Dubai advice

My wife and I are planning our first trip to Dubai in April for 7 nights. Would you please assist with the following questions based upon your experiences:

• As we want to spent time on a beach, is Jumeirah Beach the best 'beach' destination?

• Alternatively is a 2 centre trip better as we would like to see some culture. Would hiring a car be preferred?

• Hotel prices for Jumeirah Beach begin at around £200, is this normal/correct? Linked to this is tax, Expedia is very woolly about whether tax is, or isn't included.

• K class VS flights are around £750, will this lower in January sales or should I get them now and take advantage of upgrades to U/C (which are available)?

• Do the arrival times of VS flights (early morning) and checking in create a problem?

• Is a cab fare from the airport to Jumeirah Beach expensive?

• Is eating out expensive, or is there plenty of choice at varying prices??

Grateful for your help.

Thanks

Jeremy

Hi Jeremy,

You'll love Dubai it's a fab place.

Jumeriah beach is probably the best beach, but there is a LOT of construction there still, it didn't seem to effect me much.

Don't hire a car, cabs are SO SO cheap (£5 for a trip which takes about 20 mins from The Shangri La where I stayed to Jumeriah Beach)

I thought the Shangri La was a great hotel, amazing views, good location, close to everything in a cab, and a good base to spend some beach days, some shopping days, looking at the markets etc. It also has a shared deal with a hotel about 45 mins away which they put on a bus for, I can't remeber the name of it but it was lovely.

Prices are fairly costly around £200 seems right, not sure about flights, but it's not too long a flight and quite managable in any class. Check in can sometimes be a problem but most hotels will find you a room.

At the Shangri-La we were on their exec floor, they sent a car to collect us from the airport (most hotels do this for a small fee or free) then took all our bags etc, we got to the lounge, were given breakfast then went to our room by 11.30am for a nap.

Eating out is in my view no more expensive than eating in London, there are some really nice places, it's the booze which is rather costly, do what everyone does and buy it at the airport when you get there on the cheap and have a nice glass of wine or cocktail in your room. I loved Spectrum at the Fairmont, dined there twice... 9 different kitchens, loads of options.


Anything else... just shout?!

We went to Dubai in June, a very hot time to go!

Stayed at the Hilton Jumeirah Beach, which worked out about £150 per night for an executive room. This gave lounge access and airport transfers. It's a great hotel, with a good private beach with excellent beach waiter service, and somehow the construction work is all blocked out when you are on the beach or at the pool.

You can easily book excursions such as the dune safari (trek across the dunes in a 4x4 - highly recommended) and they will pick you up from whichever hotel you are at.

You refer to UC upgrades - you realise that you cannot upgrade K fares with Flying Club miles? You'll need a S or W fare. Quite often paying for a Z fare UC to Dubai is very reasonable - amongst the cheapest routes for UC with Virgin.

Hi Jeremy,

I second the view on Taxi pricing, it's very, very cheap and probably the best way to get around.

Car hire is an option but not for the faint hearted in Dubai! The main Sheikh Zayed road which links Jumeirah and Downtown Dubai is a racetrack and probably best missed for anyone who isn't a confident driver..

If your looking to upgrade from PE-UC you can't use a K fare unfortunately. K's are one of the cheapest PE fare buckets - You will need either a S or a W to use miles to upgrade with miles...

A single hotel base is probably the best way forward - It's not really worth moving across town to get to the cultural end of Dubai - You can do this from Jumeirah without too much hassle.

Most hotels will only let you check-in after 14:00 which can be a problem with VS's red eye arrival. If you contact the hotel direct you can arrange an early check-in room in some cases - It's probably best to check before you book...

Good luck and enjoy..[y]

£200/night seems roughly about right for Jumeirah Beach resort, although I would investigate other hotels as I think the adjacent Wild Water Wadi park can get quite noisy. If you want to see some "culture," Dubai is not the place to go - think Disney in the desert basically. There are a few pockets of history, but if you want to really get to grips with the culture, I'd head over to one of the other emirates, such as Sharjah or possibly Umm al Sequiem (sp?).

