Image copyright Supplied Image caption Luxury includes Shira Barschtel’s treat for her guests
You could be forgiven for taking a hard look at the Burj al Arab’s suites.
But if you do, you will be condemned to a life of languorous gladwellness and a soporific – well, anything at all – before dinner.
Only a super-luxury hotel does that.
The luxury in each is the perfect complement to the mind-bending extremes of Dubai’s glitzy new heights of luxury.
Shira Barschtel’s suite is an example of the latter. She decided to take home the crown for luxury winner in The Annual Hotels & Resorts International (H&RI) annual survey of the worlds best hotel rooms.
Older readers will remember Ms Barschtel, the first female Australian to win BBC MasterChef Australia in 2007.
The Burj al Arab in Dubai is not only a luxurious apartment – think St Regis before the hotel chain began – but also a concept hotel, a 21st century copy of a 155-year-old ship in the Arabian Gulf.
Image copyright Alamy Image caption The Burj al Arab, known as the ‘Square of the Sands’, has 145 rooms and suites
Images taken there show luxury in a new context.
It has 147 rooms and suites with a 91-step uphill marble staircase leading to a throne room. In others, residents can recline next to a spa.
Image copyright Alamy Image caption The luxurious building contains a first floor spread of bars and restaurants
But the tallest stars on the Burj al Arab are its hotel guests, known as guests.
They enjoy a six-course tasting menu for £120 at the Al Italia restaurant, a masseuse, 24-hour room service and spa massages in their suite.
Ms Barschtel’s suite has features that are certain to make you feel even happier than Sir Alex Ferguson, the man who made the Burj al Arab world’s tallest hotel at 516 metres (1,729 feet).
She keeps a bottle of wine from the Dubai royal family as a collectable but not for very long.
Image copyright Amanda Williams Image caption Michelle Mason’s suite makes you feel like you are at home
It also has a PlayStation, a 60in high-definition television, Nespresso coffee machine, tablet PC for viewing content, a TV, internet connections and an in-suite cinema.
And those who wear flats are well-advised to have one on for journeys in the luxury Express Lounge.
Image copyright Image © James Nielsen
There are also all kinds of fitness options for guests, as well as a mini-gym by a 50m pool.
Then there is the medical spa where you can have a massage, and the orchard: 60 people’s handprints serve as a record of the building.
Image copyright Image © Meenakshi Anand Image caption Meenakshi Anand’s suite provides morning newspaper deliveries for her guests
Meenakshi Anand’s suite also has deep dashes, 31 bathrooms and more than 20,000 porcelain tiles and saucers, as well as a special setting by the pool with a giant nightlight.
But Ms Barschtel’s lavish suite is only part of the extensive luxury offered in the Burj al Arab’s 289 rooms and suites.
It also has a health club, a children’s club, a conference centre, a spa, 24-hour room service and dining and shopping facilities.
Image copyright Image © Amrith Chanthikota Image caption Amrith Chanthikota’s suite includes a large swimming pool and whirlpool
There is a beauty salon, a community centre, which provides community social gatherings, an upmarket shopping mall with iPads in each outlet and luggage storage.
Ms Barschtel says she is as secure at the hotel as she is at home with her family. She is a guest for life at the Burj al Arab and welcomes her guests from Britain, Korea, the United States and Russia.
Her place is filled with luxury and in thrall to the Burj al Arab.
She said: “These are people with money and other nice things. They will not complain, they will just be happy.”