Its futuristic architecture, gilded lifts and flamboyant chandeliers have all contributed to Burj Al Arab being named the world’s most beautiful and Insta-worthy five-star hotel. The list was compiled by Money.co.uk based purely on the number of Instagram hashtags a hotel has garnered over the years, with the team analysing more than 10 million hashtags associated with high-end hotels.
Of these, Burj Al Arab has been tagged nearly 2.5 million times, and two million times more than the second name on the list, Soneva Jani in the Maldives that has 415,461 hashtags.
“Although it is officially rated as five stars, the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah is widely known as a seven-star hotel as a result of its extravagance; guests are offered Rolls-Royce chauffeur service, a pillow menu so you can customise your comfort, and endless photo opportunities outside its dhow-shaped architecture,” the report said.
Bellagio in Las Vegas, The Plaza in New York and The Beverly Hills Hotel in California secured positions three, four and five respectively.
Dubai’s Palazzo Versace was at number 17 in the top 20 list, with 43,615 hashtags.
Top 10 hotels in the Middle East
The list also analysed the most beautiful hotels by region. In the Middle East, eight out of the top 10 hotels are located in Dubai, including Burj Al Arab and Palazzo Versace, followed by Jumeirah Al Naseem, Taj Dubai and Park Hyatt Dubai in the next three spots.
Elsewhere on the list are The St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort in Abu Dhabi and Muscat’s Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz-Carlton Hotel, at spots eight and nine respectively.
Here are the top 10 most picturesque hotels in the Middle East and the number of Instagram hashtags each has, as of December 2021:
- Burj Al Arab, Dubai (2,428,501)
- Palazzo Versace, Dubai (43,615)
- Jumeirah Al Naseem, Dubai (28,487)
- Taj Dubai (23,510)
- Park Hyatt Dubai (14,710)
- Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort and Spa, Dubai (14,125)
- Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah (11,982)
- The St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, Abu Dhabi (9,351)
- Al Bustan Palace, Muscat (9,097)
- W Dubai – The Palm, Dubai (8,919)
Pretty properties
Elsewhere, Claridge's Hotel in London was named Europe’s most beautiful hotel; Brazil’s Palacio Tangara was at the top of the South America list; the Palazzo Versace property on Australia’s Gold Coast was decreed most beautiful in the Oceania region; and Marrakesh’s La Mamounia was first on the Africa list.
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Types of policy
Term life insurance: this is the cheapest and most-popular form of life cover. You pay a regular monthly premium for a pre-agreed period, typically anything between five and 25 years, or possibly longer. If you die within that time, the policy will pay a cash lump sum, which is typically tax-free even outside the UAE. If you die after the policy ends, you do not get anything in return. There is no cash-in value at any time. Once you stop paying premiums, cover stops.
Whole-of-life insurance: as its name suggests, this type of life cover is designed to run for the rest of your life. You pay regular monthly premiums and in return, get a guaranteed cash lump sum whenever you die. As a result, premiums are typically much higher than one term life insurance, although they do not usually increase with age. In some cases, you have to keep up premiums for as long as you live, although there may be a cut-off period, say, at age 80 but it can go as high as 95. There are penalties if you don’t last the course and you may get a lot less than you paid in.
Critical illness cover: this pays a cash lump sum if you suffer from a serious illness such as cancer, heart disease or stroke. Some policies cover as many as 50 different illnesses, although cancer triggers by far the most claims. The payout is designed to cover major financial responsibilities such as a mortgage or children’s education fees if you fall ill and are unable to work. It is cost effective to combine it with life insurance, with the policy paying out once if you either die or suffer a serious illness.
Income protection: this pays a replacement income if you fall ill and are unable to continue working. On the best policies, this will continue either until you recover, or reach retirement age. Unlike critical illness cover, policies will typically pay out for stress and musculoskeletal problems such as back trouble.
The President's Cake
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
