Dubai holiday - recommendations

[jay0101]

Im thinking of going to Dubai for a week end of July/beginning August

I was looking at staying in the Shangri-La Dubai, but having been on trip advisor, expedia etc and read the reviews im concerned about the location, in that it may be too far out from the shopping malls/restaurants/nightlife etc

can anyone recommend a good hotel that is close (preferably within walking distance/a short taxi ride) of the main bar/restaurant/shop district? or where the best area to look into staying with this in mind is?

also what is the nightlife like out there? is there any?! i believe ramadan is September this year..is that correct?

I have done a search but nothing really relevant came up

i have also put this in TP&P

TIA

Edited by jay0101 on Monday 30th June 17:51

[jay0101]

yorky500 said:

End of July/beginning of August will fine and Ramadan will have NO effect on you.

As oily said, Dubai's shopping Malls and bars/restaurants are very spread out. Lots of nightclubs/bars etc to be found as they are all based in Hotels. Shangri-la is pretty well placed on Sheik Zaid Road (hope this is the one!). Lots of bars and clubs along the very same road although you may not want to be walking very far in the heat. I think the Shangri-la would be ideal to be honest although it does not have access to the beach. Shopping Malls such as Mall of Emirates, Burjaman, City centre, Mercato etc are pretty much within a 30min or less taxi ride away.

There is very little to see here in Dubai in terms of architecture/history/culture. Lots of shopping which is good/bad depending on your point of view. Also, Dubai Summer Suprises is on, which means summer sales everywhere.

What are you looking to do when here?

jay0101 said:

Im thinking of going to Dubai for a week end of July/beginning August

I was looking at staying in the Shangri-La Dubai, but having been on trip advisor, expedia etc and read the reviews im concerned about the location, in that it may be too far out from the shopping malls/restaurants/nightlife etc

can anyone recommend a good hotel that is close (preferably within walking distance/a short taxi ride) of the main bar/restaurant/shop district? or where the best area to look into staying with this in mind is?

also what is the nightlife like out there? is there any?! i believe ramadan is September this year..is that correct?

I have done a search but nothing really relevant came up

i have also put this in TP&P

TIA

Edited by jay0101 on Monday 30th June 17:51

I have posted this in TP&P also and the concensus there seems to be that the best place to base ourselves in order to be close to bars/restaurant etc is a hotel on Jumeirah Beach or the Marina, would you agree with this?

With this in mind we are now looking at staying in either the Sheraton Jumeirah Beach or the Habtoor Hotel on the marina as i believe there a quite a few bars and restaurants around that area and although we are unlikely to use the beach being close to it is a bonus.

When we are out there we will definately want to go onto the sand dunes in the Landcruisers and also go karting provided the heat allows!

Any other suggestions as to things to do gratefully received!

I have heard that the nightclubs/bars in the hotels generally shut at around midnight, do you know if this is correct?

Thanks again

edited for typo

Edited by jay0101 on Tuesday 1st July 14:38

[jay0101]

I understand that the nightclubs in Dubai are in the big hotels, can you get into these even if you are not staying in that hotel? Are they open quite late i.e 2am or does everything close quite early out there?

I am going to hire a car whilst there, as looking on the internet the prices are very reasonable and it will be handy to have our own transport given the heat (currently sorting an International driving permit). Is it possible/safe to drive to some of the other emirates, particularly Abu Dhabi and Sharjah and also Al Ain if the go karting is good! Are these long/difficult journeys? i have googled it and it appears DXB-AUH is about 120kms or an hour and a half, do you think this is accurate? what is the traffic like? i can imagine the roads are good!

I wouldn't say i was a serious karter, but i go regularly in the UK and have been doing it for years, so will def go a couple of times when out there, will also give the indoor ski slope ago aswell!

from the internet it appears that there are lots of options watersports wise, can you recommend any inparticular that are worth doing?

thanks for your help, sorry for the number of q's!

[j1]

thanks for that, will give sharjah a miss then! will try and get to Fujeirah and Ras Al Khaimar instead. Will also go to Al Ain, for the go karting! How far is it?

The hire company allow the car to be taken to Oman, i would like to see Muscat, is that abit far to go for a full day with 2 people driving? i think its about 350km?

Are the police strict on motorists in the UAE? guessing so if camera's flash as soon as you go over the limit! Am looking forward to thrashing the hire car, but dont want to get arrested for it!!

We are over from PM Friday 8th August - to Am Friday 15th August, Are there any karting races between those dates? We would like to join you for a race if poss

Thx again

eta: I've changed my username to something shorter!

Edited by j1 on Wednesday 2nd July 17:10

[j1]

Thanks for all the info Yorky

[j1]

Out of interest what sort of temperatures can we expect during the night in August? I understand it regularly gets to 50+ during the day, just wondering if it drops much in the evening/night

[j1]

TSFerrari said:

jay0101...i have heard that you cant go kart

is that true?

As we all know i am the king of go karting

[j1]

Huliganov said:

j1 said:

Out of interest what sort of temperatures can we expect during the night in August? I understand it regularly gets to 50+ during the day, just wondering if it drops much in the evening/night

It's still very hot during the night too. It will drop but it will still be very very hot. It's unlike other 'desert' landscapes where temperatures becomes cold at night.

Thx, thats what i was wondering

[j1]

Si 330 said:

Great my first trip to Dubai flying on tuesday and staying at the Jumeriah Beach Hotel. Wasn't expecting that type of guest.

It will be my first trip when i go in the middle of August. I'd be interested to hear how you got on when you get back..

[j1]

oilydan said:

Huliganov said:

Burberry clothing and sovereign rings are a sign of affluence in the Middle East. Many wealthy people out in these oil rich states have absolutely no taste whatsoever. Have you seen that Burberry Maserati by any chance?

Not when worn by skinny, white kids from Essex

Not seen the Maserati but have seen a Corvette stingray with a Luis Vitton interior. Mmmm...stylish.

The Burberry Maserati is here:

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyI...

[j1]

Can somebody give me the name of this karting track please?

I've googled it but the results aren't very clear.

Thanks

[j1]

yorky500 said:

There are two karting tracks, one at Dubai Autodrome (easy to find), the other in Al Ain (Al Ain Raceway) which is a bit of a sod to get to

Cheers

[j1]

Cheers Si330..we are early 20's so we'll see how we get on!!