Burj Al Arab

Today is our last day exploring Dubai and today we get to go on the exclusive tour that just began October 15th into the Burj Al Arab, the sail-shaped hotel building built on its own island!

This is one of the most recognizable features of Dubai and a location that has seen many famous people stay there. When initially researching the trip, the tour wasn't an option and I was trying to find ways of visiting the exclusive Burj Al Arab. I saw some other people blog about afternoon tea, and I tried to find a way to take part, but couldn't find where to book it. After looking around further online, I found out they were opening it for tours after nearly 20 years of its operation.

When we arrived, we were the only people in our time slot, and got a nearly private tour. It was quite amazing how exquisite the experience was. Everyone was so fancy and everyone knew exactly how to work together even though the tour's just started! I'm sure they practiced a lot until everything was perfected. When waiting for the tour to start, we were given infused water. We began our tour by being shuttled to a photo opportunity on the bridge to the Burj Al Arab. They took pictures of us, but also used our own phone to take pictures. I was really happy they were not forcing us to purchase any, although at the end they did try and sell us them of course. We were dropped off at the side doors, passing their fleet of Rolls Royce cars specifically built for the Burj Al Arab, and handed over to another guide for the start of the tour. It turned out that although he was an Emirati he actually had lived in Canada and was excited to hear I was Canadian!

Breakfast before the tour at our hotel

Our VIP passes

Our passes

Stopping on the approach road to the island

Jumeriah Beach

New Resorts under construction

He brought us through the lobby and up to the elevators at the back of the building and told us all about the history of the hotel. the elevator we went up is completely glass with beautiful 360 views. When we arrived at the Royal Suite, we knocked on the door and were met by an excellent excited butler. He whisked us away and through the suite in what felt like 2 seconds, never stopping to let us fully look around and take in the suite. It almost felt like when we bought our new 4runner, where everything was a blur and happened so quick. This does have the effect of leaving a lot of mystery and magical feelings, but a pause might have been nice for the butler who seemed to be almost out of breath the whole time. 

The beautiful lobby

Looking out at the sail

The shiny gold and silver create an illusion almost

Up the elevator we go

Their Infinity Pool

Entering the floor of the Royal Suite

Asian Themed Sitting Room

Leopard print carpet

The view towards the palm

The Women's sitting room

Hand-stitched silk wallpaper

Chaise in "his" bedroom

Hunter exploring the shower

The bathtub was made out of one piece of marble and they worked to make sure it aligned so well you can't tell they made cuts

Crazy Italian zebra marble

Mirror over the bed...

Our American butler/tour guide

After the tour of the suite, we were brought to the experience side. Here it was like a small museum where they explained everything about the construction and history of the Burj in further detail. While they said it was self-guided, it definitely was set up in such a way you had to follow a specific route. There were also more butlers nudging you in specific directions, making it more guided than self-guided. Thankfully no one interrupted our pace and we did get to slow down to actually take in the information. 

Lots of engineering schematics

Super Yachts off shore

The original sketch of the hotel

Material samples

This designer sounded very stressed

I really enjoyed the detailed engineering drawings

Original uniforms

The Jumeriah Beach, the triple-glazed glass made taking picture difficult

Majestic leopard painting

iPad menus from the restaurant

This F1 car was used to do donuts on the roof top helipad before being transported here

It was moved in 3 pieces

We then had coffee and dates overlooking the Gulf from the royal suite. The dates were very welcome for Hunter, who's blood sugar was low again. As we sat and looked out on the Gulf we reflected on how lucky we were and how while this hotel was absolutely beautiful we both were glad we had gone with the more modern and businessey JW Marriott. 

Eventually this new hotel will look like a cruise ship

Yacht the size of a cruise ship and jet skis

Hunter taking pictures of me

Hunter's favorite picture of the trip

After the tour, we went to the nearby Souk Madinate where Hunter wanted to see a Tommy Bahama store and where we planned on eating for lunch. An interesting realization while visiting Dubai is that everything is priced basically the same as in the US. There are a few differences such as having to pay for still water at restaurants (that is typical for pretty much anywhere outside of Canada and the US) and gift stores at the end of attractions don't actually gouge you. I definitely think Hunter and I will be returning to the UAE as it was such an enjoyable experience and not outrageously expensive like Switzerland. 

For lunch, we went to a place called noodlehouse which was very similar to Wagamama or PF Chang's. I had a delicious bowl of Ramen and Hunter had the Singapore street noodles. Both were full of flavor! The best part about this restaurant was their bottomless filtered in-house water. Given the typical charges for water, this was a nice change we took advantage of. I'm pretty sure we drank about 4 liters of water. 

Nice views

Even nicer views

Lunch at noodlehouse

After lunch, we did the same thing we did previously where we returned to the hotel to swim the afternoon away (and work on my blog). Hunter and I were enjoying this routine and it was a nice change from our typical pack every second with activities method of vacations. We also stopped by the executive lounge for afternoon tea and scones. Sometimes, we feel like we need a vacation from our vacation, and this hotel provided us the perfect spot! 

After swimming, we went back to the room to pack up everything. Hunter was very impressed with my packing skills, as was I. It was nice to both have away bags and it was a little more professional looking when dealing with a higher level of luxury than we typically do. My things can basically fit into one side of the away bag, leaving the other side for everything else we need on our trip like shoes, my purse (because I want a backpack to maximize packing space as well as having a backpack for exploring all day), and electronics. I got everything packed up while Hunter worked on trying to find somewhere for dinner. We were not exactly sure where to go, but we were thinking back at Dubai Mall (which really is a whole city in itself). I suggested we first check out what the executive lounge has because the other nights they have had essentially full meals available. This night was no exception and they had quesadillas, chips and hummas, creme brulee, falafel, ratatouille, and more. Honestly, we could have done the whole trip not having to buy any food because the lounge was a restaurant in itself and we were able to get dinner and leave plenty of time for rest for our flights the next day. 

Carrot cake

After eating so much, we returned to our room where we set alarms for tomorrow to ensure we wouldn't be late for our flight to London. We then fell asleep looking at the Burj out the window of our suite for the last time.