The Ibn Battuta Mall is a large shopping mall located in the south of Dubai, along Sheikh Zayed Road not far from Jebel Ali. It covers an area of more than 500,000 square metres and houses more than 275 shops and 50 restaurants, as well as a 21-screen multiplex cinema including the only IMAX cinema in the United Arab Emirates.
Even considering the plans for its expansion made official on 26 May 2013, it is by no means the largest mall in Dubai, yet the Ibn Battuta Mall holds a record: it is the largest themed mall in the world.
In fact, its interior spaces are divided into six zones whose environments are inspired by some of the countries visited by Ibn Battuta, the great Berber explorer. They are Egypt, India, China, Andalusia, Persia and Tunisia.
Once you enter the mall, you are immediately in the Egypt zone: here, a wonderful revolving sculpture presents Ibn Battuta and his travels. The six zones into which the mall is divided are all on the same level, which makes the Ibn Battuta Mall quite extensive. For this reason, a free shuttle service is available to transport visitors from one end of the structure to the other.
It is a truly beautiful shopping mall, the architecture of each of the six zones is definitely inspired by reality and it is almost crazy to find global icons such as Starbucks, H&M or McDonalds set in such beauty and in such an unusual context. Even those who don’t like shopping should definitely visit the Ibn Battuta Mall, there are plenty of opportunities to take wonderful photos and in every corner of the centre there will be a chance to learn about the great explorer and his travels.
The Ibn Battuta Mall is a long way from many important parts of Dubai: to put things in perspective, it is almost 40 kilometres from the international airport.
However, it is very well connected to the rest of the city thanks to the metro: stop number 39 on the red line stops right at this magnificent mall, thus ensuring quick and punctual connections to every part of Dubai.
Outside the mall, the splendid Ibn Battuta Gate hotel, belonging to the luxury hotel chain Movenpick, was built at the end of 2013. Its unmistakable design includes a huge archway (somewhat vaguely reminiscent of the Atlantis hotel at the end of Palm Jumeirah) under which a two-lane road even runs.
The hotel consists of 396 accommodations including rooms and suites, also inspired by the explorer Ibn Battuta’s travels, as are the hotel’s eight restaurants: Chinese, Indian, Arabic and Mediterranean cuisine can be sampled.
The hotel has a rooftop outdoor swimming pool, a gym and a spa with all amenities, and provides guests with private access to the Oceana Beach Club on the artificial island of Palm Jumeirah.
For business guests, the hotel offers as many as 15 meeting rooms and a huge lobby with 88 giant lanterns, as well as amenities such as free wi-fi, 40-inch in-room television and a conference room.
City Card allow you to save on public transport and / or on the entrances to the main tourist attractions.
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