Inside The Burj Al Arab (Dubai's 7 Star Hotel!) - YouTube

Channel: Khalid Al Ameri

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So the Burj Al Arab was opened in 1999 and up until October of 2020,
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it wasn't open to the public, only guests could come and stay here.
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But now they have an experience where someone can tour for about $100
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to see the inside of one of the world's most iconic hotels.
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Once you enter, the first thing you're given is rose water
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and a hand towel to freshen up and get you ready for the tour ahead.
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Absolutely. Thank you, sir. Thank you so much man.
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Appreciate you. Thank you.
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Yes. We're ready.
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Our Emirati culture is all about hospitality,
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we love to welcome our guests and treat them like our own.
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And here at Burj Al Arab,
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it's an extension for that tradition, but taken to the next level.
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So this is the tallest atrium in the world.
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It looks magnificent.
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Bring the camera up.
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So we're going to go up now and take a look at the rooms,
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and it's important to know that there aren't actually rooms, they're all suites.
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We're about to take the panoramic elevator that gives you a 360 view of the ocean
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and surroundings of the Burj Al Arab.
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All right, so here we go.
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We're going up... here to the top in 46 seconds.
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That's amazing.
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Yeah, you feel a bit of altitude pressure on the earlobes.
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So just have to give it a quick pop. But we're good to go.
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Now we're about to go into the Royal Suite,
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and previously this was not open to the public and this room here,
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this royal suite was $25,000 a night.
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Welcome to the Royal Suite, the jewel and the crown of Burj Al Arab.
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Please come in, I've been expecting you. - Thank you.
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Well, hello. My name's Joanne, and I'll be your royal suite butler.
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Nice to meet you. - It’s my job to make you feel like a superstar
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so anything you may want or need, it'll be my pleasure to make it happen.
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It's really good to feel like a superstar. - Of course.
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So how spectacular is our entrance hall?
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It’s amazing, it's beautiful.
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I love our impressive golden marble staircase,
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and if you look up our 24 karat gold plated ceilings, and even our walls.
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But also your own private elevator. - Oh!
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Because why use the stairs, right?
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Oh.
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Boy, do I feel fancy!
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So we're headed into the living room, get ready for a burst of color.
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You weren’t joking when you said it's a burst of color like it just hits you.
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The Royal Suite is filled with antiques
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and artworks from all over the world, just like our Japanese screen right here.
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I'm about to sit on the royal couch, right?
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Yes. - Yeah.
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How does it feel? - It feels nice.
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Have you ever seen a gold TV? - No.
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Please let me show you.
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We have a 24 karat gold plated TV. - Of course.
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Can I touch it? - Yes, please.
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So this is what “rich” feels like.
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It was custom made for the Burj Al Arab, so I'm pretty sure there's no Netflix on it.
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So it's kind of worthless now.
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It’s a gold TV. - That’s true, but it could’ve got Netflix though.
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Also in the meantime, I'll head upstairs and pack your bags and run you
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a signature scented Hermes bubble bath.
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A Hermes bubble bath? - Yes. How does that sound?
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A bubble bath is not enough. We got a Hermes bubble bath.
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All these carpets are handmade all the way from India.
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So this hotel was opened in 1999, and what you're seeing is the complete
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original setting that has been unchanged since the day it opened.
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Now, about that Hermes bubble bath.
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Yes. We’ll be headed upstairs now.
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So now we're heading to the majlis area.
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And the majlis is technically the sitting area
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where people greet guests and they all come to sit and relax.
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Oh wow. - Yes, very obvious.
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It's very pink. - Very pink.
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Are we going to open it together? - Yes. Would you like to help me?
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What are we opening to? - The Queen's bedroom.
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Oh, so this is where the Queen goes to bed.
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Oooh yeah.
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This is our Queen's bedroom. - Beautiful.
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And we have unique materials sourced from all over the world.
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Just like on our fabric walls,
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The Queen's. - The Queen's bed.
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And look up. - Oh there's a mirror!
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They say a person should be able to admire their beauty from the moment
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they wake up to the moment they fall asleep.
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Salama you could get your beauty sleep here.
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So I promised you a bubble bath, so let's see how it's coming along.
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Great. - Super. It's ready.
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Oh, a bubble bath.
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Here you can indulge in your signature scent by Hermes.
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At what point can I take the bath?
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That is a Leah question.
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This is not part of the...
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No. - Oh, okay. Alright, I’m sorry.
