dubai - talk to me
Discussion
Pretty much all bars in Dubai are in hotels due to the drinking laws there. Most of the big hotels have all you can eat (and drink) brunches on Saturday for around $100/head (based on 4 years ago when my sister lived in The Greens).
IIRC, the Emiraties tend to gather at Dubai Marina (tip. It is not a quaint little marina - more like a(nother) massive set of skyscrapers!!) on a Thursday evening to show off their super cars.
The big hotels are all pretty good and pretty much of muchness really. All you have to do is decide on what you want from the hotel. Taxis are dirt cheap so getting around isn't a problem at all.
IIRC, the Emiraties tend to gather at Dubai Marina (tip. It is not a quaint little marina - more like a(nother) massive set of skyscrapers!!) on a Thursday evening to show off their super cars.
The big hotels are all pretty good and pretty much of muchness really. All you have to do is decide on what you want from the hotel. Taxis are dirt cheap so getting around isn't a problem at all.
Creek is not the Marina, I wouldn't stay around the Creek, traffic a nightmare and it's 'old' Dubai, well as old as it gets
OP, maybe better posting in our section rather than in here, October a good time to visit, weather cooled off and humidity will have just about gone.
The brunches the secind poster mentioned are on Fridays rather than Saturdays (we work Sun-Thurs here).
Not a cheap place to come for a week on the beers but there are certainly enough places to keep you entertained for a week, everyone goes on about the binge drinking culture in the UK, not a patch on here!
Plenty of hotels to choose to suit most budgets.
OP, maybe better posting in our section rather than in here, October a good time to visit, weather cooled off and humidity will have just about gone.
The brunches the secind poster mentioned are on Fridays rather than Saturdays (we work Sun-Thurs here).
Not a cheap place to come for a week on the beers but there are certainly enough places to keep you entertained for a week, everyone goes on about the binge drinking culture in the UK, not a patch on here!
Plenty of hotels to choose to suit most budgets.
I love the Mina A Salam within the Madinat - great people, service etc (everything you would expect from a DXB Hotel).
Being in the Madinat, lots to do, bars, restaurants, shopping etc, and also access to the other Jumeriah hotels in the complex so over 30 restaurants to chose from.
As an aside, it is my Fav hotel in DXB!
Being in the Madinat, lots to do, bars, restaurants, shopping etc, and also access to the other Jumeriah hotels in the complex so over 30 restaurants to chose from.
As an aside, it is my Fav hotel in DXB!
Been to Dubai twice - once business, once holiday...and I'm not a fan.
IF you have money to spare, want 4* hotels, 4* service and are happy to pay >> London levels of prices for it, then fine.
IF you want to go swimming/snorkelling, go somewhere else - for ALL of our 5 days in Dubai there were signs saying don't go in the sea due to oil spills, and apparently this isn't unusual.
IF you want to get value for money, don't go there - the cheapest Jumeirah resorts (We stayed in the Hilton) were £200/room/night back in 2009. Nice hotels, with good service, good food (again, £££) etc. But far from cheap, and nothing that the better Mediterranean resorts don't do just as well, and the Caribbean does better.
What you will probably also get is Russians in the hotel - who tend to act like a combination of the worst British and the worst Germans on holiday. And you'll get young, monied arabs with even bigger attitudes and a sense of entitlement. You'll also find the much-vaunted 'service' dries-up quickly if you don't tip well enough...
By contrast, 18mths before we'd been in Sharm, Egypt. Weather was just as good, sea was utterly awesome, food (we were careful where we ate) was almost as good, almost as varied, and ~1/3 of the price. The 4* hotel was ~1/3 of the price. The downside here was the restaurant owners and stall/shop owners, many of whom were VERY in-your-face, and service was very variable whether you tipped or not. But if you don't go into the resort centre, you don't get the hassle. Even if prices were the same, we'd go back to Egypt first for the water/snorkelling alone.
If it was me looking for that sort of holiday in October, I'd be looking Caribbean/Seychelles/Cape Verde if I had the money, or Canaries if I was working to a budget. Probably wouldn't look at Egypt if I wasn't into snorkelling...
IF you have money to spare, want 4* hotels, 4* service and are happy to pay >> London levels of prices for it, then fine.
IF you want to go swimming/snorkelling, go somewhere else - for ALL of our 5 days in Dubai there were signs saying don't go in the sea due to oil spills, and apparently this isn't unusual.
