Burj Al Arab - view from the Jumeirah Beach Hotel

Burj Al Arab, originally uploaded by Joi.

The Burj Al Arab exclusively houses the world’s only ‘self-proclaimed’ seven-star hotel located in Dubai, UAE and with a height of 321 m (1,050 ft) it is the second tallest building in the world, standing on a manmade island 280 meters offshore from Jumeirah beach. It is designed to resemble the sail of a boat.

The British architect of the building Tom Wright said about the Burj Al Arab, "The client wanted a building that would become an iconic or symbolic statement for Dubai; this is very similar to Sydney with its Opera House, or Paris with the Eiffel Tower. It needed to be a building that would become synonymous with the name of the country."

It took three years to reclaim the land from the sea and but less than three years to construct the building that contains over 70,000 cubic meter (2,500,000 cu ft) of concrete and 9,000 tons of steel. The hotel cost US$ 650 million to build.

Managed by the Jumeirah Group (formerly Jumeirah International Group, an international luxury hotel chain and part of Dubai Holding, owned by the Dubai Government), the Burj Al Arab is one of the most expensive hotels in the world.