Reply With QuoteThere was a thread re. Dubai a few months ago.
Basically it's an expensive **ithole.
All, we are heading off to Dubai for a few days before we embark on a cruise around the Arabian Gulf.
Staying at the Anantara The Palm.
Any must 'do's' ?
I understand drinks prices are a little eye watering?
TIA
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
There was a thread re. Dubai a few months ago.
Basically it's an expensive **ithole.
Burj Khalifa fountains after dark are pretty impressive.As is the indoor aquarium In The shopping centre.Nice beaches and swimming at the hotels .Take a boat taxi to the old markets and yes Your wallet will be raped when You go drinking...£8.43 a pint of Guinness in McGettigans
Skiing in the mall is good fun. Pretty cheap too.
The desert experience is very good about 150 USD I recall - takes about half a day. For the fountains go to atmosphere which has a minimum spend (although we only bought a glass of wine each) costs less and more relaxing than the observation floor.
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I can heartily recommend , NOT ! visiting Dubai.
It is a dirty filthy place, please avoid at all cost.
I work there occasionally but I would never holiday there. Utter filth.
PM.
Desert sundowner safari (as mentioned) is my No.1 recommendation, play Lawrence of Arabia for a few hours
No.2 up the Burj Khalifa tower.
And ignore the critics! Fabulous vacation spot.
Really really helpful , Im sure the OP will be grateful .Originally Posted by PaulM
Honestly, why bother?
If you are there on a Friday check out the brunch at your hotel.
Deira old town and souk are worth a visit. Just because it’s a nice contrast to sky scrapers.
As others have said, visit the burj it’s worth a trip to the top. Best time to go is probably around sunset that way you can see day and night.
The marina has some reasonable restaurants. If you’re in the palm and happen to like water parks. Atlantis is okay. The restaurants in the hotel are Wallet rapists.
Keep your eyes peeled around sheikh zayed road. Bound to see some super cars, same at the entrance to malls.
There’s a Rolex boutique in mall of the emirates. Bound to spot some 18K gold monstrosities in there.
Everything is expensive apart from petrol but nothing you won’t be prepared for if you are on a cruise round the Gulf.
Lots of good suggestions already. I’d add:
1. Jumeirah Mosque. For non-Muslims a chance to spend time in a mosque and have Islam explained in a down to earth, hospitable and sometimes unintentionally funny way.
2. Bear in mind the fountains at the Dubai Mall only last 5 minutes and happen every half an hour or so in the evening, so don’t base your whole visit there around them. We sat in the Zeta Bar in The Address Downtown hotel which was very nice.
3. See if you can get on a boat tour around the Marina area especially in the evening/sunset.
4. If you go to Deira the Dubai Museum is pretty basic but we found it quite interesting to actually understand the history of the place.
5. Personally I thought the Burj Khalifa was a real highlight and while pricy they put a lot of effort into the experience IMHO.
6. The Sky Bar at the Burj al Arab is certainly an experience. Nice once you are in, exceptional drinks and food, but felt a bit more like a tourist attraction than a great bar. Some very nice watch shops in the hotel lobby (window shopping only for me :)).
7. If you like driving you can hire a car (some American muscle maybe) and drive to Hatta Dam about 2 hours away on the motorway through the desert. A small reservoir in picturesque and quite dramatic hills. Once you are there you can hike around the hills but we just hired a pedalo with some friends and mucked about for a bit before having lunch nearby.
The whole place is fake in many ways but that is the point in a way - just enjoy the beaches, restaurants and sights for what they are.
Just got back from Saigon yesterday where I was generally paying 75p for a bottled beer in bars/restaurants, and no more than £2 for the same in the coolest rooftop sky bars.
Not knocking Dubai, but there are oh so many better (and significantly cheaper) cities with amazing food and culture.
The international buffet at The Jumeirah Beach Hotel is very good, then head to the roof bar or the bar at the end of the marina for night caps.
