Time for some bling! I'll come back to the Dubai hotel, haven't had the chance to sort out the images.

I knew I wanted to go to the Burj Al Arab as soon as we'd booked our flights, who doesn't want some 7* action?! Obviously the 7* are a myth but I still wanted to check out one of the most luxurious hotels in the world.

Unfortunately there's no way in without splashing some cash. We reckoned the cheapest way was breakfast (too early to have fun and not in the Skyview Bar at the top), afternoon tea (USD 110 each, I'm not sure I value afternoon tea quite as much as that!) and evening cocktails (minimum spend $70, no problem for cocktail lovers!). So cocktails it was!

The hotel is literally dripping in gold. The lobby is spectacular and it is a fabulous place to have a wander around. The Skyview bar was interesting, it reminded me of an Austin Powers movie! We were lucky enough to get a window seat and the views were stunning as the sun set.

The cocktails were good and the wine was delicious. The service was a bit patchy and it did take us a while to get orders taken. The thing that bugged me was that they didn't tell us we hadn't reached the minimum spend when we first requested the bill, they just charged us the minimum spend (there was enough left for a glass of wine, better I have it than wasted!).

It was a great evening and the hotel is incredible but I imagine that the true luxury experience is saved for the hotel guests.

Full report with pics: http://www.thewholeworldisaplaygroun...ails-in-dubai/