Burj Al Arab & 360 Degrees

Me & Jared at the Skyview.

On Tuesday night, after our afternoon of skiing, we decided to end the day in swankier fashion by having drinks at the Burj Al Arab's Skyview Bar. If you look at this Burj from the side (see below), the Skyview is the little ledge that sticks out the back, facing the sea, opposite the helipad (which, by the way, we watched helicopters landing on and taking off from all day the day we were at Wild Wadi, a cool experience that Jared and I have never had before).

The Skyview isn't really a 'local' place that you'd hang out at if you lived here (we have only been there once before when Jared lived here in '07-'08), but more of a novelty place you would take visitors. And as such, it is insanely overpriced and has a minimum spending limit of approximately $75 USD a person. Kind of outrageous, but our guests wanted to go, and it is a worthwhile experience, because having a booking at one of the restaurants or bars in the Burj Al Arab is the only way you can get onto its private island and inside to take a look.

When you arrive you have to check in at the Gate House and give your reservation confirmation number. Once they've confirmed that you have a legitimate purpose for being there, you are then taken out to the private island via golf cart. You feel quite special and pampered by the whole experience. Then, once you get inside the lobby you feel like you've been magically transported into a Genie's Bottle (circa, I Dream of Jeanie) and are met with over the top opulence of fountains and gold-plated everything. I was coming from a work event so met the group there since they arrived earlier to take photos of the lobby. You take an open glass elevator (facing the sea) to the 23rd floor and step into the bar that feels like a 70's retro bowling alley (as Jess described it) or to me, the inside of the Star Trek Enterprise (I'm not a trekkie, but somehow the name just popped into my head). They serve you some nuts and olives and a tiny plate of canapes and each drink is so expensive that 2-3 drinks can quickly get you to your $75 a person minimum. The drinks are delicious though and I particularly liked the names of Brett's ("Prohibited & Risky") and Scott's ("G's Desire").

Group Photo sans Jared in front of the Burj.

Fountain out front

View of the Burj from the 360 Degree Bar.

Once we had met our drink quota, we decided to head somewhere a little more reasonable to continue our night with some more drinks we could actually afford. We asked one of the golf carts to drive us out to the 360 Degree Bar on a pier about 100 yards out into the Gulf with fantastic views of both the Burj and Jumeirah Beach Hotel. It's an outdoor rooftop bar (there's an expensive seafood restaurant called "Pier Chic" downstairs") and it was the perfect night for outdoor drinks. We stayed for a couple hours and had a really lovely night.

View of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel (JBH) from 360.