“Lost.” This is probably the way many shoppers saw themselves the first time they visited The Dubai Mall, one of the Emirate’s latest attempts to be the first, the biggest and, in general, the best. After opening just over a year ago on the 4th of November 2008, I’m pleased to say that every one of its 750,000 visitors a week has eventually made their way home again.
At over 12 million square feet, the size of 50 football fields, there are any number of places where you can lose yourself in this maze. The first time I went, I seriously considered taking Hansel and Gretel’s advice and leaving a trail of breadcrumbs to the car but I curbed this desire and instead set off into the big, bad mall completely unsure of where I was going and where I’d just been.
Finally, I emerged from that labyrinth completely exhausted after traipsing around the mall for what seemed like hours (which is unusual for me as I love to shop and I never ‘traipse’ when doing so) however, I was also completely and utterly amazed. Despite being so large that it would take several days and a fully planned expedition to cover the entire shopping centre, what I have seen of it the many times I’ve been there is simply astonishing. Although I’m not an expert, I can pretty confidently say there aren’t any other malls in the world where after shopping you can dive with sharks, ice skate, ride indoor rollercoasters, watch otters ‘frolicking’ and eat your own body weight in sweets all in the same day.
Therefore, even though The Dubai Mall has been the cause of many a blister and that even after the many, many times that I’ve been there I still occasionally find myself- well, that’s the problem, I don’t really know where, I think it’s fair to say that it’s incredible. Yes, it is a maze but it’s most definitely an amazing one.
Georgina O’Mahoney
