Money doesn't grow on trees, but that didn't stop a hotel in the United Arab Emirates from decking out a Christmas tree with $11 million in decorations.
In an over-the-top display of holiday opulence already acknowledged as an "overload" by the hotel management, staff at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi covered a 43-foot-tall fake evergreen with jewelry, pearls, emeralds, sapphires and more than 180 diamonds.
Called the "most expensive Christmas tree ever" by hotel general manager Hans Olbertz when it was put up last week, the arbor was supposed to make headlines by besting a $10.8 million record-holding Christmas tree decorated in Tokyo in 2002. Instead, it became a symbol of holiday excess.
Critics tried to chop the opulent tree down to size, calling it a gimmick that uproots the holiday spirit.
In response, the hotel attempted to distance itself from the tree in its lobby -- saying the publicity stunt was planned and orchestrated by the Style Gallery, which owns all of the decorations.
"The hotel is just a venue for exhibiting the tree," hotel management said in a statement quoted in the Toronto Sun.
Emirates Palace management also said it regrets "attempts to overload the tradition followed by most hotels in the country with meanings and connotations that do not fall in line with the professional standards which the Emirates Palace Hotel keenly respects and complies with."
The decorations might be garish, but they're not entirely unexpected. The Emirates Palace is well known for luxurious gimmicks, including a vending machine that sells gold.
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