111 degrees outside, 21degrees inside.

The $3 million Chillout ice lounge in Dubai, where nearly everything is sculpted out of ice. 

Chillout is the Middle East’s first ice lounge and the latest venture in this desert Gulf emirate that has been transformed by a mania for the biggest, first or most outlandish.Gulf men in traditional white robes with wives covered in black cloaks, teenagers eager to experience their first cold blast and Westerners who miss the chill are flocking to the bar-restaurant to hang out in what amounts to a freezer.

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While the $3 million-hangout, which opened in a Dubai mall last June, is expected to become a must-see tourist destination, it also is expected to raise questions about already high energy consumption in this desert land. The average person in the Emirates puts more demand on the global ecosystem than any other in the world, according to the World Wildlife Fund. In a report issued in October, the WWF said the Emirates’ ecological footprint measured 11.9 global hectares per person, compared to 9.6 hectares per person for the United States and a global average of 2.2 hectares a person. The scale measures the amount of land needed to generate resources for one person. Get your own icebar for your pad.