opinion

7110 taxi drivers required to fill the Atlantis Bridge Suite

In trying to give some idea of the scale of a Dubai mega-project, it is standard journalist practice to reach for some hoary old comparisons. Giant floorspace is described in terms of football pitches; length is compared to the Great Wall of China; height, Eiffel Tower. There is little thought as to how many readers play football, or have visited China or Paris.

Gulf News tells us the 924sqm Bridge Suite at the new Atlantis hotel on the Palm Jumeirah will cost $25,000 a night. It says this figure is “impressive’.

The same paper also tells us Dubai taxi drivers pay Dh400 ($109) a month for their accommodation. Which means it would need 7,110 taxi drivers to pay for a night at the Atlantis’ Bridge Suite. Most of will have used a Dubai taxi, but it doesn’t use this comparison.

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© 2008 Dubai Business Daily (DBD).