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This holiday really did start at the airport. In this case London Heathrow. Our check in with Emirates was easy and quick. We arrived early and got exit seats, enabling more leg room. We travelled to Dubai on a 777 and the journey was 6 hours and 40 minutes. We had excellent flight crew, who looked after us extremely well and presented us with a bottle of champagne for our anniversary and even took a photo as a memento (I had ordered the champagne as a surprise for Laura (my wife). The food was really good.

At Dubai we were greeted by the Jumeirah Beach Concierge who whisked us through security and passport control, whilst other passengers were in a long line.We were then driven to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in a brand new Audi A8. Upon arrival we were escorted to the 25th floor and the executive lounge, whilst our bags were taken to our room. Because we were celebrating our anniversary they kindly upgraded us to a junior suite on the 19th floor with a fantastic view of the iconic Burj Al Arab. Wow! what a room, exceptional.

We were staying for two nights and the temperatures outside were over 40 degrees centigrade, so the hotels air conditioning was always very welcome. On our first day we decided to relax by the pool. This was an experience in itself. In between dips in the pool, and a drink at the swim up bar, we were attended to a man with ice lollies, a man with a cold towel, the man who sprayed us will cool water, a man who gave us 2 cucumber slices, one for each eye , then a man brought us a sorbet and then the drinks guy came round. Luxury or what? I've never experienced service like it.

After a lovely meal in the hotel we retired early.

The next day we went and had a look at the Burj. It's very imposing and you are greeted as you walk in by the world's tallest atrium (allegedly). All rooms were booked, so unfortunately we couldn't see a room. We made our way to the sky bar which overlooks 'the world' development and 'The Palm'. After an hour of exploring this '7 star' hotel and not being overly impressed, we got a ride back to the Beach hotel to begin packing for Sri Lanka.

Overview of Dubai, was the Jumeirah Beach hotel was the best hotel I've ever stayed in, and a real treat. The perfect way to start our holiday. We went out into Dubai and felt it to be quite soulless. Maybe if we had longer we could have got to the heart of this extraordinary country. A great place for a short stopover or a weekend break.