For those of you who feel that a lifetime of waiting is too long to experience what heaven has to offer - here is somewhere that I would think would give you a little taste - the Barr al Jissah Resort and Spa in Oman. The resort is about 45 minutes outside of the city of Muscat and approx a 4 hour drive (or flight if you take total travel time into account) from Dubai. It is the perfect getaway and even in June it didn't seem as hot as it actually was!
A couple weeks ago I was lucky enough to be able to fit in a quick 2 nights on Zanzibar, or The Spice Island as it is commonly known. My first trip to Zanzibar was in 1995 and it was on that visit that I first understood that tropical paradises really DO exist and all those pictures I'd seen were real and not figment of my imagination!