Hi!, If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

I sat in the car, all excited to go to the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. I had heard so much about the place that I made up my mind to go and see it. What I didn’t realize was that making up my mind was the easiest part. What was really hard was entering the Emirates Palace.

It was quite a long drive from home, the Friday night traffic not withstanding. We passed the Corniche and I rolled down the windows and closed my eyes, to feel the sea breeze blow against my face. As I opened my eyes, I first saw a speck of purple light. What I saw next, even I could not believe. I was face to face with the most expensive hotel in the world.

This huge structure, built on the design of a mosque, stood in front of me. Illuminated with shades of green, yellow, and purple, it shone brilliantly. Just like the Taj Mahal, the reflection of which in the Yamuna makes it a wonder of the world, the water of the Persian Gulf also reflected the radiance of the Emirates Palace.

The entrance to the hotel reminded me of the Charminar. Also brilliantly illuminated, it seemed to me the pathway that led people to experience a lifetime of luxurious living.

We requested the security at the entrance to let us in for a cup of coffee. It was 7:00 p.m. then. It was to be 4 hours before we got to sip our coffee.

What I saw when I entered the Emirates Palace, I do not know if I can ever describe to the fullest. I’ve never been to paradise before, but I felt that that day was my day in paradise. The walls were embedded with gold and the ceilings radiated white light from the huge crystal chandeliers that hung from the dome-shaped ceilings.

We were served coffee in crystal glasses, with a cup priced at Dhs. 1000 (Rs. 12,000). We enquired the price of a suite. The answer baffled us. A standard suite was priced at Dhs. 10,000 (A lakh and twenty thousand), a luxury suite at Dhs. 20,000 (Two lakhs), and a special suite at Dhs. 50,000 (Six lakhs).

It was 1:00 a.m. when we reached home. We couldn’t sleep that night thinking of the magnificence of what we had seen. Although it’s been a month since I went there, it is a memory that I will always hold on to.