Dubai - things to do?

[Bullett]

He drove to the top of the palm and there it was.

It was very very busy. I thin, it being a destination in its own right is both its strength and weakness. We would not stay there after our experience.
Depends on what you want though. If you want to spend all day everyday in the water park go for it, if you want to chill out, avoid.

[Blown2CV]

is dubai not just a kind of a) shopping or b) sit down by a swimming pool kind of place?

[Bullett]

There is a lot of that yes.
Other stuff to do listed in the thread.

[Blown2CV]

Bullett said:

There is a lot of that yes.
Other stuff to do listed in the thread.

well given that it's only just run to it's second page i'd imagine i'm not far off the mark.

[Kudos]

Blown2CV said:

is dubai not just a kind of a) shopping or b) sit down by a swimming pool kind of place?

Yes. We go 3-4 times per year and rarely leave the resort (Mina A Salam)

[ali355]

Planning a 4/5 night stay in late March next year- will have a 4 year old with us, would people recommend a hire car or can you rely on taxis etc? Would be staying in Dubai but want to check out the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.

[anonymous-user]

ali355 said:

Planning a 4/5 night stay in late March next year- will have a 4 year old with us, would people recommend a hire car or can you rely on taxis etc? Would be staying in Dubai but want to check out the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.

I really wouldn't fancy driving in Dubai. It looks mental from the back of a cab.

In general cabs are pretty cheap and plentiful and if staying at a hotel you could probably get a hotel car for the day for a vaguely reasonable price

[IIIRestorerIII]

Mr Trophy said:

Haven't been in a few years, but been in twice and absolutely loved it each time!

http://www.restaurants.dubai.hyatt.com/restaurants...

Visited this with the other half last month. We did not really rate the selection and quality of the buffet. I mean compared to BBQ Delights in JBR for example this was very poor.

Maybe we went too late in the evening. The restaurant did not rotate a full 360 either, we got a few swings back and forth but mostly over the dark sea.

[Trax]

SignalGruen said:

How did you find the Atlantis OP ? Missus wants to spend a few nights there over Christmas - I hear it's a busy place and I assume it's going to be rammed over the holidays ?

Sorry for the late reply. We didn’t find it too busy at all, mind you, going for two weeks meant we didn’t have to try and fit everything it at once, so could take everything in at a slow pace. The 'open to all' areas can get busy, but the pool areas were never busy, and the restaurants were also not busy. The waterpark can get busier late morning onwards, but you can go early, come back to chill for a bit, then go back later.

Whether its because November is a quiet time, I don’t know, but we did not find any of the negative stuff that gets put on Tripadvisor, though them reports are usually from people who never stayed there.

For the added luxury, book a suit. You get room service breakfast, and the happy hour drinks (free drinks in the Imperial Lounge), can be taken in some of the good restaurants rather than the lounge. Depends how much extra that is, and I guess if your only going for a few days, a smaller room is more manageable anyway.

[Truckosaurus]

Trax said:

...For the added luxury, book a suit...

[anonymous-user]

We went and stayed in a villa at the Madinat. It was horrific. What a soulless, chintzy, nasty place, which was full of chavs, one or two things to do, but otherwise boring in the extreme. We had a yacht for a day - nothing to see except sewage and jelly fish. It takes a certain type of person to enjoy Dubai, and that ain't me/us.

[AB]

Trax said:

Sorry for the late reply. We didn’t find it too busy at all, mind you, going for two weeks meant we didn’t have to try and fit everything it at once, so could take everything in at a slow pace. The 'open to all' areas can get busy, but the pool areas were never busy, and the restaurants were also not busy. The waterpark can get busier late morning onwards, but you can go early, come back to chill for a bit, then go back later.

Whether its because November is a quiet time, I don’t know, but we did not find any of the negative stuff that gets put on Tripadvisor, though them reports are usually from people who never stayed there.

For the added luxury, book a suit. You get room service breakfast, and the happy hour drinks (free drinks in the Imperial Lounge), can be taken in some of the good restaurants rather than the lounge. Depends how much extra that is, and I guess if your only going for a few days, a smaller room is more manageable anyway.

I found the waterpark a bit cold, and dirty looking, and actually pretty empty for most of the time during November.

[Corpulent Tosser]

had ham said:

We went and stayed in a villa at the Madinat. It was horrific. What a soulless, chintzy, nasty place, which was full of chavs, one or two things to do, but otherwise boring in the extreme. We had a yacht for a day - nothing to see except sewage and jelly fish. It takes a certain type of person to enjoy Dubai, and that ain't me/us.

Did you visit the autodrome, drive a single seater ?
Go to the old town, visit the museum, wander round the souks, the smells in the spice souk are amazing.
Dune buggy driving ?
Overnight in the desert ?
Sunset dinner cruise ?
Friday Brunch ?
Visit some of the many parks ?
Eat at one of the many restaurants
Drink at one of the many overpriced bars ?

There are places I like more than Dubai but I have been to Dubai many times as my daughter used to live there, and I never found it boring, I guess I must be that certain type of person.

[anonymous-user]

Corpulent Tosser said:

Did you visit the autodrome, drive a single seater ?
Go to the old town, visit the museum, wander round the souks, the smells in the spice souk are amazing.
Dune buggy driving ?
Overnight in the desert ?
Sunset dinner cruise ?
Friday Brunch ?
Visit some of the many parks ?
Eat at one of the many restaurants
Drink at one of the many overpriced bars ?

