When it first opened to the public, the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi was the most expensive hotel in the world.
Pisasale’s travel companions were the then-deputy mayor Paul Tully, who still serves on council, as well as the then-CEO Carl Wulff and financial officer Jim Lindsay. The trip began with a two-night stay at the Emirates Palace Hotel for $10,600 where they caught an $8000 helicopter flight to the top of the 7-star Burj Al Arab resort in Dubai for a $575 afternoon tea.Then it was off to London for three nights at the Savoy Hotel for $14,200, two nights in Paris at the Hotel Barriere Le Fouquet’s for $18,000 followed by three nights in Rome at the Hotel Hassler for $8700.
Towards the end of the trip, Pisasale and his travel companions went off the official itinerary altogether, flying to Sicily for a side trip. The Pont des Arts, described by Paul Pisasale as “a bridge in Paris that had all these locks attached to it”. “The evidence obtained during the investigation supports a finding that during the 14-day trip to the United Arab Emirates and Europe in September 2012, the subject officers engaged in a significant amount of non-official activity and also spent an excessive amount on accommodation, travel and other activities,” it states.
The failed attempt to transform the heart of Ipswich into a new world city only resulted in the development of one building in the city mall.