Arrival in Dubai

Off to Dubai, first time, in October.

So what's the normal run of events for people arriving in Dubai at early o'clock - is there somewhere to relax and wash? Is there a revivals lounge (good excuse to upgrade!)?

I'm staying at the Jumeirah Beach hotel - does anyone know if they are likely to give us early entry to the room?

All answers gratefully received!

[HighFlyer]

Hey Gary

Request an early arrival at your hotel. No arrivals lounge for VS pax, and the Clubhouse equivalent on your way home is the shared Gulf Air lounge.

Contact customer services at Jumeirah and advise them of your early arrival. The Burj had the room ready on arrival for James and I on our visit, and didnÕt charge us anything extra for the privilege. I would hope that their sister hotel would be equally accommodating. Most hotels will have some sort of facilities on offer to freshen up if they cannot provide early access to your room.

Thanks,
Sarah

looked at my reservation again - it appears that the jumeirah wants an extra nights dosh to allow access before 3pm. So, if I need to book an extra night, 2 nights at the Jumeirah costs about the same as one in the Burj...[:?] If the Burj will definitely let us in early, it's worth thinking about, no?

Does anyone have costs for the roller pickup and the heli transfer? Just askin' like!

[HighFlyer]

Originally posted by v8gaz

Does anyone have costs for the roller pickup and the heli transfer? Just askin' like!

Costs for the transportation are here. Works out around £55-60 for a one way transfer by Silver Seraph. The Phantom costs more [:(] You do get refreshments in the Roller and Flowers (well, i did ... not sure if guys get the roses )

The Heli transfers start at AED 9,000 (about 1200GBP) for hotel guests (you do not have to stay at the Burj to Heli in). I did enquire about it some time ago and they asked me to choose a helicopter from their selection!

Thanks,
Sarah

Originally posted by HighFlyer

The Heli transfers start at AED 9,000 (about 1200GBP) for hotel guests (you do not have to stay at the Burj to Heli in). I did enquire about it some time ago and they asked me to choose a helicopter from their selection!

Thanks,
Sarah

Do you get to keep the helicopter for this amount? Holy Moly £1200???

Ok, looks like Heli transport is out of the question. Not like Cannes then - called the Carlton in Cannes and was told that Taxi from Nice was 45 quid - Helicopter was 40 quid. No brainer!

Roller might be nice though.

Or you could get a taxi for about a fiver!![:p]

The Shangri-La was fine about an early check in, no probs at all.

Allot of hotels won't promise a day room, but if they're available on the day will give one for free... if not you can usually store bags and freshen up somewhere to enjoy your full day.

My biggest recommendation for DXB... dinner at the Bab Al Shams.

Your typical tourist dinner show, with camels and fire breathing... yet they manage to do it with such style and in such a great location I loved it (and that was on the day I arrived after a FULL day of hotel tours and skiing!).

If you room is ready, you can access your room

If your room is not ready, then the Burj lets you use the Spa to shower, swim, steam, etc. They wheel your bags to the Spa so that you get your toilettries and swimming stuff out the the bags. They come to collect you when you room is ready.

I suspect the other Jumeriah Hotels are the same.

Personally, I would pack the swimwear, shorts, t-shirts and even flip-flops in the hand luggage (for use in the LHR Clubhouse as well as they on arrival at the hotel). Spa or no spa facilities, just go to the pool and chill. So what if you cannot access the room immediately - the holiday begins! Room or no room. Just chill !

The roller at the Burj is good value. The helicopter is not. Mainly to do with the airport charges they insist on tagging on. If you want a helipcopter - try Hong Kong and transfer to the Peninsula Hotel. Still pricey but much cheaper than the Burj. St Lucia has the cheapest helicopter transfers I know off . All VS desitinations!

[mcmbenjamin]

IIRC the Jumeriah Beach Hotel (which is pretty pimp) allows guest access to Wild Widi for free or a reduced rate. Maybe see if you can arrange access upon arrival.

Or have a meal (then walk around) the Burj al Arab.

I arrived at the Hilton Dubai Creek 7AMish and my room was ready.

