The Dubai Mall, Dubai

Normally I rarely go to a mall at home let alone go to one while on vacation, but I must admit that The Dubai Mall is absolutely beautiful and definitely a setting that can humble just about anyone. Just walking through the mall was a workout in itself, but there was so much to see and take in that the experience was effortless. I purchased several clothing items that I believe cannot be found anywhere outside of the UAE. The movie theater was comfortable, clean, and not too crowded. The food court had a great selection of both fast food chains and independent restaurants which meant the world for someone like me who exclusively eats halal but is visiting from a place where there's very little halal restaurants around. Definitely visit the aquarium and waterfall. The prayer rooms were very spacious and honestly the best part of this mall for me. Also, it's location and close proximity to other attractions definitely made coming here very convenient.

I have visited the mall with small children and elderly people. There are simply no places (or very rare and limited areas) to sit outside of stores, which is unacceptable considering the size of the mall and long walks you make. Let some of the leading furniture design brands compete with their products and installations. The mall is a prominent showroom for them anyway. Additionally along the same line there is no drinking water available at corners. Make it easy and accessible to have water within a minute walk wherever you are. You could probably have some creative paintings on the floor to show you the way. Did you consider to deploy much more green plants and colorful flowers into the mall that will make it a more friendly and relaxing environment. You could allow street musicians into the mall at corners, it would make it so much more lively. Having a mobile app with social features would be also great, for instance showing all the nationalities that are present at a time in the mall, allowing to connect with others in proximity of the mall and share the experience. Navigation and exploration should be also improved, its still very hard to find specific places and you can easily loose your way. There are many ways how to improve on this. I think the management of the mall is not looking for continuous improvement or not creative enough. It's not enough to be the biggest, but you want to continuously strive to be the best that is currently missing from the vision and leadership. Aside of this the mall is impressive in its league.