It was great to finally visit the world’s largest mall, Dubai Mall! (It is still considered the largest in total area, but there are a few larger malls if they calculate only the “total leasable area”.) If you do visit, make sure to pick up the free “Dubai Mall Guide” (from 1 of the 10 Guest Service Desks) which is 30 pages long and has pull out maps of the 4 massive floors.
From the inside cover of the Dubai Mall Guide: “Welcome to Everything. There’s nothing else on earth quite like The Dubai Mall. Much more than one of the most spectacular malls on earth, it is a shopping, dining, leisure and entertainment experience like no other. With more than 1,200 retail outlets and an unmatched range of world-class attractions, it will delight, amaze and thrill you time after time.”
Just look at one of the rest areas in the mall. Better than some of the seating areas of airports I’ve been in!
From the guide, I count: 2 art galleries, 5 major department stores, 5 stationary stores, 30 chocolate/confectionary/icecream shops, 48 coffee shops, 44 fast food joints, 60 restaurants, 30 electronic/computer stores, 18 eyewear shops, 394 fashion stores (of all types, including: accessories & leather / Arabic / Bridal / Children & Maternity / General / Lingerie / Men / Women / Sports & Outdoor / Tailors & Textiles), 56 footwear stores, 12 gift & craft boutiques, 55 stores for health & beauty / perfumes / oud / cosmetics, 39 home furnishing stores, 61 jewelry stores, 22 kiosks, 10 shops selling luggage, 6 for mobiles & accessories, 2 music & leisure stores, 22 banks (and countless ATMs), 7 pharmacies, 3 photo developing stores, 9 specialty stores (including Daiso!), 4 supermarkets, another 100 plus shops in the Souq (mostly jewelry and perfumes), 15 toy stores and many, many more!
In addition to all the shops and restaurants, the mall also boasts of 9 major locations categorized by “attractions, entertainment and cinemas” including: At The Top Burj Khalifa, Big Fun World, Dubai Aquarium, Dubai Ice Rink, Goal, KidZania, Reel Cinemas, SEGA Republic, and Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo.
Great piece of work at Al Jaber Gallery (H2 of lower ground floor). I HEART Dubai as well! 🙂 After hours at this mall, I can understand why they affectionately refer to Dubai as “Do Buy”!
I’ve been to Canada’s largest Mall, West Edmonton Mall, and seemed lost and confused there. How much more in Dubai Mall! At 12.1 million square feet in total area, Dubai mall more than doubles West Edmonton Mall’s 5.3 million square feet.
The Dubai Mall has 150 escalators and 95 elevators!
I can say that not only does Dubai Mall have “everything you’re looking for”, they have tons of stuff I would never even dream of looking for as well! 😉 What an experience! I’ve already posted about the impressive Dubai Mall Waterfall (which is more accurately “waterfalls”). Stay tuned for future posts on Dubai mall broken up into specific sections/locations such as The Souq, the Dubai Mall Aquarium & Underwater Zoo and “At The Top” of Burj Khalifa, where I got to visit the world’s tallest observation deck on the 124th floor of the world’s largest building to enjoy an incredible 360 degree view of Dubai and surrounding area!
To learn more about the Dubai Mall, visit www.thedubaimall.com, or the facebook page at www.facebook.com/TheDubaiMall, follow on twitter at: www.twitter.com/TheDubaiMall or watch videos at: www.youtube.com/dubaimallchannel.
Andy in Oman 