EMIRATES PALACE HOTEL

The Emirates Palace Hotel near the Breakwater in Abu Dhabi must take the prize for sheer opulence and indulgence. This iconic landmark owned by the government was built at a world shattering cost of $US 3 billion.

According to the advertising blurb, once you pass through the magnificent gates, you enter a ‘serene paradise’ sitting in 1000 hectares of gardens on a 1.3 kilometer-long private beach. It is the only 7 Star hotel in the world apart from Dubai’s Burj Al Arab, combining Arabian splendor and 21st century technology providing facilities fit for a sultan, pasha or sheikh.

The Palace atrium has not only the largest dome in the world, but with a covering of 22-carat gold, it is the greatest gilded expanse ever constructed. The interior has 6000 square meters of gold leaf and the atrium sparkles and glistens with it, as well as with magnificent crystal chandeliers and thirteen different colored marbles. These reflect the colors of the desert at different times of the day. Even the bathrooms are like miniature palaces.

Like so many constructions in the UAE, the statistics, apart from the construction costs, are staggering. For example, can you imagine a hotel with 102 elevators with a carrying capacity of 55 people each, as well as eight escalators? Then there are the 128 kitchens to service the endless restaurants whose function is to tantalize the palate with treats such as gold-drizzled chocolate. Believe it or not, five kilograms of edible gold is used every year in the hotel’s special desserts. The lists of excesses goes on and on.

The Palace Hotel is a feast for the senses and certainly worth a visit, even if you can’t afford a room, or a meal, or a glass of champagne.

Instead, have a cup of tea or coffee, stroll around the grounds and the atrium or spend time in one of the numerous bathrooms just to get a taste of all that luxury. Also, you can check out the photos and models on display in the hotel for a future Guggenheim Museum, a satellite of the Louvre, a maritime museum and a performing arts centre to be built on Saadiyat Island.

Unlike the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, there is no fee or booking necessary or just looking around.