Great report, Uli! I've been fascinated by the thought of staying at the Burj ever since it opened.

The most economical way of staying there that I have seen was some great package deals through www.airnet.co.uk a few months ago - IIRC it was business class flights on Emirates LHR-DXB and 4 or 5 nights at Burj Al Arab for £1200 or so twin share. Seemed like a pretty good dea to me! It may have been while Gulf War Mk II was on, so those sort of prices may not be normal, but I've seen other excellent deals as well, so could be worth checking them out.