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And you're not allowed to touch the robes, Khalid. I know you had your eye on it.
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We've only just seen the Queen's Room.
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We obviously have to go and see the King’s room.
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So there is somewhere for the king to stay. - Of course.
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All right. - Would you like to see your room?
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Thanks for calling me the king. It’s good.
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I'm not even the king of my own house. (pained laughter)
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In our King's Room, you’ll find we have more hand-stitched gold on our fabric walls.
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Sourced from the archives of the best fabric houses in Europe.
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And you'll notice our TV is set into the ceiling.
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However, if you ever get tired of what's on TV, you simply
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rotate your bed at a touch of a button.
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A rotating bed for the king.
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You’ll notice there's no mirror on top, but there is one just behind the bed.
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Ooh! And then you get a view of the palm right there.
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This is gorgeous. Feels great.
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So now we're in the King's bathroom,
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and there's -- ooh!
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You see that?
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It’s like it knew I was coming.
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Is there an automatic bidet as well?
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Oh, there’s the bidet. - Yes.
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And they have the infamous golden shattaf. - Yes.
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This is... - 24 karat gold plated shattaf.
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Are you serious? - Yes.
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Everything you see that is gold is 24 karat gold plated.
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So when it comes to eating, where do we eat here, ini this Royal Suite?
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Let's look at the dining room.
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Oh, wow.
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So right now we're at the royal dining table where
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upto twelve guests could be hosted and everything is perfect.
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Everything is in place. Everything is pristine.
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Important topics could be talked about here, like the economy.
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Yes. - Or politics, or...
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If pineapple should be on pizza.
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I mean, we all... it's a lifelong debate.
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Now we’re going to the experience suite, which gives us a lot of history
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of the Burj Al Arab, of the guests that stayed here, of how it was built,
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why it was built. What went into it. This is the exciting stuff.
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So now we’re in the architect's studio, and we're going to take a look
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at the very first sketch that was made of the Burj Al Arab hotel
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that was originally called the Chicago Beach Hotel.
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The interior architect was a lady called Khuan Chew,
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and this is where she did all her design work.
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And here you can see the materials that were being used
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in the room where they were being tested and researched.
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And here we've got some of the sketches.
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It says there “Chicago Beach Resort development”.
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Before it was called the Burj Al Arab.
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The 24 karat gold plates that they used.
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This bolt that you see in front of you weighs as much as a Mini Cooper car.
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That's how heavy it is. - Oh wow.
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We had to bring it in. Hoist it up.
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The Burj Al Arab is actually built on a manmade island, and the island itself
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took two years to build and the hotel took three years to build.
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So in total, it took five years just to get the reclaimed land in place.
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For those who don't know, a lot of iconic things
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have happened in the Burj Al Arab, more specifically the helipad.
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And we're going to go in here into...
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There's a full on Formula one car right in the middle of a hotel.
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David Coulthard did donuts on the helipad.
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Crazy, right?
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And we have a lot of the other memorabilia.
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Tiger Woods, when he hit a golf ball off the helipad.
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Andre Agassi and Roger Federer's tennis rackets when they played tennis on the helipad.
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So there we have a picture of the ruler of Dubai,
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Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
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and we have his son, the crown prince,
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Shiekh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
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“They say the sky is the limit for ambition. We say the sky is only the beginning.”
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When you set limits for yourself or for anything you want to do in life,
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then khallas, that's the bar. Like, you never think beyond that.
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But if you just think anything is possible,
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what can be achieved when you think that way?
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I mean it's a beautiful quote to live by.
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This iconic building was the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid,
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and it was all based on “What can we have in this country...”
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And we're talking about 1999, the 90’s.
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What can we have that’s iconic?
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That when you think about like the Sydney Opera House or
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any of these monuments that are just known within a city
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that when you go to that city, you have to see it.
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And that's where the vision of this came up.
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And we are a country when we talk about the history
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and where we were and what we've become.
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It's all about vision,
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believing in that vision and working hard every day to bring it to life.
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And this is a testament to that.
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So it's a very strong reminder of the power of vision and belief
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in what you're trying to do.
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And to me, that is what this tower, this hotel, and this landmark represent.
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So there you have it. Inside the Burj Al Arab.
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Much love, and God bless.
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So apparently to go on the helipad, you need security clearance.
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I accept that.
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So here's my suggestion... let's do it
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and then see what happens.
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Can you hold yourself up against 10 to 15 security guards?
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Yes.
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Dubai.