123 floors up! High Tea Burj Khalifa Review

Miles and I have decided to start a High Tea section and what better way to start than the Highest: High Tea Burj Khalifa

A little background:

My mom started taking me to high tea when I was little. It was kind our thing and we still continue to go whenever we are together, especially in areas that have exceptional teas. In fact, this hobby afforded us the opportunity to fly free to Chicago for a surprise stay at the Drake – all centered around their famous high tea at the Palm Court. The icing on the crumpet was they upgraded us to the biggest suite in the hotel and put us on the club floor…we were paying a cash rate of about $150. That is just ridiculous.

Anyways! I love high tea. My girlfriend I have high tea just about every occasion we can, and the following review shows where I wrangled bestie Dave into one as well. He loved it and by the end…his pinkie finger naturally extended from the tea cup. What a pro.

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The Deets:

• Where: Burj Khalifa, Dubai U.A.E.
  • At.mosphere
  • 123rd floor
  • Above Armani hotel adjacent to the Dubai Mall
• When: June 20th, 2015 at 2pm
• Cost:
  1. Window Table: 580 AED or $158
  2. Non window table: 320AED $87
• Part of the 2015 Around the World Trip

Making reservations: Pay attention to the dress code

We used the website and they have a dress code. Living in LA you tend to not put much importance on those silly things.  I have to say…make sure you do not wear anything remotely resembling sneakers. I was sporting ‘business casual’ but was almost not let in because of my pf flyers. It was a close call.

Miles was nude – he always is, but luckily he was in my backpack and only went tea streaking once we were in At.mosphere. Who knows what would have happened had he been more expressive.

Why I was willing to pay $158 for high tea.

One, I love high tea and doing it in the world’s tallest building seemed like a great experience to share. It was definitely expensive, but then again I’ll remember it forever. Here’s the other reason, Marginal cost:

• To go and visit the 124th floor costs between 125-200 AED ($34-$55) depending on the time
• To go and visit the 125th + 30 mins on the 148th is 350-500 ($95-$136 AED

When you look at these prices and the fact that they limit you to just 30 mins on the viewing deck before sending you to a lounge on the 125th floor to hang out with dates and non-alcoholic beverages, it makes the tea sound more attractive. We ended up spending nearly 3 hours at tea. We defos got our money’s worth. The only thing I would potentially change is picking a non window table for a cost saving. We were there during Ramadan and the restaurant was so empty that an obstructed view wouldn’t have been an issue.

Check in:

We took a cab from the Grand Hyatt Dubai and had them drop us off at the Dubai Mall. It is the world’s largest mall and it is RIDICULOUS and a must see: They have a huge aquarium inside and more exotic cars then you can imagine. We walked around the mall for a good 90 mins before making our way to where we thought we should go for the tea. We were wrong. We ended up having to take a cab to the Armani hotel where you will check in. It’s not the most straight forward when you’re inside the mall.

We arrived a little sweaty and out of breath. Let’s just say the Armani hotel lobby is the equivalent of a 5 star meal where they serve you a piece of fish the size of a fingernail and act like its fallen from heaven. It’s a weeeee bit intimidating. They kinda looked us up and down and took us through the rear of the lobby and to the At.Mosphere waiting area.

As I’d said before we were given a little once over because of my shoes…but we were soon on the rocketship they call an elevator.

The view when you leave the elevator. Hope you’re not afraid of HEIGHTS!

Yep, we ate at a Guinness World Record restaurant. BYAH!

 

Once you exit the elevator you’re kind of left on your own. The view is so insane that they know you’re gonna want to Selfie-OUT and take tons of photos. Once we were done looking like complete tourists we went to the restaurant.

It was Ramadan and there was 2 other occupied tables. IN THE WHOLE PLACE

I tell you, this is the time to go. We had incredible service, took as long as we wanted, walked around everywhere, took tons of pictures, and well…had a 5 star restaurant practically to ourselves. The only downside to this is there is no champagne or alcoholic beverages, but it didn’t matter a bit.

The presentation:

The service is second to none… as is the view. We “tea’d” like kings. I mean we should for $150/person, but we did feel very special and had SOOOOO many people tending to our table.

The Menu

The Food

Sunset/Dust storm pictures and the best bathroom view.

You can easily see the Jumeirah Palm and World from the Burj. In fact, you can basically see all of Dubai. One of the coolest views is from the bathroom.

View from the bathroom

The Verdict

I can’t wait to go back. It’s just such a cool experience that I’d like to share: to be that high up, taking your time, and making memories is worth the extra money. To that note,  I would definitely go again during Ramadan. The city definitely slows down as no food or drink can be consumed in public during daylight hours. While this can be an obstacle for westerners and non-Muslims, it provides opportunities to visit tourist hot spots and have them to yourself. If you’re willing to spend the money, which isn’t slim, and you like a good high tea experience….you can’t go wrong with the Burj Khalifa.

If you’d like to read more of the Around the World Mega Trip 2015

• Etihad Business and First Class Lounge Washington DC
• Etihad Business Studio – IAD to AUH
• Review: Etihad Arrivals lounge and Etihad Chauffeur experience
• Grand Hyatt Dubai
• Hyatt Capital Gate Abu Dhabi
• Etihad Business and First Class Lounge Abu Dhabi, AUH
• Etihad Pearl Business Class – AUH to JNB
• Intercontinental Johannesburg Sandton Towers
• Blue Train Johannesburg to Cape Town
• Queen Victoria Cape Town
• Chitwa Chitwa Sabi Sands Luxury Game Reserve Kruger National Park
• Royal Chundu Zambezi River Lodge – Victoria Falls
• Intercontinental Johannesburg Airport
• Review: S(h)ongololo Lounge JNB
• Cathay Pacific Business Class – JNB to HKG to HND
• Ritz Carlton Tokyo
• Japan Airlines First Class Lounge Tokyo, NRT
• American Air Flagship First Class – NRT to LAX