Dubai

bobblehat · February 2019

Planning a trip to Dubai later in the year and looking for recommendations on the best area to stay and hotels. Not looking to do anything too energetic so beach/pool required but don't want to be too far out.

Any suggestions most welcome.

stickyfiddle · February 2019

There's no one best area, tbh, but if you want beach & pools then anything on the Palm is generally great. There's also some nice places around the Marina/Jumeriah Beach area which are near the beach - something like Jumeirah Beach Hotel is a good bet, next to Burj al Arab and round the corner from Wild Wadi waterpark and Madinat Jumeirah which has some great places to eat.

Downtown is also nice around the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall but a bit more "city" feeling and no beach, obviously.

Happy to answer any more specific questions if you have them

bobblehat · February 2019

Cheers , that's great to get me started. Will no doubt have more questions .

Jay1 · February 2019

I've stayed in Jumeirah Beach and it's fantastic. A lovely hotel, great service, great facilities right on the beach and free access to the water park, which has an entrance pretty much in the hotel grounds. It's right next to the Burj Al Arab which you can go in for a nose around, and the hotel next door with gondolas around it is good for an evening out and meal too.

It's a shortish taxi ride out from the main centre but if you're looking for a relaxing holiday, mostly around the pool and beach I'd highly recommend it. I think they've just finished a referb too.

bobblehat · February 2019

Jay1 said:

I've stayed in Jumeirah Beach and it's fantastic. A lovely hotel, great service, great facilities right on the beach and free access to the water park, which has an entrance pretty much in the hotel grounds. It's right next to the Burj Al Arab which you can go in for a nose around, and the hotel next door with gondolas around it is good for an evening out and meal too.

It's a shortish taxi ride out from the main centre but if you're looking for a relaxing holiday, mostly around the pool and beach I'd highly recommend it. I think they've just finished a referb too.

Sounds like what I'm after.
Cheers

Snap · February 2019

@bobblehat I;m not a fan of Dubai, but won't go on about that, everyone has different tastes.

From my own experience, I stayed at the Sofitel at Jumeirah Beach, not far from the marina. It was average, and expensive. I'd avoid that hotel really - pool area is a bit crap, and the food was very average.

Beach is alright, but its fake sand, so it's a bit coarse and rough. View was of a building site out to sea, though this was Aug 2016 so it may have been finished. Worth checking what is in your view though, if that's important to you.

Don't go in August, or summer - it was super hot and really humid. Too hot to do anything really. 50 degrees hot, and not much cooler at night.

@Stickyfiddle knows the area well, so if you have decided that Dubai is your thing, he will be best places to suggest stuff.

One lasting memory of Dubai was expense. It's not cheap. A bottle of beer in a bar or hotel was 8-9 quid. The most I paid was £18 for a pint of Stella. Only did that once!! Went to the bar at the top of the Burj - is it called The Vault? Highest on in the world I think. That was OK, not as eye wateringly expensive as I thought it would be. Full of massive posers though.

stickyfiddle · February 2019

Snap said:

@bobblehat I;m not a fan of Dubai, but won't go on about that, everyone has different tastes.
From my own experience, I stayed at the Sofitel at Jumeirah Beach, not far from the marina. It was average, and expensive. I'd avoid that hotel really - pool area is a bit crap, and the food was very average.
Beach is alright, but its fake sand, so it's a bit coarse and rough. View was of a building site out to sea, though this was Aug 2016 so it may have been finished. Worth checking what is in your view though, if that's important to you.
Don't go in August, or summer - it was super hot and really humid. Too hot to do anything really. 50 degrees hot, and not much cooler at night.
@Stickyfiddle knows the area well, so if you have decided that Dubai is your thing, he will be best places to suggest stuff.
One lasting memory of Dubai was expense. It's not cheap. A bottle of beer in a bar or hotel was 8-9 quid. The most I paid was £18 for a pint of Stella. Only did that once!! Went to the bar at the top of the Burj - is it called The Vault? Highest on in the world I think. That was OK, not as eye wateringly expensive as I thought it would be. Full of massive posers though.

Chances are the thing you saw is already finished but there will be some other construction going on next to it - that's basically going to be the case for the next 20 years.

You're right about beer prices. And wine. Cocktails become relatively much cheaper by comparison! But you can get some amazing cheap food if you know where to look, especially Indian & Pakistani fare.

