To take the DC on holiday to Dubai?

[FudgeBrownie2019]

We have two DC, 14 and 9. We've travelled fairly regularly with them but haven't ever done anywhere like Dubai/UAE. DH has found some summer holidays in those areas but I have a little weird feeling about going there - no idea why, no rational reason, I'm just uneasy but can't really put it into words.

Would you go there with DC? Have you been there with DC? Is it somewhere you'd be willing to visit?

I absolutely love the kind of holiday where you sit around the pool having people bring you fruity drinks. It’s my idea of heaven.

I wouldn’t go to Dubai if you paid me. Any place that would jail me for being raped is on my no travel list.

*Fujeriah

My friends who lived there for 20 years came back every summer for at least a month as it was way too hot over there. I never went to visit them as it's not the sort of place I'd go on holiday and definitely not with DCs.

Even the rich locals come here as it's too hot for them. That's why London is full of Lamborghini's and Ferraris over the summer as they ship their cars.

I spent a day there due to flight disruption and what I saw did not change my opinion that it is not the place for me.
Heat: 40’ is like a physical pressure in your head. 50’ can damage your brain.
Environmental Factors:.. so building mass resorts where everyone uses air con all the time everywhere, in a desert, is obviously an environmental disaster.
Human Rights: I do not want to support an economy where workers live on a subsistence wage while the hotel or restaurant holds their passport... bonded labour etc. Especially in the context of;
Bling and ostentatious wealth: It isn’t my taste. I can’t bear the waste. I am not charmed, amused or impressed by it. I find it really unpleasant and alienating.

I would love to go to Oman, to Jordan and Petra, travel in the desert.

But I now avoid any plane route East where I might be at risk of spending time in Dubai again.

Can’t imagine anywhere worse
Like going on holiday to a boiling hot shopping mall.

@IcedPurple

Until you are as educated about and prepared to condemn and make practical contributions with regards to the multiple countries of origin and their infrastructure and systems which force millions of people to leave children and families behind and engage in such an imperfect and precarious employment situation as that of the UAE in order to earn a living wage, then I will never be able to take you and those of your ilk seriously. The UAE is as it is because of sheer desperation and inequality elsewhere. Until that is addressed nothing can or will change. The UAE is a monster which has been created by huge inequality elsewhere and sheer luck that there's oil there and therefore huge wealth. They can call the shots and there's nothing anyone can do about that until things change elsewhere. I honestly feel that you have to be really stupid not to see that and in addition to try to imply that anyone who does see it "just doesn't care as long as they get a nice cocktail by the poolside".

And I may be basic in my thinking but I would rather know of children being fed, clothed and educated than not and that's fundamentally why workers flock there.

And that's my last word on this thread as we are going round in circles and can never agree for which I am thankful as I would hate to be so narrow minded as you.

No, women are walking about in shorts n skirts in the malls and the bazaars. Why would it be offensive to the locals as to what the tourist wear.

The UAE is as it is because of sheer desperation and inequality elsewhere.

Well, no.

They are that way because they choose to exploit sheer desperation and inequality elsewhere. They choose to treat desperate workers like slaves because their people happily accept and justify that, as do many of the tourists who prop up this system. Going by your posts, you are one of the latter group.

Britain and other first world countries could do the same. They could also adopt a system whereby workers from India or the Phillippines had no rights and were basically the property of their employers. But we don't because - in theory at least - we believe that everyone should be entitled to equal rights. Which certainly is not to say that abuses don't go on in Britain - they do - but they are not sanctioned by the law.

I would hate to be so narrow minded as you.

And I'd hate to close my eyes and ears to the horrendous human rights record of a country just because the fake ski slopes are a blast.

“The UAE is as it is because of sheer desperation and inequality elsewhere. Until that is addressed nothing can or will change”

The UK and other European counties manage to make modern slavery illegal, and fight it where it occurs, despite the desperation and equality elsewhere. We don’t rub our hands in glee and lure people into indentured labour. And the UEA can actually afford to pay people properly.

I take the point though, that massive oil wealth makes the Gulf states impervious to outside influence or pressure.

If you have no moral compass, don’t have a problem with slavery and just like shopping, you’ll probably love it.

I wouldn’t go if you paid me and would judge the fuck out of anyone who thought it a suitable place for a family holiday.

There is so much wealth in the UAE

They can afford to pay migrant workers better than they do, they can choose to treat them humanly and afford to provide good accommodation and healthcare - they make the choice not to. Workers are also tricked into handing over their passports and then being at the mercy of their employer. Not because of the inequities of the world but because culturally this is accepted and supported by the government. And sadly because of their power other countries do little to enforce any changes.

Forgot to say - don't go in the summer - its far too hot.

Its ok for a few days - not more than 4/5 i would say unless you're moving to oman/abu dhabi etc. We visit friends (its a stopover for us) so spend about 3 days there, which is alright, but it can get boring if your a tourist and have done all the things there are to do.

Other issues apart, as someone who’s lived in that part of the world IMO you could have a lovely beach holiday, if you’re all into sea/snorkelling, etc. There are also things like wadi-bashing, which could be fun.

I wouldn’t take children on a bling-and-shopping type trip though - and that’s what a lot of people seem to go for now.

Just don’t go in summer!! If you’ve never experienced summer in that part of the world, it’s hard to imagine just how hot it gets. I can’t emphasise this enough. E.g. you literally can’t walk barefoot on the sand, and you can get in the sea and still sweat.

I wouldn't go there for political reasons, that aside why would you travel that far to somewhere that expensive to go to Malls , water parks and other tourist traps. If you travel to understand a culture you won't get that there and if you travel just for a resort and have no interest in the actual location go somewhere cheaper with less misogyny, homophobia and modern day slavery. All I see on social media are people posing in flash hotels and next to expensive sports cars they couldn't afford. I just don't get it.

Not a sunner holiday destination, aside from other issues. It can touch 50C in July/August.

We went to Dubai pre kids in June one year. Dear god the heat!!

It was 44 every day and was searingly hot. We like to explore so went for a stroll. Made it a couple of blocks before we almost collapsed into a local spar type shop. Everyone uses cars n taxis due to heat. Even swimming complex had air conditioned paths which is ridiculous for the environment. It's too hot to sunbathe and you have to eat indoors. All the hotel restaurants we saw had closed their outside eating areas. I wouldn't go. Plus don't eat a poppy seed bread roll at Heathrow........

Why not the Far East or Baja California if you're feeling the need to travel.

I wouldn’t go if you paid me and would judge the fuck out of anyone who thought it a suitable place for a family holiday.

Yup pretty much.

We quite like it in winter, but find it too hot in the summer.

Their human rights record might be poor but but but, the luxurious hotels! The malls! Jesus but this type of attitude makes me nauseous.

As a woman it’s one of the last places in the world I have a desire to visit . Read about their treatment of women before you book anything .

Their treatment of foreign workers is appalling. The guardian have some interesting articles on the subject .

I've been to Dubai for work. I didn't dislike it - I've been to worse places - and it was interesting to see what they've done with the place but it wasn't my cup of tea and I have no desire to go back for a holiday. Far more pleasant places to go to in my opinion. And I didn't like the feeling that you could fall foul of the rules very easily.

I speak some Arabic and always like to practice when in the Middle East. I realised very quickly that NONE of the people I was interacting with (outside of my work meetings) i.e. in the malls, restaurants, hotels etc were Arabic speaking. They were all foreign workers, very weird.

I wouldn’t go, not in a million years

Wouldn't go there even if I was pa