This city has insane amounts of wealth. Most hotel rooms start at around $700/night. One property is offering a Jaguar as a signing bonus to people who buy an apartment in the building.

Since we don’t have a ton of time in the city, we select the Madinat Jumeirah as our destination. This is a sprawling hotel resort designed to look like an ancient Arabian citadel. The various parts of the resort are connected via waterways. So if you need to get from your room to a restaurant, you go from place to place on little water taxis. This hotel has a shopping area designed to look like a traditional souk, and also has many restaurants & bars.

Overview of the Madinat Jumeriah, with the Burj in the background.

I’d heard people describe Dubai as the “Vegas of the Middle East.” I hate Las Vegas. Trust me, Dubai is no Vegas. Yes, everything in Dubai is opulent and completely over-the-top, but somehow still luxurious, elegant and tasteful.

NYC prides itself on being the center of the universe, so it is interesting to be in a place that’s competing for dominance/coolness (and kinda winning): Dubai has the world’s tallest hotel and the only indoor ski resort in the desert. Dubai is also considered to be the largest construction zone in the world; so many buildings are going up right now it’s unbelievable.

It’s a shame we don’t have just a little more time in Dubai. At the risk of sounding totally cheesy, we feel like we’ve seen the future.