The Museum of Hoaxes
hoax archive hoax archive hoax archive hoax archive hoax archive
HOME   |   ABOUT   |   FORUM   |   CONTACT   |   FACEBOOK   |   RSS
The Palace of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Status: Email hoax (real pictures, fake caption)
Bad: Falling for an email hoax. Worse: Using the hoax as the basis for your presentation to the local city planning commission, thereby displaying your gullibility to the entire public.

As reported by the Muncie Star Press (no link), Don Love gets the award for doing the latter. He received an email containing a series of pictures of an opulent estate (shown below), with the caption:

In case you're wondering where this hotel is, it isn't a hotel at all. IT IS A HOUSE! It's owned by the family of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the former president of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu-Dhabi.

Enraged, he made a slide presentation out of the pictures and showed them to the planning commission, as part of his effort to get them to approve construction of an ethanol plant. His point was that they should promote local energy projects, to prevent all the city's money going to greedy, oil-rich sheiks. He told them: "This is the type of thing being done with your petro dollars that I want to re-patriate. Keep in mind the gentleman has more than 20 wives. This is one of 70 baths. Some are bigger than my house. This is his little swimming pool. These are his cars."

Of course, the pictures don't show a sheik's palace. In reality they show a fancy hotel in Abu Dhabi called the Emirates Palace. All the stuff about 20 wives is bogus too. If Love had bothered to do any research, he would have found this out. He probably could also have found some real pictures of a sheik's palace, which would have been a more effective way of making his point. Incidentally, my other house (the one in my daydreams) looks just like the one in the pictures.

image image image
image image image
image image image
image image image
Categories: Email Hoaxes, Photos, Places
Posted by Alex on Tue Nov 15, 2005
Comments (69)
More from the Hoax Museum Archives:
holly this guyz loaded with everything imma go give him a visit soon timez
Posted by =)  on  Thu Dec 14, 2006  at  04:11 PM
well it dosnt matter u peeps the bottom line is the hotels in u-a-e so a arab owns it so be quite its an arabs hotel or house a arabs ok
Posted by usman  on  Sun Dec 17, 2006  at  11:46 AM
a few americans from u-s have comented above they should understand that the pictures above and the hotel belongs to an arab and u u-s peeps need to wake up the hotel belongs to sheikh zayed the arab king so please shut up if you dont know anything besides burger king or kfc
Posted by wasim  on  Sun Dec 17, 2006  at  11:51 AM
It does does not matter who owns the place, the bottom line is that people should be directing funds to useful, beautiful things, instead of kiiling others and obusing national funds, like some leaders in certain countries do. Sheikh if it is your keep it up.
Posted by Salani  on  Sat Jan 06, 2007  at  08:05 AM
why do you guys care if someone is fooled or not? and you complain about this guys jealousy. I know jealous people and they DON'T paint people in good light, which is the opposite of what this guy did. You all are IDIOTS, and just enjoy the F@%*ing pictures.
Posted by Triz  on  Fri Feb 02, 2007  at  11:55 AM
Salam to all .. Emirates Palace is one of the most beautiful and renowned Hotels in the world ..The cost for makin Emirates Palace was 3 billion dollars which makes it the most luxurious and costly Hotel in the world..It is in Abu Dhabi (DAR aL maS) capital of U.A.E which has the fastest growing GDP of the world and the riches economy of the world ..Emirates is a place to be and has the best standard of livin in the world ..Hope this information helps LOVE ..and the rest of ma friends visiting here ...all the very best .
Posted by Hussain Al Zaidii  on  Mon Feb 12, 2007  at  10:48 AM
Asslam-o-Alaikum:
I pray for u Sir Shaikh Zayed that God bless u.U should live long.
Posted by sammiullah khan  on  Mon Feb 19, 2007  at  03:23 AM
Hi people,
This is a 7 star hotel in the U.A.E,
it is NOT the palace of the late ruler sheikh zayed. The people of the U.A.E loved sheikh zayed because he was the one who united 7 small emirates into one new country called the U.A.E, He was a sheikh who cared alot for his people and always helped foreign countries who needed help.
Posted by alain  on  Wed Feb 21, 2007  at  12:52 AM
http://www.sheikhzayed.com/index_flash.htm