There are places I like more than Dubai but I have been to Dubai many times as my daughter used to live there, and I never found it boring, I guess I must be that certain type of person.

So here we go...

Did you visit the autodrome, drive a single seater ? No, but then, do that here
Go to the old town, visit the museum, wander round the souks, the smells in the spice souk are amazing. Yes, compared to other places, it's very artificial/boring..
Dune buggy driving ? Yup, st, far better places elsehwere.
Overnight in the desert ? Nope, but did that in Morocco.
Sunset dinner cruise ? It's Dubai, so, no.
Friday Brunch ? Yes, try Singapore or Honkers, a million miles better.
Visit some of the many parks ? No, don't do chav.
Eat at one of the many restaurants Yes, not great.
Drink at one of the many overpriced bars ? $480 in a bar somewhere in the Madinat (I was very pissed) according to my bill..

Not a nice place...

[shirt]

Life is what you make of it, so are your holidays.

Me, i'm trying to work out what there is to do in the uk during xmas/winter. Not much tbh! calling dubai 'chav' when the uk takes the blue fking ribband in that event is quite amusing.

[AB]

had ham said:

So here we go...

Did you visit the autodrome, drive a single seater ? No, but then, do that here
Go to the old town, visit the museum, wander round the souks, the smells in the spice souk are amazing. Yes, compared to other places, it's very artificial/boring..
Dune buggy driving ? Yup, st, far better places elsehwere.
Overnight in the desert ? Nope, but did that in Morocco.
Sunset dinner cruise ? It's Dubai, so, no.
Friday Brunch ? Yes, try Singapore or Honkers, a million miles better.
Visit some of the many parks ? No, don't do chav.
Eat at one of the many restaurants Yes, not great.
Drink at one of the many overpriced bars ? $480 in a bar somewhere in the Madinat (I was very pissed) according to my bill..

Not a nice place...

Where do you holiday and why?

[Corpulent Tosser]

had ham said:

Corpulent Tosser said:

Did you visit the autodrome, drive a single seater ?
Go to the old town, visit the museum, wander round the souks, the smells in the spice souk are amazing.
Dune buggy driving ?
Overnight in the desert ?
Sunset dinner cruise ?
Friday Brunch ?
Visit some of the many parks ?
Eat at one of the many restaurants
Drink at one of the many overpriced bars ?

There are places I like more than Dubai but I have been to Dubai many times as my daughter used to live there, and I never found it boring, I guess I must be that certain type of person.

So here we go...

Did you visit the autodrome, drive a single seater ? No, but then, do that here
Go to the old town, visit the museum, wander round the souks, the smells in the spice souk are amazing. Yes, compared to other places, it's very artificial/boring..
Dune buggy driving ? Yup, st, far better places elsehwere.
Overnight in the desert ? Nope, but did that in Morocco.
Sunset dinner cruise ? It's Dubai, so, no.
Friday Brunch ? Yes, try Singapore or Honkers, a million miles better.
Visit some of the many parks ? No, don't do chav.
Eat at one of the many restaurants Yes, not great.
Drink at one of the many overpriced bars ? $480 in a bar somewhere in the Madinat (I was very pissed) according to my bill..

Not a nice place...

So you didn't like it much then ?

As I said it is not my favourite place and not a first choice but I found plenty to do and was not bored any time there.

[Blown2CV]

There's plenty to do in a Majorca all inclusive too, just depends whether it's the stuff you want or not

[Guffy]

Markytop said:

Petrus1983 said:

We've just booked to go in April and have opted for the Raffles Dubai. Does anyone have any experience of this hotel as even with a nice room and the lounge access the price seemed very (too?) good. It's done with booking.com so I can always switch.

Have stayed at Raffles the last few times I have been to Dubai - possibly the greatest service from the staff in any hotel I have visited. They have that balance of being really helpful and friendly but not being over the top.
Location is good also for the hop-on/hop-off bus tours that all start and finish in the shopping mall next door. Also only a couple of min walk from the Metro station, so easy enough to jump on that to get to places.

We have stayed a week at Raffles last month and a week at the Atlantis last year, we preferred the Raffles, more intimate superb service, just not the wow factor for the Atlantis.

Having said that, i don't particularly like Dubai, but the wife does and it's a safe bet weather wise, i just don't think it has much depth to it and i don't believe it's good value for money, Vegas for me

[anonymous-user]

Corpulent Tosser said:

So you didn't like it much then ?

As I said it is not my favourite place and not a first choice but I found plenty to do and was not bored any time there.

Please don't take any of what I said as an insult, it certainly wasn't intended that way - I just thought the place was horrific. We stayed in a villa on the Madinat, with a butler, etc, etc. Service was wonderful, but it's utterly, utterly soulless, and by God, do they make you pay for it. A holiday destination for the 'Hello' crowd with very limited imagination.

And for AB, we holiday in lots of places, but if you want luxury to the same degree as Dubai, but with a whole lot more feeling and sincerity, try S.E.Asia - Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and a few others, all offer a hugely more enjoyable experience, often for a whole lot less.. (and the food is a million times better!)..