Homeowners living in the world’s tallest residential skyscraper are having to climb up more than 1,300ft of steps – the equivalent of walking one-third of the way up Ben Nevis – after all the lifts broke down.
Princess Tower in Dubai, which stands at 1,355ft tall with 97 above-ground residential floors, has been named the tallest residential building in the world Guinness World Records.
But residents living in the luxurious tower block – many of whom are British – have been told they have ‘no choice’ but to walk up to their flats, some on the 97th floor, after all eight lifts in the building broke down last week.
The building, which has six levels in the basement and 101 above ground level, opened in September last year, with two-bed flats on the rental market for £140-a-day and penthouse flats selling for more than £2million.
Princess Tower boasts 763 luxury apartments as well as eight giant stores and overlooks the Palm Jumeirah, the manmade ‘palm island’ where David Beckham and Brad Pitt are said to have bought luxury pads.
Emergency repairs are ongoing after the problems began last week – leaving penthouse owners who paid £2millio plus for their flats forced to take the stairs.
Flat owners have today been told that a solitary ‘service elevator’ is available for ‘limited’ trips to the 50th floor – but anyone living above that level will still have to walk the rest of the way.
Bosses at the skyscraper – owned by Tameer estates – say the flooding was caused by water from the ‘fire protection system’ and that a ‘faulty fire hose’ was to blame.
Water from the hose got into the residents’ lift shafts, flooding them and causing them to be shut down.
One resident, who lives on the 78th floor, said: ‘I came home after a hard day of work and was told I’d have to walk to my apartment on the 78th floor.
‘I truly couldn’t believe it – there was no way I was walking all that distance so I just booked myself into a hotel.’
A spokesman for Kone Elevators said: ‘We have had engineers on site 24-hours a day since the water leak occurred.’