Burj Al Arab is a luxury hotel that stands in the sea at a distance of 280 meters from the shore on an artificial island connected to the land by a bridge. With a height of 321 meters, it was the tallest hotel in the world, but then, also in Dubai, the Rose Tower Hotel appeared with a height of 333 meters, which opened in April 2008.
The construction of the hotel began in 1994; it opened to visitors on December 1, 1999. The hotel was built in the form of a dhow sail, an Arab ship. Closer to the top is a helipad, and on the other side is the Al-Muntaha restaurant.
The Burj Al Arab has the highest atrium lobby in the world (180 meters). There are no ordinary rooms in the Burj Al Arab; it is divided into 202 two-story rooms. The smallest occupies 169, and the largest - 780 square meters. This is one of the most expensive hotels in the world. Information about how much money was spent on the construction of the hotel was not disclosed.
The hotel characterizes itself as a seven-star, the characteristic is hyperbole and an attempt to get out of the category of hotels that characterize themselves as six-star. Formally, all hotel rating systems have a maximum rank of 5 stars. According to the official website, Burj Al Arab is a five-star deluxe hotel.
About 8,000 square meters of 22 carat gold leaf were used in the interior of the Burj Al Arab. All rooms are equipped with the latest technology and design and offer the highest level of luxury and comfort. The zest of all rooms is huge full-wall windows overlooking the sea.
One of the hotel's restaurants, Al Muntaha, is 200 meters above the Persian Gulf and overlooks the city of Dubai. It is accessed by a panoramic elevator. Another restaurant, Al-Mahara, where visitors are taken on a ship that mimics a submarine, contains a huge saltwater aquarium with a capacity of more than a million liters.