the worst web site ever!!!!
Posted by abdulah  on  Fri Feb 23, 2007  at  07:53 AM
This is a hotel for people who didn't read it. in response to Maria fernanda. It's called roalty. alot of people in this world cannot be helped no matter how much money you have. why would you give up all your money to people with nothing if it will make no difference whatsoever when you could live in luxury? why add yourself to the list of those who suffer when there is no point? for thousands of years, select people have lived in splendour and most people in poverty. INFACT, having a computer, even these days, having a roof over your head, food every day, and a family who loves you, makes you in something like the top 10% OF THE WORLDS POPULATION. there has never been, nore will there ever be a person who is completely slefless. it is natural to put yourself before anyone else. certain royal families have more than 8 residences in use and many more that they still own but are open to the public. the website for this hotel is :
http://www.emiratespalace.com/en/main.htm
Posted by John  on  Sun May 13, 2007  at  02:27 AM
OMG.... I just got this email from someone I know in California.. The VERY FIRST thing I thought was THIS IS A NICE HOTEL... My dear friends (who are really my second family) are from Dubai.. The nicest people I know.. and God Bless Sheikh Zayed.. may he rest in peace in Heaven.. Yes.. Dubai is a VERY WEALTHY Arab nation.. God blessed them with OIL and a mind to develop the desert into a REAL OASIS... They Japanese LOVE to play golf there, too!! When it is not 70C in the summer.. and everyone who can gets out to cooler countries.. People come from ALL OVER the world to work.. and DUBAI has the nicest native population of people I know.. I have been to Dubai.. and I LOVED it... They didn't spend BILLIONS of dollars bombing anyone.. and so they have TONS of money.. who knows what is it all from .. but they are ONE RICH COUNTRY... Go GOOGLE DUBAI and look at how beatiful the city is.. the Palms, the Bur Ali Hotel... and they are even building a LOUVRE there, too!! God Bless you UAE and all of your wonderful people....
Posted by Leesa G.  on  Tue May 15, 2007  at  03:32 PM
;-) Can some body send me the palace prints? I am going to build my house, and I want to copy/paste this nice home in Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua. Mexico.
Posted by Corina Galvan  on  Tue Jun 19, 2007  at  11:18 PM
I just want to make a quick point that not everyone from this country is stupid, granted some of the more recent political decisions in our country have been made by mindless masses, but that can be said of any democracy given the right political climate. I came upon this site because I obviously knew that the email was false, and wanted to inform people, not spread sensationalist ideas.. I encourage everyone else to do the same, and calm down, if it sounds unbelievable, it probably is.
Posted by Krash  on  Wed Jun 20, 2007  at  09:28 AM
irrespective of the ownership of this beautiful structure its is clear that some one own it and cannot possibly be richer that the prince him self as per state law..HOwever what needs to be remebered here is that all praises are for Allah almighty. I wish i had 2 of these, but jealousy is definitely not goin to help here..and true atleast they are not using the monies to attack other countries like many superpowers do...
Posted by ahem  on  Fri Jun 22, 2007  at  01:20 AM
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh am really laughing loud !!
you lil kids have a look at this
http://www.emiratespalace.com/en/main.htm
its a HOTEL.. we dont have to explain more, its just because u WANT TO BELIEVE that it was his house !!

and by the way
if he lived in such hotel in his life time.. we will keep loving him till the last minute of our lives,, in fact, we as a nation would build him such palace and give it to him as a gift..he is the real father of all of us, not only UAE ,, but mostly all arab countries.. and even foreign ones used to love and respect him...

I've studied in the states, and uk, and really realized how much you folks believe the outer shells of matters and always willing to make propaganda out of it for no obvious reason just to prove to yourselves how much stupid you are! plz get out of the box and think wise!!

Cares !!
Posted by Architect  on  Thu Jul 26, 2007  at  02:00 AM
Its kind of late to clarify but yes the snaps are not a residence but a hotel called 'Emirates Place Hotel' in Abu Dhabi. Its many times confused with being a palace of Sh Zayed but its not.
Posted by Asim  on  Thu Jul 26, 2007  at  03:18 AM
So it's a hotel. And a very nice hotel at that. That said, the wealth that built this hotel is oil money nontheless. And I wish I had more of it. But since I don't, I certainly hope we can come up with an alternative source of energy to fuel the future.

