Inside Dubai - Playground of the rich

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Inside Dubai - Playground of the rich on BBC2, not sure if its a repeat or something new.

Anyone watched it? Anyone just think WTF?!?!?!

[Mark V GTD]

I did - and it certainly had more than its fair share of WTF moments. The private jet scene probably being the most stand out.

[LeadFarmer]

I've never really had any interest in going to Dubai, everything about it seems so false. Watching the bit about the hotel guy needing to snap that vital photo for Instagram of the floating balloon bear thing confirmed this. Seems like a Mecca for Youtube millionaires who need to gloat.

[thebraketester]

LeadFarmer said:

I've never really had any interest in going to Dubai, everything about it seems so false. Watching the bit about the hotel guy needing to snap that vital photo for Instagram of the floating balloon bear thing confirmed this. Seems like a Mecca for Youtube millionaires who need to gloat.

It's an interesting place to visit, but I wouldn't pay to go there.

[MitchT]

Watched some of it. Expected to feel nauseous watching some trophy bint showing us her shoe collection that cost more than I could afford to pay for a house, but actually I just found myself gazing wistfully at the TV thinking "my god it looks warm" and wishing I could go and live there!

I do think Dubai is somewhat mis-sold. We're led to believe we could move there and that opportunities are so abundant we can all be living in a detached villa with a pool and driving a chrome wrapped Lamborghini in no time. In reality you need to be rich already. My profession pays about the same as it does here so I'd need to commute in from somewhere I could afford the housing... like Iraq!

[MattyD803]

LeadFarmer said:

I've never really had any interest in going to Dubai, everything about it seems so false. Watching the bit about the hotel guy needing to snap that vital photo for Instagram of the floating balloon bear thing confirmed this. Seems like a Mecca for Youtube millionaires who need to gloat.

I too have always wondered about the draw of Dubai....an obviously wealthy and modern city but ultimately completely false with minimal history & character built in the middle of the desert, full of 4 lane highways & high end shops, orchestrated under a religion/culture that is quite unwelcoming to many.

As an engineer, i'd love to see & experience the tall buildings, maybe have a nice meal or two.....but I certainly don't fancy sitting on a fake beach in 40-50 degree heat, nor do I wish to spend copious amounts of cash on high end brands, most of which are available within 30 mins drive of my house. The same applies if I wish to watch Ferraris, Lamborghini's and Bentley's tearing about. It doesn't appear remotely from a 'holiday' perspective, yet I know of many who have done so & have loved the place.

The majority of my views are all effectively formed from watching TV and documentaries about the place....and speaking to friends and family who have been on holiday and worked there.....but perhaps I am missing something? Is it one of those places that you only 'get' when you arrive?

Edited by MattyD803 on Thursday 6th January 09:10

[pincher]

My ex-neighbours moved out there last year - don't think things have gone particularly brilliantly for him business-wise since they got there and they were living in a tower block that had no end of problems and they were forced to move. They also have a young son who used to bomb round their garden for hours on end, happy as Larry - not so many opportunities to do that 30-something storeys up.

They were home at Christmas and popped by to pick some stuff up that had been delivered to their old house - he is relentlessly optimistic and thinks it will all be OK in the end but she looked rather sad and unhappy and has said that if it's not working in another 6 months or so, then they should come back home.

Also got the impression that Westerners are viewed with some disdain and treated differently to locals. Everything (groceries etc) is very expensive as well. But in fairness, they might have been talking about items that they would normally buy at home, so probably not that much of a surprise.

I think the reality is rather different from the fantasy.

Edited by pincher on Thursday 6th January 09:12

[Chicken Chaser]

My mate lives out there with his wife and loves it. He doesn't have kids but he's always out wining and dining. He works in property out there but doesn't have a pool or a Lambo

[NorthDave]

I have mixed feelings about Dubai. I go very regularly for work so probably spend a month or two a year there - sometimes staying in big houses and sometimes hotels.

There is definitely a very materialistic culture there but it also has a great good scene. You can get a really wide variety of food there and it can be quite cheap. It can also be ludicrously expensive, it all depends on where you are eating.

I quite like the warmth and I don't mind exploring but I couldn't live there I don't think unless I was earning an absolute fortune.

Someone once told me that everyone who isn't local should feel like a guest which makes sense. Law enforcement will assume you are in the wrong if it comes down to a choice between you and a local for instance.

