Atop ground, spectacular wordclass hotels, many the ultimate in luxury, are springing up everywhere. The six or seven star, depending on to whom one talks, Burj Al Arab, shaped like a mammoth sailboat and towering 400 m (1,312 ft) high, is called the most luxurious hotel in the world. However, it is being challenged by the two boutique hotels of the next-door Madinat Jumeirah, an extensive Arabian theme-leisure complex oozing with traditional architecture, more spectacular than any the world has seen in the last quarter century.