15. Burj al Arab, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

 

Height: 321 meters
Cost to build: US$650 million
Completion date: December 1999
Fast fact: The hotel is the only seven-star hotel in the world, even though the hotel proclaimed itself so. 

Influenced by the shape of the dhow, Burj al Arab isn't only a popular computer monitor wallpaper; it has also established itself as the distinctive icon of extravagance in Dubai, housing the world’s only self-proclaimed seven-star hotel. Sitting on a manmade island, the “sailboat” has a private beach and a private curving bridge that connects it to the rest of the city. More notable, however, is Tiger Wood’s annual tee-off on the 24-meter-wide helipad, where Roger Federer and Andre Agassi also played a tennis match, 300 meters above ground.