We had the same thing at the Burj but we were waiting for 3 rooms. We arrived at 8am and 2 of the rooms were ready and we just had a mooch around the hotel for an hour before the 3rd was available.

The Intercontinental also let us in early (at about the same time) when check in wasn't until 2pm. They even gave us a complimentary breakfast as we had to wait about 30 minutes for the room to be checked.

I think I'd just take the risk and turn up and see what they have to offer.

Keep an eye on how many room your hotel has available for the previous night.

I have suffered the same problem upon arrival at SYD - Having to wait 6 or 7 hours to get some well earnt sleep!!!

If the hotel is still selling rooms for the previous night, chances are that you will be able to check you straight in upon arrival at silly o'clock in the morning.

[honey lamb]

When we arrived in Dubai at the Hilton Dubai Creek our room was no eady but we were invited to use the pool facilites until it was which was about 30 minutes later

Originally posted by honey lamb
our room was no eady

Look out honey, the spooling police wil be aftr yoo!

As you are arriving in the early o'clock, I think you may be surprised by how much traffic there is around. Even at 0200 the transfer into town can take a surprising amount of time. Forewarned is forearmed.

{Moderator edit to correct spelling of yoo}

[honey lamb]

Originally posted by sailor99

Originally posted by honey lamb
our room was no eady

Look out honey, the spooling police wil be aftr yoo!

As you are arriving in the early o'clock, I think you may be surprised by how much traffic there is around. Even at 0200 the transfer into town can take a surprising amount of time. Forewarned is forearmed.

{Moderator edit to correct spelling of yoo}

Damn keyboard! [V] It keeps on sticking since the day I spilled a G&T on it! Such a waste of a G&T [:#]

Some might argue that T is a waste of good G

[honey lamb]

Originally posted by sailor99
Some might argue that T is a waste of good G

Depends on the ratio of T to G...

...or vice versa

How true. Good point, well made!

Yeah yeah, hijack my topic why don't you (answer - about 50/50 G to T - andy more G and you might as well have a Martini and stop playing!)

No reply from the Jumeirah Beach Hotel as yet, so looks like we'll just turn up and sit looking sweaty and tired in the lobby till they decide to hide us in a room

No reply from the Jumeirah Beach Hotel as yet, so looks like we'll just turn up and sit looking sweaty and tired in the lobby till they decide to hide us in a room

I replied to this the other day but must have done something wrong as I couldn't see my post [?]

Anyhooo, we stayed at JBH back in March and arrived early morning, about 8am. They said that there wasn't a room ready yet but gave us a mobile so that they could contact us and then we had access to all facilities and a complimentary buffet breakfast. They stored our bags for us and I was also given a little JBH bag of toiletries (lip balm etc)[y]
We didn't have to wait long as we were called on the mobile at 10.30 to say our room was ready.
Ask for a room on the higher floors, stunning views to be had.

I emailed them before we went on our hols and we were told that early room and high floor were all dependent on occupancy, but it all worked out really well for us.

Enjoy [8D]

Thanks for that info, L2H - thats the sort of thing I could cope with!

[honey lamb]

Originally posted by v8gaz
Yeah yeah, hijack my topic why don't you (answer - about 50/50 G to T - andy more G and you might as well have a Martini and stop playing!)

Sorry about that. Blame sailor. I always do [}:)]

[buns]

Originally posted by honey lamb
When we arrived in Dubai at the Hilton Dubai Creek our room was no eady but we were invited to use the pool facilites until it was which was about 30 minutes later

Same here - if you book a executive room they throw in a Mercedes to pick you up from the airport (it is less than a 10 minute ride though[:#])

buns

Ooooh forgot to say, we also booked private transfers with JBH and were whisked away from the airport in a fabulous Audi A8 'stretch' version. Cold towels and water were also provided.
We felt like a VIPs [}:)]

I've been to DXB a good number of times, with flights usually arriving in the early o'clocks. Each hotel (different one each time) has been able to give me a room right away, without any additional charge. Must be a lot to do with departure flights leaving in the late o'clocks. Good crossover me thinks!