather like I'm staying at a Motel 6. I have seen Paris, and there is no way now that I'm content anymore staying on the farm.

For those who used this "insight" review to validate their preconceived prejudices against Dubai or the Burj, I'd just urge you to go and see for yourself. You'll probably have your own epiphany moment and attitude adjustment, and come to be seduced by the place like so many others. After all, that's the fundamental benefit of traveling, to broaden one's horizons and shake off preconceived notions of what an unknown place is all about. One learns in an entirely different way by seeing things with one's own eyes and experiencing a place in person, in a way that is just not possible by reading books or newspapers, or perusing well-meaning online travel sites.

Thanks for this review Lucky, what a time capsule!

I stayed here with my family for a week, back in the year 2000. Your pictures show that LITERALLY nothing has changed about that place. The decor, the service, the color scheme, the Hermes products, the restaurants. Nothing has changed, it looks exactly the same as I remember it 23 years ago.

My dad did business at the time with Jumeriah, and as a gift they offered to fly our whole family out from California (Lufthansa, business class) to Dubai to experience the hotel for a week, all expenses paid. It was by far the most memorable trip I took as an early teenager. They picked up our party from the airport in two custom Rolls Royce Silver Seraphs (Rolls Royce's were way more exclusive back then than they are now, I remember it being a big deal) and greeted us with refrigerated moist towlettes to wash our faces and hands. What a treat. Back then, the Burj Al Arab was the last major development in Dubai, and was actually quite far away from the 'center of town' back then. I remember where the Madinat Jumeriah development now stands was just a campsite and public beach and then just desert all the way towards Abu Dhabi (no JBR, no Marina district, etc).

The only thing that looks like it might have changed is that they may have cut back on the amount of Hermes products they give out for free. I remember my mom and my aunt gleefully loading up a small suitcase with perfumes and lotions when the housekeeping staff offered them, acting like the Beverly Hillbillies when they first moved into the mansion. I also remember they would give slippers down by the pool that had the Burj al Arab logo imprinted on the bottom, so when you walked through the sand it left the logo imprint. Our floor butler gave us a tour of the Royal Suite, which was a 6,000 sq ft monstrosity that had 2 stories of floor-to ceiling windows and a grand piano.

Man the memories are flooding back! Thanks for the review!

I'm staying here next month, and I couldn't be more excited. It's a bucket-list experience. It seems rathen intolerant and judgmental of you to describe the rooms as "hideous, gaudy, and ugly", and I could have done without the gratuitous reference to President Trump's plane. The rooms may not be your taste, and everyone has their own, but I think these rooms are pretty cool. You can never please everyone all the time. I personally don't care for the Emirates fake wood panels surrounding the windows of their planes but it's the culture and style that they like. I don't describe their planes as hideous or ugly. My taste is more Lufthansa clean and simple but I recognize that, "When in Rome, act like a Roman". Anyway, I look forward to your full review and I can't wait to experience it for myself.