The Grumpy Traveller finds little to grumble about in one of the world's most luxurious hotels.

I know I was in the United Arab Emirates last week because there is a stamp in my passport and when I checked my airline ticket it said Dubai and not Dreamland.

But Dreamland it felt like as this sizzling sheikdom took the gold ribbon off its latest package of development proposals.

Such is the pace of development in Dubai that what is new today will be yesterday's news faster than the flight of an emir's favourite falcon.

This time last year the spectacular Madinat Dubai development - styled to resemble an ancient Arabian citadel - was the talk of the town. At Arabian Travel Market last week there was a swag of stunning new developments to steal the spotlight.

Palm Islands, The World islands, Dubailand multi-theme park, Dubai Festival City and The Waterfront, an enclave for 500,000 residents being built at Jebel Ali, close to the border with Abu Dhabi, were the stars of the show.

At times, parts of ATM seemed more like a real estate show as sales people tried to entice buyers to waterfront home sites on The World.

By this time next year, these developments will be simply ho-hum as the Burj Dubai – the world's tallest tower – rises over Sheikh Zayed Road.

No wonder some were whispering about bursting bubbles in the backlots of ATM, although one hotelier who was in Dubai to look at opportunities for his Hong Kong-based brand offered the opinion, "Nothing succeeds like excess."

However, Dubai is not having it all its own way in the jaw-dropping development stakes. The sail-like Burj Al Arab on Jumeirah Beach may be the world's most recognisable luxury hotel, but neighbouring Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, may have trumped it with the Kempinski-managed Emirates Palace.

It's hard to be a Grumpy Traveller when your first glimpse of this amazing, hotel is through an Arc de Triomphe-like structure that focuses the eyes onto 114 domes, lit at night in swirls of colour.

Okay, if I have to be grumble, my shower tap fell off, you needed a magnifying glass to read the signage on the master light switch, and my personal butler failed to appear to guide me through the small console that allowed me to dim the lights, choose programmes on the plasma TV, summon the maid or access the Internet.

But the hotel is still in soft opening mode and is looking for feedback to smooth out any minor irritations.

So my one night at the Palace – yes, the property was originally conceived as a palace but someone suggested a hotel instead – will be remembered not only for the opulence of its design, but equally for the fact that I could send this column using free wireless Internet while sitting around the swimming pool with a cocktail by my side.

Believe me, that was enough to make the grumpiest traveller feel smug…



IAN JARRETT is based in Fremantle, Western Australia from where he travels frequently in Asia on assignments for travel magazines.

He is a member of the BamBoo Alliance, a group of leading travel writers in the region. He can be contacted at ianjarrett@mac.com