All things considered, I would rather fund my kids' (or others') educations than continue pouring billions of dollars each month into the pockets of OPEC nations, while spending billions more fighting the rest of the world for fossil fuels.
Posted by GB  on  Thu Nov 15, 2007  at  04:46 PM
hello people>>>>>>I really wanted to say that this is really the shaikh's palace but it is in abu dabi>>>> it is known for us because we are arab gulf people >>>>
Posted by hamad  on  Sun Dec 30, 2007  at  03:53 PM
That is bull ****!!!

I live in Abu Dhabi, and I can assure you that this is a hotel, and not anyones house!

Its called Emirates Palace Hotel, and you can google it out if you want.

I was there last month, as Justin Timberlake held his concert there.
Posted by Toni  on  Thu Jan 17, 2008  at  03:48 AM
The fact that it's being confused with a hotel only proves that the sheikhs in that region live in homes that look like hotels or better. I for one believe that it is the sultan's palace. That's obvious. The name of a hotel is always mentioned in front of the building. Nowhere does it say "such and such hotel." But that's hardly the point. Even if this is a hotel, the sheikhs live in places still more ostentatious.

The Arab Americans and the American boot lickers of the sheikhs are trying to downplay the debauched and extravagant lifestyle of these repugnant creatures. I'm also shocked on how shallow their own minds are when they look upon such crap as a source of "jealousy" between each other.

Last but not least .. common guys! It's just another 150 or 200 years at most .. when the oil wells run dry and the descendents of our much admired sheikhs and sheikhas will be seen selling corn on the cob along the streets where their palaces once stood at the expense of the hungry children in their region.
Posted by Whoever  on  Sun Jan 20, 2008  at  04:42 PM
We Americans are fighting for Iraqi freedom from tyranny. To that end, war is a necessary evil. We must spend our money on a strong defense and mighty force to deal with those who oppress. It's all they understand. They're starting to understand it better now, thank God.
Posted by Michael  on  Tue Feb 05, 2008  at  06:54 PM
what a jackass, and his country thinks america is proud and boastful, if i were pres, that crap hole would belong to the home less i would put him in the field to work for pennys an hour an take control of oil co. distribute to all countries at very fair price. anytime this prick wants to step foot in my town i would love to kick his ass and watch him drink quarts of oil
Posted by jay c  on  Sun Mar 09, 2008  at  11:57 AM
this is not shaikh zayed place and what u guys talking about its 7 stars hotel located in the capital of UAE Abu Dhabi and regarding helping people i think shiekh zayed helped alot of people around the world
Posted by zayed  on  Wed May 07, 2008  at  02:53 AM
I am British and lived in Abu - Dhabi for approx 10 years. I have to say, I have never me such a kinder person than Sheikh Zayed. I used to exercise his horses and I learned of the love he had for his animals as well as people. He was a true gentleman. He was in no way, shape or form greedy and he did in fact help alot of people around the world. I also stayed in this hotel once and yes it was very nice. We had a party there with friends. Hey....perhaps the next prank I could pull on people is to circulate it and tell everybody it's mine lol. RIP Sheikh Zayed. From Becki and her daughter Shereen. UK.
Posted by Rebecca  on  Sun Jun 15, 2008  at  12:42 PM
Apparently this email hoax is making its rounds again. I just received it from a family member. Personally, with the money the UAE has, I could "almost" see it as a palace save the fact the interior shots just hotel. Easy enough to debunk with a quick web search or, in my case, a visit to google earth to admire the grand size of the hotel.
Posted by Copasetic  on  Thu Jul 10, 2008  at  02:53 PM
I'd like to have sex in every room of that hotel.
Posted by Badubai  on  Tue Jul 15, 2008  at  08:38 PM
I want married with sheik!
Posted by melissa  on  Thu Jul 17, 2008  at  09:30 AM
remember you come empty and surely you,ll go empty so, why wasting your time for what is vanity ? let the living learn from this.
Posted by segun jose  on  Mon Aug 11, 2008  at  03:44 AM
This Is A hotel not the palace of the ruler. i have been to this hotel many times. and the cars you see are the hotel care for VIP who come form other countries than UAE. So, please don't listen to any bullshit people write. i advice you to come to this country and see it by yourselvies.

Best regards ..
Posted by I Belive in God  on  Tue Aug 26, 2008  at  12:57 AM
who cares if these pictures are the sheikhs house or not. ok yes this is a hotel. do you mean to say that the sheiks don
Posted by shaggy  on  Tue Feb 10, 2009  at  03:09 AM
Comments: Page 2 of 3 pages  < 1 2 3 > 
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.

{stupid336x280}


{tracking_pixel}