| By Tracy Brown, Los Angeles TimesMcClatchy-Tribune Regional News May 23--The sail-shaped Burj Al Arab, where rooms start at $1,525, is expanding the category of luxury accessories by providing all guests with a 24-karat gold iPad upon check-in. The hotel, part of the Jumeirah group of hotels and resorts, is often listed as the world's most luxurious hotel and already provides iMacs in each of its 202 suites. The iPads were manufactured by Gold & Co. London and designed exclusively for Burj Al Arab. Each one is engraved with the hotel's logo, as well as Jumeirah's motto "Stay Different." Every tablet also comes loaded with interactive customer experience, or ICE, software that enables guests to use the 24-karat gold iPad as a virtual concierge to access information and hotel services. The iPads provided to guests are 16-gigabyte Wi-Fi iPad3s and for now run only the ICE program. The hotel is working on expanding customers' access to other iPad applications. A 64-gigabyte version of the gold iPad3 is available to purchase at Burj Al Arab's Bespoke Boutique starting at about $10,200, along with other luxury electronics such as the gold iPad mini, gold iPhone 5 and gold BlackBerry Q10. More info: Burj Al Arab; Dubai, UAE; www.jumeirah.com/burjalarab. Follow us on Twitter @latimestravel and like us on Facebook. ___ (c)2013 the Los Angeles Times Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |
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