Fantastic report as always, Jermyn. And extremely useful as a source of tourist information about Dubai, a destination about which I am in a constant state of indecision about whether to book a trip to (or stopover in). I would dearly love to see the Burj Dubai, and there are clearly some stunning hotels and excellent restaurants. And yet I can't escape the suspicion that for the most part Dubai is just empty spectacle, and I'd be better off spending my precious annual leave in any number of other fascinating places I have yet to visit.
So my question is this: for those of us who are bored by mall-hopping, and for whom good restaurants and hotels are nice-to-have features of a destination, rather than destinations in themselves, is Dubai actually worth it?