Dubai - anyone been there?

Doodah7

AM thinking of trying to get a late deal to Dubai and am wondering if anyone has been there an what did they think of it. Is there much to do/see? Is the shopping good value?

I'm not too sure and would appreciate any opinions...

BuffyBot

http://www.reviewcentre.com/review27813.html has a good review

Darren

I was in Dubai in '99. All I can say is that the place is utterly F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C. I went there with my girlfriend at the time. We flew Heathrow-Dubai-Colombo with Emirates and had a 3 day break in Dubai on the way back.

We stayed at the Jumeirah Beach hotel. It is jointly the best hotel I have ever stayed at along with the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The burj-al-jarab is meant to be even better. I think we payed something ridiculous like £35 stg per night. The room had a shower you could run around in. It was so hot that the hotel pool had to be chilled. We drove from Galle to Colombo in something like a Nissan urvan, the Emirates flight to DXB was a 777 (best airline in the world IMHO), we were picked up in DXB in a brand new big Merc and driven to the Jumeirah beach. What a contrast!

Dubai is absolutely full of ultra modern shopping malls. I remeber that everbody leaves their shopping outside the recreation areas (air hockey, Arcade games etc) and come back and collects it afterwards and nobodys steals it. I went to the gold souk one night to buy some jewellery and was staggered that none of the cases were locked. The people in Dubai are the nicest that I have met in that region and have reasonably relaxed western(ish) attitudes compared to the likes of Saudi etc. I felt perfectly safe all the time I was there as the marauding druken yob is yet to be discovered in Dubai. My g/f felt comfortable most of the time apart form she felt a bit of leering but in my view this is to be expected (but not necessarily accepted) in that part of the world.

Booze is available in the hotels but is not cheap. Beer in the pool bar at the Jumeirah was about £6 a pint. Food in the hotel restaurants is also expensive but cheap evrywhere else. We bought a JVC Camcorder, some raybans and I got a Seiko Kinetic, it was all really cheap.

Dubai is well maintained. All the roads are clean, there is a surprising amount of lush vegetation which must cost a fortune to look after. We went on a trip which involved a days 4WD over the sand dunes and then dinner and belly dancers etc at a bedouin tent. Well recommended, especially the hubble bubble pipes and fruity tobacco.

Obviously Fridays are very quiet.

Hope you go and have a great time, it's a great place.

Darren

Bri

How was your hotel so cheap?!

Darren

That was the deal at the time, we booked an extra night in Dubai and that' saal it cost. Hotels in Dubai are really cheap off season.

jonny68

Darren is spot on Dubai is an utterly fantastic place to visit (even better when you`ve got a mate who`s the manager of an Irish bar out there ) i was there last Xmas and NYE and it was one of the best holidays ive ever had,it can be both expensive and cheap depending on what your buying and where your buying it...you can go to an Indian Restaurant (nice but nothing spectacular) and get a 4 course meal for about €10 in our money (currency is Dirhams over there)then again we ate in some swanky Restaurant in the twin towers there (yes twin towers :eek: ) and paid an absolute fortune for a meal but it was top class,the food is amazing,beer is about the same as here ie expensive but a lot of places have happy hours were there are cheap drinks..it can be a bit of a culture shock there,seems to me mostly Indian/Pakistani/Asian men on building sites/taxis/restaurants,etc and earn little or nothing but a lot more and a much better lifestyle than their own countries and they lifestyle is far superior than anywhere ive ever been,amazing,my mate`s been out there 2 years now and i cant see him returning to here,why would you come back to rip off crap weather Ireland when your living the life out there..,Dubai is 90% ex pats from all over,there are a lot of western people there as well but you`ll find that they have what we would percieve as the good jobs with high pay ie office jobs,etconbe thing though women should try not wear low cut tops ort show too much flesh as they will get started at all the time,Arabs do not treat women well at all and see western women as sex objects,unfortunately in that respect Dubai is sadly lacking in respecty,however dont let that put you off if your a woman because its a super place to visit,i was even contemplating moving out there at one stage,a must see also is the utterly stunning Al Burj Arab Hotel which is the most stunning piece of architecture ive ever seen,has to be seen trhe worlds only 7* Hotel but you`ll need to be extremly righ to stay there but worth the taxi journey,make a day of it and visit wild wadi water park beside it..

PS-Dont forget to check out the best Irish bar in Dubai..The Dubliners
http://www.lemeridien.com/united_arab_emirates/dubai/restaurants_ae1328.shtml

heres some links you might want to check out..have a good holiday...



http://www.dubai.com/

http://www.dubaicityguide.com/main/index.asp

http://www.burj-al-arab.com/

http://www.asiatraveltips.com/BarsinDubai.shtml

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/you-uae.asp?ArticleID=1035

scargill

I've been there many times with work and I would have to say its great....but not so good at this time of year! Its way too hot - its around 45 at the moment. Friends of mind went a few weeks ago and could not believe the heat/humidity even though I warned them not to go !!

have a look at forecast for this week: http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/41194.html

It does mean that the hotels are cheap - this is off season, so you will get good deals. The best time to go is October - April, also the most expensive time of course.

In terms of history/culture there is bugger all to see. The museum only goes back around 40 years - before that there was nothing only sand!
But the opulence of the hotels/shopping malls is amazing. I know friends who have gone and had a boring time, and others who loved it.

Racing is big in Dubai (what I work at out there). It runs from October to April and is on late in the evening (too hot to run horses during the day). Its well worth a visit to Nad Al Sheba racecourse if you are there at that time of year. There is no betting though, so you'll have to have sneaky bets between your friends !!
http://www.emiratesracing.com

Another thing to be mindful is the holy month of Ramadan which starts on Oct 15 this year and last for around 28 days. During this time there may be restrictions when alcohol is served (usually ok in the evening time in hotels). You can't (shouldn't) eat/drink/smoke outside during the day as the local Muslims fast during daylight hours.

As for finding it cheap...I was there in February and found it pricey enough to eat out. Alcohol is heavily taxed and will often be around €5 a pint.

Gold is dirt cheap - if you don't get a bargain there you never will! It's all at least 18 carat. 99% of the gold shops are reputable - you can't really go wrong in the Gold Souk - any taxi will take you there - well worth a visit.
'Damas' is about the best gold shop in Dubai - there are loads of shops around Dubai, especially in the big hotels. I have bought lots of things for the girlfriend and got them valued at triple what I paid for them in Dubai.

Electronic goods can be good too - but make sure you don't buy them off a cowboy down some side street - stick to the main shopping malls.

Let me know what hotel you are thinking of staying in - i'll let you know if they are ok. Most of the tourist ones along the coast are great. City centre hotels tend to be businessy.

the heat is an issue this time of year...don't say I didn't warn you! On the other hand every single hotel/bar/restaurant/taxi is air-conditioned so you'll never be uncomfortable other than when sunbathing or walking around (get a taxi everywhere!) - so maybe it doesn't bother you!

Zascar

I'm heading to Dubai over Xmas - has anyone got any more tips of things to see and do etc?