Dubai

I think Dubai is love or hate sort of place. there's lots of malls to go to if you like shopping, I'd recommend Arabian Adventures for a desert safari which was excellent. we also had a meal in the Grand Hyatt revolving restaurant via Arabian adventures too. A visit to the souks, although they are all a bit much of a muchness after you've seen one or two streets of them. I found 3 days to be plenty! The traffic is horrendous, and be prepared to take taxis everywhere especially in the hottest months.

Both times I've been I've stayed at Mina a'Salam which is part of Madinat Jumeriah resort. https://www.jumeirah.com/en/stay/dubai/jumeirah-mina-a-salam

Things to do - you can visit the largest shopping mall in the world, go on a desert safari. I can't recommend any tours or anything because both times I've been to Dubai I've only left the resort once and that was to have dinner at the Buddha Bar (worth going to though).

Hi - we went to Dubai in Jan and we're in the love it camp! Agree with AnnaBanana re the Desert Safari - we also went on one and it was great fun. All the hotels tend to have contact numbers so you can book when you are there.

We stayed at Le Meridian Mina Seyahi near the Jumeirah Palm which was lovely and there are loads of hotels along Jumeirah beach and all are 5 star.

I would recommend a trip to Souk Madinat (another hitcher recommended the place to us) - there are some nice restaurants and shops and you get a fantastic view of the Burj al Arab from there. Wadi Wadi water park is right by there too - we didn't go in but it's meant to be good if you like that kind of thing!

We went to Mall of the Emirates - loads of shops and also Ski Dubai -indoor ski slope if you fancy a cool down!

Hope you enjoy your trip - v jealous as would love to go back!

I've been out there a few times now - going out on the 27th for 2days this month (racing). We stay at the Royal Mirage, as we get a good rate from them now & find it's a good location for the city, golf at the Emirates & Nad Al Sheba (racourse)

As for things to do, what type of thing do you like doing? I like when I visit a place for the first time just to go & explore off your own back.

Well, I like cities and I like touristy things, so I'm easy. Happy to do whatever is available, so if a place boasts the largest shopping centre in the world, then I'd happily go shopping. ?

I wasn't planning on doing a desert trip as the idea doesn't appeal, but so many people have mentioned it to me now, I'm wondering whether I should reconsider. Could someone give me a few clues, how long does it take, what do you do etc. I've never been on any kind of safari and I'm not really that keen on nature walks and the like.

Thank you all for your replies, you're giving us lots of food for thought! ?

The Arabian Adventure dessert trip takes about 5 hours & goes out early in the morning. You get to go off roading in a 4x4 & sand surfing - it's OK, but not wow. It's better at sunset, if you can go then . Going out to Hatta is fab though , the rock pools are stunning in the middle of the mountains.

We went on an evening desert safari - from about 3pm - 9pm. It took about 45 mins to get to the desert, and then there was some off roading over the dunes. There were a couple of stops, including one to watch the sunset and then finished off with a meal at a Bedouin style camp and a chance to do some stargazing before leaving (which was the best bit for me as when the lights were out, the view of the stars was amazing). A bit touristy as they had the obligatory camels and shisha smoking, but quite good fun and the food was really good.

It was the only organised tour we did. Otherwise we got taxis or the hotel courtesy bus to places like the mall.

Thank you Mrs JMP! I'd say there's 0 chance of me going anywhere early in the morning (except perhaps the beach) so I'll see if I can do it in the evening instead. I'm assuming it's a convoy of 4x4's that goes out at the same time with tour guides?

Stargazing and dunes sound good, but camels??? I hate camels!! Can I politely decline to jump on one, or will they be offended? And while I'm at it, can I decline the shisha too? Also what kind of food is offered? I don't eat red meat, so I'm wondering whether I'll have to bring sandwiches with me or something?

At times like this I'm wondering why I'm going to a Middle Eastern country in the first place... ?

? the camel ride and shisha aren't compulsory! IIRC they did cater for vegetarians and there was quite a selection of stuff so I'm sure you'd be OK. Might be worth asking or looking on Arabian Adventures website before leaving?

We enjoyed it, and we're not usually the arranged tour types tbh as we like to do our own thing.

Yes to the convoy - a driver picks you up from your hotel and you meet up with a load of other 4x4s once at the desert.

when do you go?

ETA - sorry, just re-read your post re red meat - I'd read that first time round as you being a vegetarian. Apologies - there was chicken on the menu.

I like the Dar Al Masyaf villas which is another part of the Madinat Jumeirah resort that Clare_M mentioned. I love staying there. Its a bit twee - canals that you take little boats (abras) on, or golf carts to whizz you around, but the place itself is great. Lots of good restaurants - the Al Qasr does a great afternoon tea and MJ's steakhouse is simply lovely. And then you have the souk bit with lots of chi-chi shops and restaurants/coffee shops.

Another good beach place would be the One and Only Royal Mirage and I have heard good things about the new Westin thats opened at Dubai Media City.

Dubai is definitely a love it/hate it place. I live down the road in Abu Dhabi which is a bit quieter and not quite a crazy as Dubai, but love going to Dubai for the weekend etc. I would say that 3 days would give you a good flavour and the temperature is just starting to warm up nicely, although we have had terrible sand storms this week.