We went with friends and managed to charter a 50ft Sunseeker for 2 hours one afternoon which took us around the Palm and back. This really made our trip. We also hired some Jet ski's one morning and went out to the rear of Burj Al Arab.
The desert 4x4 experience was good fun. You will have the Atlantis water park near to you but the Wild Wadi on Jumeirah is also good.
As has been mentioned head over the creek to the old markets to buy some spices (your home made curry's will never be the same) and do the Burj and fountains at night.
Have a good time.
Agree that it cannot be a favourite hoilday destination, but sometime you have to go there for work.
I remember two of the several restaurants me and some colleagues went to, when there in a conference.
One was a japanese restaurant called Zuma , high class and high cost. They have also a nice wine-alcohol bar were smoking is allowed in a section. The other was an armenian called Mayrig, fabulous grilled fish and meat, very close to the fountains.
Accept Dubai for what it is and enjoy the experience. I visit their three or four times each year for work.
Whilst not exactly my favourite destination (hello Cape Town, hello Beirut), neither is it the worst.
If I had a couple of days I would do the following:
Head to the Mall of the Emirates and have a go at skiing
Head to Dubai Mall and enjoy the aquarium, then go to one of the upper floors and sit outside in the evening to watch the fountain display and the illumination of the Burj Khalifa.
Visit the Burj Khalifa itself - but book tickets in advance.
Head to the souk and buy spices
Head out of an evening to the Jumeirah Beach and take a walk along the promenade and watch the sun go down
Eat in some of the fantastic restaurants, making sure to include a shisha bar
Go everywhere either using the Dubai Metro or Uber
I've gone to Dubai lots for work and always extend my stay, it's a great place
If you're going with you partner then I definitely recommend Afternoon Tea at the Burj Khalifa. Not cheap (around £100 per head), but a great, unrushed experience. Went there with my wife in April and we were there for three hours. The service was perfect and the food was lovely. We don't drink alcohol so they had a range of drinks for us, made specially with what we like. The waiter (Tariq) too time to understand what we preferred and adjusted the menu and drinks accordingly throughout the afternoon. We would definitely go again.
The Desert Safari is a good way to spend an afternoon (take a jumper too as it gets cold in the evening out in the desert!) and the Yellow Boat ride from the Marina was well worth it too. There's a discount book/App called The Entertainer which may be worth investing in too
Have fun!
200 sovs for a few sarnies, cakes and cups of tea. That’s just taking the p1ss.
Was there in October for a week. Stuff we did, most of which has been mentioned, is:
Atlantis Hotel aquarium
Dubai Mall - huge, and loads of watch shops. Also another large fish tank/window.
Dinner at resturant outside mall in evening beside watched watershed and also to watch the light show on Burj Kalifa
Walk along the Marina
Walk along the The Walk - restaurants and beach front
Top of the Burj (I wasn’t actually that blown away by this. Most interesting bit was watching the making of a Mission Impossible Film on the tv screens as we waited for the lift. Tom Cruise has got a pair for the stunts he does himself!)
Beach and sea swimming
The desert evening which was worth it with off road driving, sand surfing (rubbish!), birds of prey, camel rides, belly dance show and meal.
Overall I found the food a bit disappointing albeit always good service. Black Tap down by The Walk was great for the kids having a good burger whilst you can have a £9 (eek) pint of Brewdog. Not that many restaurants we ate in were licensed. Taxis are dirt cheap. I would just hail one rather than bother with the metro or Uber. We stayed on the Palm too and was less than a fiver for 4 of us to get to the marina/Walk area.
Good advice.
As already mentioned
Tea at the Burj Al Arab
Burj Khalifa
Desert Safari
Camel Racing
Dubai Mall
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Church? ......oh........
Avoid the Savoy then...
It was much more than that, with a main hot course provided. However I accept it is not for everyone. We went for the whole experience and we would have probably been charged close to that for the drinks alone at many high end bars.
Many upmarket hotel restaurants in the world have an afternoon tea, but this one was good value for me for the experience and I'd do it again.
