Long time visitor - I signed up on the forum just to address a few opinions here. This is a long post, but read through it fully, do!
I am South Asian, non-Muslim and I've lived in Dubai for over 15 years - and as a PP had mentioned, I'm yet to see any horrific discriminations like those mentioned above!
There are several Asian labourers, and most of them are very well protected by their own consulates. The passport issues and all that are typically carried out by recruiting agents , often from their home countries.
I can tell you most of our people, at least over the last ten years or so, are very well aware of the pros and cons of working here. The salary does help them buy houses, set aside money for education et al - this is not propaganda! You must remember that several countries outside the UK do not have a social welfare scheme for the middle class, as they are called (not very rich, not too poor). Education, health care all have to paid out of our own pockets! So a stint of Gulf employment does go a long way towards addressing the issues.
Contrary to what sensationalist publications in the UK claim, the UAE is a very safe place for women visitors (someone had cited the Express as a legit source 
!) There are designated spaces for women on public transport, special queues for women and you are never bothered by the cat calls and hoots that so seem a part of urban life in many other cities.
I think the issue about the perceived soullessness typically stems from visitors who book their holidays through agents (proper mall hopping and Big Bus tours), or the families that come in for short term work contracts. They get huge cars, stay in gated communities with folks of their own kind , meet up other mums for coffee mornings (again their own kind), and crib about the soullessness here. I can guarantee it would seem half as empty if they came out of their bubble! (And I suspect this would hold good for several posters here too 
). Several of my friends here are long term British expats who are very comfortable living in the UAE, and this is because they've taken the effort to assimilate with the rest of the country. Again, there are many South Asians (and Europeans too) who've been born and brought up here, and almost all of them (including my son) would want to return to live here.
To the OP, the UAE is a fantastic place to visit for a short holiday - just make sure you come between Nov - April, as others have pointed out. And chart out your own plan - there's a lot of cultural things to do if you would care to look for them.
To the others citing human rights, and that you'd never visit a place with human rights issues, I would suggest you please look into your own histories, and into where the money for setting up your welfare schemes (back in the early 20th century) came from (think Empire!) I can tell you, first hand, that the South Asians in the UAE do not see as much issues as our entire countries did during the days of the British Empire. Yes - I do know about the railways, unity and all the other justifications that would crop up. NONE of this are valid. We did experience human rights issues, and do get to learn the non-glossed over versions of history.