Da Daily Dank

$11 million, standing 13 meters high and draped with jewellery,
silver and gold colored balls and white lights, the tree at Emirates
Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi is the worlds most expensive Christmas tree
ever or so the hotel hopes.



The tree is fake, but the jewels are not. There are 181 pieces of
jewellery including diamonds, emeralds, rubies and pearls, according to
Khalifa Khouri the owner of Style Gallery, which dressed the tree.
There is a mix of rings, earrings, necklaces and bracelets. The most
expensive item on the Christmas tree is a diamond set worth 3.5 million
Dirhams, nearly $1 million.



The hotel will soon make a bid for an entry in the Guinness Book of
World Records, says Hans Olbertz, General Manager of Emirates Palace.



The Christmas tree has been at the hotel since its opening. It has been
decorated differently every year to try to give visitors the Christmas
feeling when they are away from home. This year the hotel decided to
elevate the decorations, according to Mr. Olbertz an understatement. We
wanted to have another record to coincide with the luxury of the palace.



It is not what is under this tree that counts, but what is on it. The
items are insured for 100 percent of their value and security monitors
the tree 24 hours a day. Emirates Palace already has a gold ATM and
holds a Guinness record for the most expensive alcoholic shot, a cognac
which would set a visitor back a couple of grand, according to Mr.
Olbertz.



Mr. Khouri, who celebrates his own birthday on December 25, said with this tree we are saying Merry Christmas to everyone.