Astoundingly, the Burj Al Arab luxury hotel is covered with a massive amount of gold leaf. The interior is decorated with 1,790 square meters of 24-carat gold leaf—that’s enough to cover 46,265 Mona-Lisa-sized paintings! Talk about a gold-plated existence!
The hotel Burj Al Arab is the fourth-tallest hotel in the world and is considered a “7-Star Hotel.” Interestingly, about 39% of the hotel is not habitable; it just exists to add to the impressive statue of the hotel. Make sure you have extra cash to spend if you’re planning on spending a night here—the Royal Suite costs $20,000 per night and an average room costs around $1,500!
A Quarter of the World’s Cranes are in Dubai
With so much construction going on in Dubai, it might not be so surprising that the city holds about 24% of the world’s construction cranes. There are about 125,000 cranes in the world and Dubai has 30,000 of them.
That number will most likely rise, too. There is a high demand for construction machinery and equipment as well as vehicles and laborers in Dubai. The real estate boom is continuing to grow in the Middle East and the UAE with no sign of letting up any time soon. In fact, the city’s budget for infrastructure and growth in 2017 was $12.88 billion. That’s the highest budget in the world for an area the size of Dubai. Just think of all those cranes!
Dubai Has an Extremely Low Crime Rate
Dubai has an impressively low level of crime, reporting a nearly 0% rate of illegal activity. Perhaps in part due to the city being ruled under Muslim law, harsh penalties help to deter most inhabitants of the city from breaking the rules. The city is largely populated by foreigners who know that they could be imprisoned or deported if they were to break even the smallest of rules in Dubai. Surely, this is an incentive to stay under the radar.
Furthermore, the city of Dubai is proud of its impressive police force and sees its legal enforcement system as something to show off. This may be why every police car in Dubai costs the same average amount as full college tuition in the United States! If you travel to Dubai you’ll see luxurious police cars such as Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and even an Aston Martin worth 1.79 million dollars!
Safe Family Locations
Dubai is conscious of the public spaces it provides for people and their feelings of comfort and safety. There are beaches that only permit women and families to enter their grounds. This means you won’t find any single men roaming these sandy shores. Furthermore, people who choose to visit these safe beaches are required to dress modestly.
The dress code at this beach is specifically targeted towards women—they are required to be fully covered when entering the beach grounds. Locals, due to the dress code aligning with their religious practices, have particularly appreciated the beach. This space allows for a more reserved, less Westernized environment to flourish. Bikinis are not allowed, which helps those who have modest dress codes to feel more comfortable. One local woman commented that these family-only beaches are wonderful because they do not allow loud music, smoking, and large boisterous groups to make locals feel uncomfortable while they enjoy beach time.
It'll be Difficult to Find an Address in Dubai
Something got looked over in the midst of Dubai’s amazingly rapid growth—street signs! Instead of having a standard address system, residents of Dubai draw maps on their letters or write specific instructions such as: “After the white mosque, first street to the left, gold door.”
When visitors come to Dubai from the airport they are strongly advised to carry a map around so that they point out where they are going to drivers. Otherwise, they won’t have any way of communicating where they are going!