NEWS

Emirates airline has extended its offer for complimentary overnight accommodations at some of the most luxurious hotels in Dubai to September. As per the offer, First Class passengers can avail two nights stay at Armani's first luxury hotel, in Burj Khalifa while Business Class passengers are treated to one night at The Address Downtown Dubai. Guests can also take advantage of a complimentary fast track access pass to see the city in all of its glory from the top - the Burj Khalifa observation deck.

Depa Limited, the interior design contractor who fitted out the Emirates Palace Hotel, Burj Al Arab and Burj Khalifa, has signed a $60m contract in Angola, the Dubai-based company announced on Wednesday. Based in Dubai, but with sixteen offices and 8,000 staff worldwide, Depa has worked on projects such as the Atlantis Hotel, Armani Hotel and Burj Al Arab in Dubai, Yas Island and Emirates Palace hotels in Abu Dhabi, the Dubai Metro, Dubai Airport and the Savoy and Waldorf hotels in London.

The excitement gets better at Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo, the popular leisure attraction owned and managed by Emaar Retail LLC. The all-new Dubai Aquarium Speciality Dive is a three-dive initiative that offers PADI certified visitors over the age of 10 years, the opportunity to take their diving experiences to a whole new level of exploring the marvels of underwater photography and joining in the excitement as aquarium experts feed the Sand Tiger Sharks in Dubai Aquarium.

If the Burj Khalifa is the architecture anticipated in The Jetsons, the Burj al-Arab has the restaurant at the end of the universe. It was the tallest hotel in the world when it opened in 1999 and, despite the architectural flights of fancy which have since taken shape along Sheikh Zayed Rd, it remains Dubai's signature building.

You've heard of Dubai's record breaking Burj Khalifa, the tallest free-standing structure in the world at 828 metres tall. Well, it appears Dubai is about to shatter the record book's tallest category once again. Hard Rock Café says it is building the world's tallest guitar at 118 feet (approximately 36 metres) high to mark the café's re-opening at its new location in Dubai Festival City (DFC) this coming October.

Emaar Properties, the developer of the world’s tallest tower in Dubai, incurred a loss of 38.5 million dirhams ($10 million) from the sale of Hamptons Group Ltd.’s operations in Europe, UK and Asia to Countrywide. The property sold is building Number 5 in the Emaar Square project near Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, and houses the local offices of HSBC Holdings Plc, The National newspaper reported today, citing people it didn’t identify.

Here are two ways to end your fast in style this Ramadan - a visit to the world's highest viewing platform or a chicken shawarma in the sky while cruising at 36,000 feet. A visit to At The Top, Burj Khalifa, the highest public viewing platform with unrivalled vistas of the world below, offers visitors free premium dates (from La Ronda) and mineral water (from Masafi) to end the fast from Wednesday (August 11) till September 9.

The Burj Khalifa may have set another record yesterday when Afif Hanna, a five-day-old boy, visited the 124th floor. Afif’s parents, Amjad Hanna and Maram Haddad, said they took him to visit the observation deck of the world’s tallest building because it represented the sky-high ambitions they had for their first child. “If he can achieve the highest point in the world in five days, hopefully he can achieve much more,” said Mr Hanna. “I want him to be a big man.”

Why not head for the Observation Deck of the Burj Khalifa where you’ll be offered complimentary dates and water at iftar? At the Top, Burj Khalifa. (800 28 843 867; www.burjkhalifa.ae) Dh100 per person, Dh75 for children up to 12 years. Fast-track entry tickets are Dh400 per person.

The 38-year-old artist and architect was in Washington recently to help set up an exhibition of his work at the National Building Museum. Called "Lego Architecture: Towering Ambition," the show features 15 miniature models of some of the world's most famous buildings, built entirely out of Lego pieces. Did I say miniature? One of the works in the show is almost 18 feet tall and made from 450,300 Lego pieces. It's a copy of the Burj Khalifa, a brand-new skyscraper in Dubai that, at 2,717 feet, holds the record as the tallest building in the world.