The desert safari is a good thing to do and Arabian Adventures are the ones to do it with. If you are an Emirates/Skywards frequent flyer, then I think you can get a discounted rate with them.

Dubai is definitely the place to go for shopping - Mall of the Emirates is where I usually go, although Ibn Bhattuta Mall is not bad except I always get lost! You can always do one of the infamous brunches! I like the one at the Fairmont on Sheikh Zayed Road. There are some lovely restaurants in Dubai.

Another favourite thing that we tend to do when we have visitors, is go to the Dubai Museum, and then walk down the creek and take an abra backwards and forwards. This is quite nice.

We got married in Dubai and stayed at the Residence & Spa at the Royal Mirage. Want to go back to experience it properly .. Mr P got very sick before the wedding and I got sick on the day of the wedding (!), so we didn't really have chance to enjoy the hotel to the full. Besides, we were in full pre-wedding mode so it was a little stressful. Couldn't recommend it highly enough though as the staff were fabulous. We had our wedding breakfast there in the Celebrities restaurant.

http://www.oneandonlyresorts.com/flash.html

I'd post our pictures but there are too many internet weirdies about!

PS. Go Wadi Bashing .. great fun. And by all accounts Wild Wadi World is great fun. Our friends went the day after our wedding when we were flying off on honeymoon. They still rave about it (but don't forget sunscreen!)

Button is fantastic at giving advice on all things Dubai.

WE had an amazing experience which was a wedidng gift - a 7 course meal at the Burj Al Arab..we ate one course in each of the restaurants there, it was fantastic! We started off in the bar at the top with a glass of bubbly and finished in the 'underwater' type restaurant.

Verre by Gordon Ramsay was also very good, we stayed by the creek as we didn't want to be by the beach so can't really comment o beach hotels. ?

Wanted to say that if you are not too fussy about staying on the actual beach but would like a lovely hotel, Emirates Towers have a great deal on at the moment for the weekend where its about 1700 AED (++) a night for a club executive room, and this includes breakfast, lunch and a nibbly dinner and alcohol. The rooms are gorgeous and they run a free shuttle to the beach.

Emirates Towers has a shopping bit as well, although its very pricey.

It is underwater, that's why you get there by submarine?

we didn't , we just went in a lift as the submarine was broken. I thought it was a simulation submarine, didn't realise it was actually underwater. Doh.

We spent three nights in Dubai for our honeymoon and we had a fab time.

We were very busy and didnt stop.

We had afternoon tea at the Burj al Arab - highly recommended.

We did the Sunset desert trip with Arabian Adventures, which we loved. No - you dont have to go anywhere near the camels!

We had a walk round the Souks, and the Mall of Emirates. Where if you like shopping you will love!

We had a fantastic evening meal on a boat up the creek. We also booked that through AA.

Then we spent a day at the Wild Wadi Water PArk, which we loved, but I know a new one has opened now on the Palm.

I would love to go back and very jealous!! There was so much that we hardly touched on!

www.arabian-adventures.com/

We went to Dubai in May, and whilst I didn't 'hate' it exactly, I didn't love it at all. What I didn't like was not being able to walk out and about because it's all so built up. Anyhoo, if you're going I would say the dune jeeps and bbq are a nice thing to do, and the mall is worth seeing. We stayed at the Meridian Mena Seyahi which was nice but if I ever went again, I'd stay at the Mina Al Salaam (I've definitely spelt that incorrectly).

I absolutely love Dubai and we try to go most years. We tend to alternate and do thing one day and then the next have a chill out time by the pool - first year we went for 5 days, have slowly been increasing it and are going for 8 days this time.

We've stayed at Grand Hyatt (in the town but close to the airport) which had a gorgeous pool and gardens, would never have known you were in the town. We've also stayed at Le Royal Meridien Jumeirah which was great although it was a few years ago and I noticed that the area around it is much more built up now. We stayed at the Westin last year and had a horrendous experience although I think that was mainly due to it being a newly opened hotel. The location is brilliant and we are probably going back this year.

As for things to do, the evening desert safari / 4x4 thing is amazing. I was gutted that we couldn't do it last year 'cos I was pregnant and can't do it this year 'cos have a baby (no under 5s allowed) and can really recommend Arabian Adventures as others have said. We also did the dinner on a dhow thing but that wasn't so good so if you are short of time would miss that out. We went ski-ing at Ski Dubai which was fun (well, the ski-ing wasn't for me but the idea of doing it in the desert was good). Shopping is great and if you like diamonds then the Diamond Mall is definitely worth a visit.

Also we have done afternoon tea at the burj al arab which was great, all be it expensive. Best to book that in advance as it can be quite difficult to get a booking at a good time. Can contact them direct through their website.

Forgot to say, we did af

Thank you all for your comments. ?

I have been out of town for some time, which is why I've not answered earlier.

If you have any more thoughts or tips on Dubai, pls keep them coming! I'm starting to really look forward to it. ?

Hi all,

We've just come back from Dubai and I wanted to say thank you for all your help. We had a fab time despite the less-than-fab weather and can't wait to go back soon!

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