45.

Â¥ As we want to spent time on a beach, is Jumeirah Beach the best 'beach' destination? Yes - definately, but don't confuse tthe area with the 'Jumeirah Beach Hotel'

Â¥ Alternatively is a 2 centre trip better as we would like to see some culture. Would hiring a car be preferred? Do NOT hire a car - use taxi's - cheap and less stressful

¥ Hotel prices for Jumeirah Beach begin at around £200, is this normal/correct? Linked to this is tax, Expedia is very woolly about whether tax is, or isn't included. This seems about ball park - consider the Madinat resort

Â¥ Do the arrival times of VS flights (early morning) and checking in create a problem? I've been lucky and managed to check in at 8-9am without problem. The Hotel usually throws in breakfast free too

Â¥ Is a cab fare from the airport to Jumeirah Beach expensive? No - taxi's / hotel cars are very good value

Â¥ Is eating out expensive, or is there plenty of choice at varying prices?? Eating out is good value, alcohol is expensive though...

We went to Dubai in August and had a great time.

A few points (mostly supporting what others have already said):
- don't hire a car (much of the driving makes Italian driving look tame...): taxis are very cheap and very available.
- request early check-in direct with your hotel, they may be able to help (we were at the hotel by about 8.30am and in our room before 10am).- we didn't do a two centre (we were only there for 4 days), but may have done if we were there for longer (city hotels tend to be comparatively cheaper than the beach hotels - a few days at one of the city hotels first might be quite a good idea).
- taxi fare from airport to Jumeirah would be no more than about £20, BUT you could do what we did and pre-book a tranfser (would would get a nicer car and fast-track through immigration etc - quite useful on a first visit to airport you don't know).
- eating out can be as cheap or expensive as you like in Dubai. We had quite a few expensive meals, but there are lots of good value meals to be had too.
- staying in a hotel with a good executive lounge can be a good way to go - especially if you like a drink. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton and had breakfast and lunch in the executive lounge most days and a few glasses of champagne in the lounge too (good champagne which would cost about £20 a glass outside of the lounge).

If it is just the two of you, I would look at other hotels instead of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel... that hotel is very much a "family" hotel and has quite a very upscale Butlins feel about it. It certainly has it's fans and I can see how it appeals to families, BUT maybe not the best "romantic" hotel in Dubai...

... If you want free access to Wild Wadi and want to be RIGHT in that Jumeirah Beach area, then have a look at the Madinat hotels (Al Qasr and Mina Al Salam etc). If you don't mind being further out (although still on a GREAT beach and only 15 minutes and £3 taxi ride from the Madinat) then I can personally recommend teh Ritz Carlton and I hear that the One&Only Royal Mirage hotels are great and very romantic. We booked the Ritz through http://www.asiarooms.com when we went and got an excellent deal (£160 per night for a Club Room at the Ritz - but that was low season...).

Check out the Dubai forum (and the hotel reviews) on Tripadvisor - http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum- ... Dubai.html - I found it an INVALUABLE help whilst planning my trip to Dubai.

Boo

Some photos of the Ritz Carlton from our trip in August - http://s199.photobucket.com/albums/aa31 ... st%202007/

It is a bit further out than the Madinat hotels, BUT it is on a much more intimate and romatic scale. There is some construction going on around it, but I can honestly say that you are not affected by it whilst you are in the hotel (or around the pool or on it's beach...). The service at the hotel is fabulous.

Boo

We stayed at the Royal Mirage the week before last (same-ish area as The Ritz Carlton) - and the Palm construction is visible (though not intrusive). It was our second stay at that hotel this year which reflects how good it is. The smaller hotels are definately the way to go.

(The Madinat and Jumeirah Beach Hotel are quite large and from experience offer less personal service despite their grand layouts.)

Thank you all for your advice - very valuable to me in my planning.

I will take a look at the links and suggested hotels.

Thanks again

Jeremy

Unfortunately, we ended up booking v. late on our trip to DXB this summer as there had been a problem with what we thought was a reservation at le Royal Meridien but apparently was not and had to stay at the Habtoor Grand; I would not recommend it.

