After the sun became unbearable (aka: 5 minutes later), we went back into the hotel and check out some of the huge models they had in the lobby showing some of the other huge construction projects that are going to be built on man-made islands off the coast of Abu Dhabi.
The lobby of the hotel was as grandiose as you'd expect. The place is just so enormous that there's not really any way to photograph it that gives you an accurate sense of the size. The main entryway is circular, and when you look up...
To give you an idea, here's a close up. In this one tiny portion of the model, there are more than 20 buildings taller than 20 stories! They're basically planning to build something similar in size to the ISLAND OF MANHATTAN on man-made islands by dredging sand up from the bottom of the gulf).
The restaurant looked out onto the back grounds of the hotel. After we finished eating, we went outside (into the blistering afternoon heat) to check it out. The restaurant is pretty much in the middle-part of the restaurant so this photo should give you an idea of just how big the place is. Look how far the building stretches into the distance! And it also goes on...
...equally as far in the other direction. Seriously, the entire length of the hotel must be the equivalent of 15 city blocks. It's crazy! After all the manicured grass, the grounds go right out onto...
This place was, hands-down, the most ridiculous hotel I've ever seen. It has over nine million square feet in floor space (to put things in perspective, the Javits Center in New York City is less than 700,000 square feet!) and it cost around THREE BILLION DOLLARS to build (making it the most expensive hotel in history).