And there are twats *everywhere* but it's no worse than London or most big cities - loads of blokes in their twenties earning a little bit too much and thinking they own the place; you just ignore them and hope they do something stupid that gets them deported

Dominic · February 2019

Muscat Oman -more real, more interesting, historic,cheaper,same climate ,same level of service etc
Dubai is a soulless giant shopping Mall on an artificial beach staffed by underpaid and abused Bangladeshi and Indonesian staff ......it's a continual building site full of would be International Playboys renting hyper sports cars and blasting up and down the strip.
1980s Marbella without the culture or charm of Andalusia in the background.

stickyfiddle · February 2019

Dominic said:

Muscat Oman -more real, more interesting, historic,cheaper,same climate ,same level of service etc
Dubai is a soulless giant shopping Mall on an artificial beach staffed by underpaid and abused Bangladeshi and Indonesian staff ......it's a continual building site full of would be International Playboys renting hyper sports cars and blasting up and down the strip.
1980s Marbella without the culture or charm of Andalusia in the background.

I agree that Muscat is really properly lovely.

But I'd also suggest that if that's all you see in Dubai you're doing it wrong.

Boromedic · February 2019

Stickyfiddle will see you right so follow his advice, I never stayed over in Dubai so don't know the hotels well. I know Abu Dhabi a lot better. My only advice would be avoid late May to September it's just too hot to be enjoyable for me. Even at night, when the humidity sucks.

Try and do a Friday Brunch they're pretty cool and you get a lot for your money in terms of food and drink. Don't get drunk and arrested though!

bobblehat · February 2019

Cheers all,
will be going in late October so temperature should be ok

stickyfiddle · February 2019

Pretty perfect weather in late Oct - usually mid 30's and beautiful in the evenings.

Boromedic · February 2019

Yep late October is okay, bit humid at night but nothing mental.

FX_Munkee · February 2019

Snap said:

@bobblehat I;m not a fan of Dubai, but won't go on about that, everyone has different tastes.
From my own experience, I stayed at the Sofitel at Jumeirah Beach, not far from the marina. It was average, and expensive. I'd avoid that hotel really - pool area is a bit crap, and the food was very average.
Beach is alright, but its fake sand, so it's a bit coarse and rough. View was of a building site out to sea, though this was Aug 2016 so it may have been finished. Worth checking what is in your view though, if that's important to you.
Don't go in August, or summer - it was super hot and really humid. Too hot to do anything really. 50 degrees hot, and not much cooler at night.
@Stickyfiddle knows the area well, so if you have decided that Dubai is your thing, he will be best places to suggest stuff.
One lasting memory of Dubai was expense. It's not cheap. A bottle of beer in a bar or hotel was 8-9 quid. The most I paid was £18 for a pint of Stella. Only did that once!! Went to the bar at the top of the Burj - is it called The Vault? Highest on in the world I think. That was OK, not as eye wateringly expensive as I thought it would be. Full of massive posers though.

I was there the same time (well October to be precise), just up the road from you. The building site was the Dubai Eye (now Ain Dubai), and yes it is finished.

We stayed here http://www.roda-hotels.com/amwaj-suites/ which is managed apartments ie self catering if you fancy that. It was fairly decent.

Snap · February 2019

@fx_Munkee cheers, but its not somewhere I can ever seeing me returning to. Plenty of more appealing places round there IMO, such as Muscat as has been mentioned. I think Emirates are either your thing, or they aren't. Plenty of people rave about Dubai, but I didn't get it.

I'm sure there are places I like that others think are rubbish too.

@stickyfiddle - we found a bar, towards Downtown, from JBR, walking distance, big place with a large high roofed warehouse like drinking area, and a restaurant attached to it. On the beach I think. That was relatively cheap by Dubai standards, and was busy with westerners. Seemed fairly easy going place too, but I was always aware that you are only a misplaced swear word, or a matey hug away from being banged up without consular access!

@bobblehat when you go, watch your manners and don't expect to be able to show your wife/girlfriend any affection outdoors. If you are gay, don't even contemplate going there, or anywhere on the Arab peninsula for that matter.

And don't put anything vaguely detrimental about the area or the culture on social media!!

On the face of it, it seems a very relaxed and casual place, but it really isn't.

FX_Munkee · February 2019

@Snap FWIW it's not "my sort of place" either, my wife's sister lives out there and we were visiting. My "if you fancy that" was for the OP. Should have worded it better.

The apartment we rented included a maids room, which had a basic bed and no windows. The contrast between it, and the rest of the accommodation was quite sobering.

bobblehat · February 2019

Thanks all,
Its not really my cup of tea but I'm always up for a holiday.
Its my wife's choice and its her birthday so best go along!

Snap · February 2019

bobblehat said:

Thanks all,
Its not really my cup of tea but I'm always up for a holiday.
Its my wife's choice and its her birthday so best go along!

End of discussion. Pull your finger out and get it sorted!! Don't wince as you pay the bills.