[pquinn]

Sounds like it's basically Monaco with more sand, more heat and a very slightly different class of occupant.

[okgo]

I think the whole show was full of utter bullst tbh.

My mind was made up when that fat english bloke who ran the property boiler room told us about the bloke who allegedly had made 250k in 3 months. The camera then cut to his Rolex, which looked fake on glance but then ticked...

Load of st. Full of s too by the look of it. NOTHING like Monaco I would say, they don't let many people in that used to work in Morrisons...

[MattyD803]

pquinn said:

Sounds like it's basically Monaco with more sand, more heat and a very slightly different class of occupant.

Except i'd want to visit Monaco to see the track, the hotels, the harbour, the architecture and the shear (classic) flamboyance of the place, and take the opportunity to also visit local beaches and enjoy local roads/mountainous terrain.

Literally NONE of that applies to Dubai.

[hyphen]

LeadFarmer said:

I've never really had any interest in going to Dubai, everything about it seems so false. Watching the bit about the hotel guy needing to snap that vital photo for Instagram of the floating balloon bear thing confirmed this. Seems like a Mecca for Youtube millionaires who need to gloat.

I think Dubai do cheap deals? And those type of instagrammers need guaranteed sun as they need to pist regular pics of their plastic bodies in bikinis, as that what the 9-5 drones look at to distract themselves from their own dull commute.

Its also a destination for European gangsters after they have to flee Costa Del Sol. Which is odd as Dubair crime laws are harsh.

[droopsnoot]

I watched that, some awkward bits there such as when the rich teen went to pick up his Rolls in that "unique" blue wrap only to find that the wrapper had done his own car in the same colour wrap. And there was something "off" about the lady from Stoke, the way she kept showing us books by the Sheikh and telling us how great they were, almost as if she didn't dare say anything else. All her staff said how nice she was, but even that came across as a bit suspicious.

[768]

MattyD803 said:

Except i'd want to visit Monaco to see the track, the hotels, the harbour, the architecture and the shear (classic) flamboyance of the place, and take the opportunity to also visit local beaches and enjoy local roads/mountainous terrain.

Literally NONE of that applies to Dubai.

I can't think of many better reasons to visit the emirates other than the track, the hotels, the harbour, the architecture, the sheer flamboyance of the place and the mountains.

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droopsnoot said:

I watched that, some awkward bits there such as when the rich teen went to pick up his Rolls in that "unique" blue wrap only to find that the wrapper had done his own car in the same colour wrap. And there was something "off" about the lady from Stoke, the way she kept showing us books by the Sheikh and telling us how great they were, almost as if she didn't dare say anything else. All her staff said how nice she was, but even that came across as a bit suspicious.

I totally agree with you. Something quite suspicious there where she's covering her ass.

Also, did I hear on that show that she was paying her servants a measley £300 per month or was that something else? If so, what a tight git.

[glawster]

I watched this presuming that it would be a follow up to the Monaco one last year, interviewing a range of people some interesting, some completely ridiculous. However all the people were just so unlikeable, it turned into a bit of a hate watch. (I’m excluding the hotel and Filipino domestic staff from that statement)

Did you note that we never saw the husband of private jet lady, as he kept a very low profile in the other car with his younger child on the way to the airport – smart move methinks!

[willy wombat]

I worked in Dubai in 1979 and have loved the place ever since. We go for a week or so once or twice a year for the weather. It also helps that it’s a very safe and secure place to visit. I didn’t think much of the TV programme (I’ve only watched the first episode) and anyone who thinks the the Atlantis on the Palm is the height of Dubai luxury is totally misinformed. Went there once for dinner when it opened to see what it is like and haven’t been back since.

[Nurburgsingh]

I watched until the expat woman went over the top to make sure that she got across the point that her and her husband pay their help more than the national minimum.... bks do ya!


I will add that I've visited Dubai a few times, normally as a weekend stop over on the way back from HK, and its great, and by that I mean its exactly what I want it to be, a place where I don't worry if the girls go off shopping / exploring on their own and its hot.

[hyphen]

Nurburgsingh said:

I watched until the expat woman went over the top to make sure that she got across the point that her and her husband pay their help more than the national minimum.... bks do ya!


I will add that I've visited Dubai a few times, normally as a weekend stop over on the way back from HK, and its great, and by that I mean its exactly what I want it to be, a place where I don't worry if the girls go off shopping / exploring on their own and its hot.

How many wives have you got then Sheikh Nurburg?