Simply walking into the Burj Al Arab is a sign of prestige.
In its 21-year-long history, it has been famously inaccessible to anyone who is not a hotel or restaurant guest. This meant that unless you were willing to shell out some serious cash, your access to the hotel was restricted to tourist-friendly snaps from nearby Kite Beach.
Not only has that policy increased its exclusivity, it has elevated global curiosity regarding what’s within the world-class hotel, dubbed the "world's first seven-star" property and often considered one of the most luxurious in the world.
All that changed earlier this year when Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts launched Inside Burj Al Arab, an immersive, 90-minute tour at the hotel, in October. Not only can you now step foot inside the hotel without being a hotel or restaurant guest, you can also explore its most exclusive spaces.
This includes the Royal Suite, which I am guided to after a buggy ride and a trip up to the 25th floor via gilded lifts.
Most hotel suites are lavish, sprawling spaces, but nothing really prepares you for a visit to the Burj Al Arab’s. The suite that’s part of the tour doesn’t even resemble a hotel residence, but the interior of a mansion, gilded and sprawling. It’s spread across two floors, with so many gold elements that it’s hard to take it all in at once.
The lower sections feature a living room to one side, and a dining room and library to the other. What connects the two is an intricate staircase, with 24-karat gold plating, under a 24K gold-plated ceiling.
Don't feel like taking the stairs? Fret not, there’s a private lift – naturally.
One of the best aspects of the tour is the fact you are guided by butlers who go out of their way to make you feel like you’re in the lap of luxury. From offering to assist in any way, to sharing lesser-known facts about the room, it’s VIP treatment all the way.
That’s how I find out I’m walking into the same living room that has hosted the likes of Nelson Mandela, Justin Bieber, Gigi Hadid, Lewis Hamilton, Selena Gomez and some of the Kardashians.
The space is a burst of colours, plush textures and geometric patterns. The hotel’s interiors have been inspired by the four elements – fire, water, wind and air – I am told, and a lot of the decor reflects that, from fiery reds to soothing blues.
Be sure to stop and revel at the gold-plated television.
Upstairs there’s a separate bedroom for him and her. The master bedroom features hand-stitched gold from one of the best fabric houses in Europe on the walls, a TV on the ceiling and a revolving bed. It's useful when you don't want to get up, so instead spin around to check out the Dubai skyline views from the windows, the butler tells me.
Attached to this room is the most gold-laden bathroom I have ever seen, thanks in part to unique golden marble on the walls – the "last of its kind", I am told. Other highlights are the marble bathtub and the toilet that comes with its own remote control.
Across the hall, the other bedroom is another sprawling space, done up in pink. A majlis seating area that can easily seat 20 is followed by another bedroom with a mirrored ceiling. The adjoining bathroom is designed in white and black as opposed to glittering gold, but you really can’t miss the shower, which features 24K gold-plated tiles, or the gold-plated taps.
Downstairs, the dining room reveals a spectacular circular table, while an adjoining library presents more ostentatious photo opportunities around every corner.
The second part of the tour explores the Experience Suite.
While the Royal Suite has been designed to give visitors an inside glimpse into the lives (and luxuries) of the wealthy, the Experience Suite delves into the hotel’s history, architecture and technology. This encompasses stories about the architect Tom Wright’s early inspiration for the shape of the hotel and a showcase of the uniforms, to name only two elements.
Inside Burj Al Arab ends with a visit to the store for those looking to pick up a souvenir. By this point, I’ve gotten very accustomed to this level of grandeur. The world outside simply isn’t gold-plated enough.
Inside Burj Al Arab takes place daily; 9.30am-8.30pm; Dh249 per person, groups of up to 12; insideburjalarab.com
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
