Dubai Indulgence

An update on Dubai - It's hard to believe that a century ago, Dubai was little more than a hot desert land strewn with a handful of modest huts, home only to sand-roaming Bedouins and a camel or two. But over the last decades, the rich Maktoum clan have turned this tiny desert emirate into a flashy paradise where golf courses are used into boardrooms and where many princesses shop till they drop. Dubai has seen a 35% increase of tourists in the last 5 years. As its popularity blossoms, developers seem to be increasingly set on turning Dubai into a theme park style for grown-ups with a number of money-no-object projects, each one more spectacular, showy and surreal than the last.

Let us begin with the Burj Al Arab Hotel, one that symbolises Dubai in the same way the Eiffel Tower symbolises Paris. Designed to resemble a sail, the world's tallest hotel soars to a height of 321 meters, dominating the Dubai coastline. At night, it's a breathtaking view from below and above. This seven-star hotel has an underwater restaurant and the world's fastest elevator. Ridiculously, however, prices start at P70,000.00 a night for the smallest suites to P230,000.00 a night for the royal suites, which features wall to wall leopard skin, a revolving bed and its own cinema.

Not content with having the world's highest hotel, developers are currently building the world's lowest, which is 20 meters under the sea. It will be called The Hydropolis, which will be opened by the end of 2006. The rooms, priced at extra ridiculous prices, will be within transparent domes so that guests could watch the water world from the comfort of their own beds. Above sea level, there will be a man made sandy beach, complete with "clouds" to protect guests from the Gulf sun. The hotel will also have a cinema, a floating ballroom and a cosmetic surgery clinic.

Now that all these attractions (apart from ones which I haven't mentioned) are slowly developing, it is believed that in 2008, the long ago desert plains will transform into "Dubailand", the biggest, most varied leisure entertainment and tourism attraction in the planet. How exciting! It'll be like skiing in the desert! If Dubai's Crown Prince, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is anything to go by, I guess we haven't seen enough yet. He has recently said that he has only achieved 10% of his visions for Dubai. This statement has put me into complete astonishment for I can now imagine other ways in which this prince will put to good use all his riches for the development of his country. Well done!