The Palace in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, opened in November 2005 with 394 rooms and suites, is the last word in opulence.
The eight-storey, kilometre-long mansion has a total of 850,000 square metres in floor space - to give you a rough idea of how big that is, Buckingham Palace in London has 77,000 square metres
It's set in 1000 hectares of landscaped parkland where 8000 palms and other trees have been planted, 100 water fountains play, there's a 1.3km-long beach, a 6.4km jogging track, two swimming pools and underground parking for 2500 cars.
Decor of the suites and rooms "blends Arabian regal splendour with the latest technology," the Palace says.
It's heavy on marble (from 13 countries) covering a total of 93,000 square metres, with more than 6000 square metres of 22-carat gold leaf and 1002 Swarovski chandeliers, the largest weighing 2.5 tonnes.
The Palaces Central Dome over the vast Grand Atrium, 72.6m above ground level, is just one of 114 domes all told.
Accommodation comprises four categories of 302 grand rooms in the East and West wings, and 92 suites in four styles of increasing size and facilities
A price list for 2008 starts at 2800 dirhams ($A1150) a night for a Coral room of 55 square metres to 42,000 dirhams a night ($A17,400) for a Grand Palace suite of an enormous 680 square metres, plus ten per cent service charge and six per cent "tourism fee"
Aerial view of the Emirates Palace
East swimming pool.
The hotel's fountains.
The terrace
Diamond Grand Room
Hamman.
The hotel's spiral staircase
The hotel's spiral staircase