Take your pick.
https://saintmarysdubai.org
http://holytrinitychurchdubai.org/
http://www.uccdubai.com/
Last edited by willie_gunn; 26th January 2019 at 07:47.
Why? It’s a much more reasonable £130.
£130 for tea, sangers and cake reasonable??? None of the prices are 'resonable' because its an experience not a meal...
However the alcohol free afternoon tea at the Atmosphere Burj Khalifa is AED 328 @ ~£67 a bargain.
I assume the other poster was referring to the high teas including roast or fish of the day
~£104 = AED 503 per person including Sparkling Wine (window table)
~£88 = AED 430 per person including Sparkling Wine (non-window table)
~£136 = AED 664 per person including Champagne
http://www.atmosphereburjkhalifa.com/high-tea-menu.pdf
https://www.menumodo.com/app.php/vie...lang=en&tags=b
I’d second this, I only see it as a stop off to an onward journey to the Maldives.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but as ****holes go I’ve seen worse.
Honestly it sounds like a vast overpriced and unsustainable shopping centre, created for vanity and built on the backs of slave labour, wild horses couldn't get me there.
How was the trip in the end Chris?
Bit of a rollercoaster thread re opinions but I'm trying to find a summer holiday so doing some thread hunting.
If you mean British summer, Dubai isn’t somewhere to go. It would be in the 40’s then! I like it in September/October time as it’s still warm (high 20’s/early 30’s) but they humidity is also gone at that point too.
Cor I'd want a turn on Mia Khalifa for that sort of money, then a restorative cup of tea.
As soon as I hit send I did think about all the UAE cars in London in the summer because it’s too hot over there. Wrong time of year! Thanks for the reply. Off to hunt a few more threads.
Best description I have heard is a dog turd rolled in gold.
Comes firmly at my least places I ever want to visit, firmly behind Iraq.
Be careful when returning back to your hotel at peak times, the queue for a taxi was an hour long at Dubai Mall.
When walking/crossing on pavements/roads cars do not seem to wait for pedestrians. People also seem to drive quite fast.
We as family enjoyed Dubai, Atlantis water park being the highlight for my children.
I can wholeheartedly recommend Oman as a more culturally rich experience if heading to this part of the world.
Sorry, can’t help as it’s changed a fair bit since I was last there in 1978…. This was Dubai at the time. The sea is on the left, just out of shot..
My itinerary suggestion - carry on flying another 6 hours to Vietnam.
Got to love it when miserable old blokes kick off!
Dubai is what it is - very brash and 'in your face' for sure. There is a lot of money out there and it is on show.
Some great experiences to be had (including shopping if that is your bag) food and drinks are expensive for sure (as are other places around the world).
We enjoyed it, we have been again and will be spending a couple of days there again in November en-route to India. The Atlantis is an amazing hotel with fabulous food. Had a hoot going dune bashing in a Toyota Landcruiser and the water park was fabulous. It's not for everybody.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Glad you enjoyed it. That is all that matters.
Was there about 15 years ago
4 guys and had an amazing time.
I do believe alcohol is prohibitively expensive now so the partying would be rather expensive.
Not sure I'd go back now but glad I went before it got so in your face.
I lived there 2006-2015 and 5 years in Abu Dhabi before that and loved every minute of it. Might be a bit out of date and forgive me for any repetition as I haven’t read all the replies above.
Two top things for me for visitors were desert safari (find bashing). Arabian adventures were my preferred one but again might be a bit out of date.
Then down the creek for the spice souk and crossing in the Abras. The museum down there was always worth a visit if only to get out of the heat
Satwa to visit Ravi’s for a meal.
The Madinat was always fun for cocktails at Trader Vic’s.
Barasti bar fpr sundowners
Malls for mall things. Malls not my cup of tea but Ski Dubai was always fun just to say done it.
And the last week I was there we finally went to the burj al Arab viewing experience and it was good too. Fountains at the bottom to music in the evening worth it too.
Not overly familiar with the palm but Atlantis good for brunch.
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Just read up and saw it was an old thread! Never mind.
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