IF you want to get value for money, don't go there - the cheapest Jumeirah resorts (We stayed in the Hilton) were £200/room/night back in 2009. Nice hotels, with good service, good food (again, £££) etc. But far from cheap, and nothing that the better Mediterranean resorts don't do just as well, and the Caribbean does better.
What you will probably also get is Russians in the hotel - who tend to act like a combination of the worst British and the worst Germans on holiday. And you'll get young, monied arabs with even bigger attitudes and a sense of entitlement. You'll also find the much-vaunted 'service' dries-up quickly if you don't tip well enough...
By contrast, 18mths before we'd been in Sharm, Egypt. Weather was just as good, sea was utterly awesome, food (we were careful where we ate) was almost as good, almost as varied, and ~1/3 of the price. The 4* hotel was ~1/3 of the price. The downside here was the restaurant owners and stall/shop owners, many of whom were VERY in-your-face, and service was very variable whether you tipped or not. But if you don't go into the resort centre, you don't get the hassle. Even if prices were the same, we'd go back to Egypt first for the water/snorkelling alone.
If it was me looking for that sort of holiday in October, I'd be looking Caribbean/Seychelles/Cape Verde if I had the money, or Canaries if I was working to a budget. Probably wouldn't look at Egypt if I wasn't into snorkelling...
I used to have to go to Dubai fairly often, it is a horrible place, and one of the last places I would go with a mate for a week, and at last there appears to be some sort of publicity around what can happen to you for doing things that are perfectly legal in the West. rethink and don't go there.
Berw said:
I used to have to go to Dubai fairly often, it is a horrible place, and one of the last places I would go with a mate for a week, and at last there appears to be some sort of publicity around what can happen to you for doing things that are perfectly legal in the West. rethink and don't go there.
I travel a lot on business to Dubai and it's one f
ked-up society if ever there was one.Personally I'd spend my own money elsewhere, if you want to sit on a beach most days, drink in the hotel (aside from the 'Irish Bar' by the track) then great.
Certainly not a holiday destination unless you're a WAGG or Chav!
I must admit I've never 'got' Dubai. We've had connecting flights there several times and once considered 2/3 nights just to cross it off but somewhere remotely decent cost more than our final destination(s) so never bothered.
Always seemed a bit like Vegas but without the casinos, strip clubs and bars etc to me. I Hate shopping also.
Always seemed a bit like Vegas but without the casinos, strip clubs and bars etc to me. I Hate shopping also.
Interesting bit on the web pages of the dailies today, Foreign Office advising tourists that possession of alcohol in UAE is illegal, I know they don't enforce it but drinking even in the hotels is actually illegal. OK you have brandy after dinner, stay in hotel no real danger, but going there with a mate? have a few drinks go outside and you don't know what can happen.
Berw said:
I used to have to go to Dubai fairly often, it is a horrible place, and one of the last places I would go with a mate for a week, and at last there appears to be some sort of publicity around what can happen to you for doing things that are perfectly legal in the West. rethink and don't go there.
Well if you are a woman, you can also (a) get raped in Dubai (b) end up in jail yourself, due to being the victim of rape. This has happened more than once. Not just short periods in jail either. Months.
creampuff said:
Well if you are a woman, you can also (a) get raped in Dubai (b) end up in jail yourself, due to being the victim of rape.
This has happened more than once. Not just short periods in jail either. Months.
I've lived in Dubai for almost 5 years now, and love it. My wife loves it, and my son also seems to enjoy his lifestyle here. I've been p!ssed more times than I can count, and have never been arrested. My wife has never been raped, or been put in jail either.This has happened more than once. Not just short periods in jail either. Months.
Did you hear about those 4 guys from Guildford who spent years and years in prison in theUK for something they didn't do? Feck that, never stepping foot in theUK ever again, as I might go to prison for nothing.
Pathetic argument mate.
Chilli said:
Did you hear about those 4 guys from Guildford who spent years and years in prison in theUK for something they didn't do? Feck that, never stepping foot in theUK ever
Yes, their convictions for pub bombings were eventually overturned. It seems in that case, innocent people were sent to prison. Very regrettable, but something which could happen anywhere including the United Arab Emirates. On the other hand, I welcome any examples of free secular democracies where women get thrown in jail after they have been the victims of rape. You and your families personal experience is irrelevant. Most people don't get raped. It is what happens when it does happen that is important.
I have more respect for fundamentalist religions states (of any faith) or totalitarian states that don't pretend to be anything other than dictatorships who throw whoever they fell like in jail than some place like Dubai who like to pretend that they are civilised and developed but really have laws from the dark age which they enforce when they feel like it against the victims of crime rather than the criminals.
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