The Emirates Palace hotel that has been showing off an $11 million Christmas tree now says it regrets the overabundance of holiday cheer.

The Emirates Palace hotel said it regretted “attempts to overload the tradition followed by most hotels in the country” according to Gulf News.

“Putting the Christmas tree… is a tradition meant to share in celebrating occasions guests hold while they are away from their home countries and families”.

Gulf News said the hotel stressed this was “within the framework of the UAE’s policy which is based on the values of openness and tolerance.”

Emirates Palace stressed that the jewels were on loan from an Abu Dhabi gallery which had paid all the costs of making and decorating the tree.

The jewels would be recovered by their owner at the end of the festive season. “The hotel is just a venue for exhibiting the tree,” it said.

The tree holds a total of 181 diamonds, pearls, emeralds, sapphires and other precious stones provided by Style Gallery.

Emirates Palace hotel general manager Hans Olbertz said the tree, which he described as the “most expensive Christmas tree ever,” will probably be an entry into the Guinness book of world records.

The 13-metre faux evergreen, located in the gold leaf-bedecked rotunda of the hotel, is not the first extravagant offering from the three-billion-dollar Emirates Palace.

The hotel in the oil-rich Gulf emirate bills itself as a seven-star establishment and has a package for a week-long stay priced at one million dollars.

The package comes with a personal butler and a chauffeur-driven Maybach luxury car as well as a private jet available for trips to other countries in the region.

Source: Relaxnews