Photos of the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Apparently the most expensive hotel ever built, the Emirates Palace Hotel, near the Breakwater, is absolutely colossal, occupying an area of 850,000 m². It has 114 domes, each 60 metres high and to walk around it means a hike of 2.5 kilometres.

The hotel has 302 rooms and 92 suites; there are 16 Palace Suites on the sixth and seventh floors; 22 three-bedroom suites are reserved for hosting many heads of state and their guests while six rulers' suites are only offered to top level officials visiting the UAE. The cost of staying there begins at US$400 per night for the Coral Room (with a floor space of 55 m²) while the Palace Grand Suite (680 m²) is the most expensive at $11,500 per night.

The interior is all marble, gold and crystal with over 100 Swarovski chandeliers. The main atrium has an expansive marble floor, balconies and a large patterned dome above, picked out in gold. More than 2,000 staff work here, including "Welcome ambassadors" who escort guests to their rooms; personal butlers are at your disposal 24 hours a day. The hotel, managed by the Kempinski group but owned by Abu Dhabi's government rejected the 7-star classification of Dubai's Burj al Arab: it is, after all, a "Palace".