Taxis are the best way to get around and often come with very friendly drivers:D

45.

Don't forget to look at the Silverjet offer - not sure when it ends though. It was buy a ticket and get a free ticket next time you travel and the prices weren't too bad either.

Does anyone have an opinion on Oasis Beach Hotel? This appears to be the best deal I can find and meets the budget for this trip.

I have looked at Silverjet, a concern is that I don't know when the free ticket would be used?

Thanks for the advice.

Originally posted by jpcox1
Does anyone have an opinion on Oasis Beach Hotel? This appears to be the best deal I can find and meets the budget for this trip

Errrr, I popped in the lobby (looking for an ATM) - if that counts?

The Oasis Beach Hotel is basically next door (although not right close by) the Ritz Carlton. So you are away from the Madinat/Wild Wadi/Burj area, but only by a 10/15 minute (and £3) taxi ride.

It really depends what you are looking for in a hotel. When we were there (August) the lobby was noisy and heaving with lots of sun burnt British people. I think it is very much a family hotel - like the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, but several classes lower (JBH is 5*, OBH is probably a good 3*). We haven't seen the rooms/pool/restaurant so can't comment on those... Of course we may just have been shell-shocked by the difference to the Ritz Carlton next door (not a good side-by-side comparison...).

Maybe try looking at the Le Royal Meridien (http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridie ... rtyID=1897) or the Hilton Jumeirah (http://www.hilton.co.uk/dubaijumeirah). Both of those tend to get better reviews, but I don't know how they price up during when you propose to be there...

Boo

Thanks Boo:

Would prefer somewhere that isn't full of sun burnt Brits???

Le Royal Meridien is around £316 pn - too much
but Hilton at £219 pn is okay (we are silver HHonours members)

Will discuss with Mrs C as I would prefer the Hilton.

Thanks
JC

I second that, Oasis Beach Hotel is fine, but a bit cheap and cheerful, the sort of Brits you might see on the Spanish coast, if you can try get into a classier hotel. The pool area and beach are a'ok at the Oasis, but much nicer at the Ritz or some of the other hotels there.

Definitely have a look at Tripadvisor - providing you take the extremes in reviews with a pinch of salt, the general tend of reviews tend to be fairly accurate... http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Revi ... Dubai.html

If you didn't mind being away from the beach, then the Grand Hyatt could also be a possibility - http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Revi ... Dubai.html (depending on price)

Some people do like the Oasis Beach Hotel, but personally it wouldn't be on my list (that may make me a bit of a snob... [:I] ).

Boo

Originally posted by jpcox1
Thanks Boo:

Would prefer somewhere that isn't full of sun burnt Brits???

Le Royal Meridien is around £316 pn - too much
but Hilton at £219 pn is okay (we are silver HHonours members)

Will discuss with Mrs C as I would prefer the Hilton.

Thanks
JC

Boo,

Thanks again.

We also try and avoid places where 'the sort of Brits you might see on the Spanish coast' hang out??? We must also be snobs???

Best wishes

Jeremy

Biggest tip for any trip, lesuire and business is to go to the first floor of the departures building on arrival and sign up for the e-gate card.

In a nutshell this will save you time at bad times in the morning and evenings, 30 minutes waiting in line to leave dubai on your return to the UK

The scheme is 200 Dirhams each and open to all visitors. It means with a simple finger print you by pass all the waiting in line for passport control.

The card is valid for 2 years, and you go to the e-gate office they type all your passport details in the system take your photo and finger print..and you a good to go

Oh the shangri la on shak zyed rd is excellent

M

Nobody's mentioned the shopping - is it any goodm, and how do prices compare????

The shopping is brilliant, but on the whole not much cheaper than the UK, except Gold and Diamonds!

(including watches and jewellery)

The Mall of the Emirates has a good selection of designers but apart from Paul & Shark, I wouldn't say many of the stores have as good a selection as their UK/US counterparts.

45.