Old Bastakia
Chicago Beach Hotel's Original Advertisement shows CBH was a great place for a Dubai Holiday in the 1970s, 80s and 90s! It was popular with the locals too!
Chicago Beach Hotel was ahead of its time in many ways, offering the kind of exclusive resort holiday other modern Dubai Hotels have only recently provided. 615 rooms, an exclusive beach, extensive leisure facilities, a range of bars and dining outlets, good quality rooms and excellent service were forerunners of what Dubai's Hotels came to provide in the new Millennium.
Jumeirah Beach Hotel was built on the land previously occupied the Chicago Beach Hotel while the Burj Al Arab 6 Star Hotel was constructed on an artificial island located offshore from the old Chicago Beach Hotel's beach. Chicago Beach Hotel continued to operate while these two new grand hotels were being built. Finally the Demolition Engineers used explosives to make the popular Chicago Beach Hotel disappear in a dramatic implosion.
Jumeirah Beach Hotel has inherited two of Chicago Beach Hotel's popular facilities. Their Der Kellar is modelled on CBH's very popular Bierkellar while their Beachcombers is based on CBH's Beach Restuarant of the same name. So the Chicago Beach Hotel lives on!
The old name lived on for a short time after the old Hotel was demolished in 1997. Dubai Chicago Beach Hotel was the Public Project Name for the construction phase of the Bouj Al Arab Hotel until HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced the name of his unique hotel.
Read about the construction of the Burj Al Arab here.
"Chicago Beach" disappeared from Dubai's vocabulary with the demolition of Chicago Beach Village and the development of Jumeirah Beach Hotel.