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Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

Is there anything to do in Dubai?

32 replies

LadyWellian · 30/09/2010 10:43

Planning to escape somewhere warm in half term but having been looking on appalled as the Canaries get more and more expensive (really should have booked in August!).

Found 5 nights' HB in a 5-star in Dubai for the same price as a week SC in Lanzarote. However, DH comes out in a rash (literally!) if he goes in a pool and fears boredom. Doesn't look like the Gulf is great for snorkelling. So is Dubai the hideous cultural wasteland of our worst fears or is there anything I can use to sell this to him? I just want to relax somewhere warm and DD and I would be quite happy in and out of the pool, but that's not really fair on DH.

Alternative destination suggestions also welcome, but I am looking for bikini weather if at all possible.

OP posts:
sailorsgal · 30/09/2010 16:44

Its quite a while since I went but I remember doing the sand dunes in a four wheel drive which was fun. We had dinner in the desert with camel rides.

Does your husband play golf? I think there is a good golf course there.

Wordsonascreen · 30/09/2010 16:53

Its a hideous cultural wasteland

arf aaaarf

Wordsonascreen · 30/09/2010 17:06

which hotel? some 5 star are more suited to business travellers ..check its not dry if its remarkably cheap.

There are several excellent golf courses (the Montgomerie does an excellent all day breakfast and has a spa attached..for the laydees)

There is culture ..old dubiai ..souks/abras the jumeriah mosque/heritage village.

You just have to see past the malls

barbie1 · 30/09/2010 17:12

I live here and there are things to do but it's not very cultural...

dessert safari
Atlantis, both water park and the hotel itself
Souks, the old town and the gold souk
Dubai mall, biggest mall in the world...while you are there you can see the worlds biggest fish tank, the biggest candy store and just outside is the worlds tallest building which has the worlds biggest water fountain show.

There are some good brunches to go to on fridays, normally all inclusive including drinks.....

The beach.....um.....lots of golf.

Wordsonascreen · 30/09/2010 17:17

barbie1 snap! Didn;t know there were any MN'ers in Dubai !

Blu · 30/09/2010 17:17

How hot will it be then?
I spent a few minutes on the tarmac when changing planes and it was 39' at 8am - unbearable and very stuffy.

Wordsonascreen · 30/09/2010 17:19

its 35 at the moment but cooling down (was mid 40s a few weeks ago)

October should be 28/29 ish

barbie1 · 30/09/2010 17:20

waves to wordsonascreen

It was nice and cool today, makes a change from 40 plus!

Wordsonascreen · 30/09/2010 17:21

I may even consider mascara soon !

barbie1 · 30/09/2010 17:23

ladywellan you could also hire a 4x4 and go off roading in a place called hatta, some lovely drives in the mountains...or you could get a sea plane and see Dubai from above.
A trip up the worlds tallest tower is quite nice too (as long as you dont mind heights!)

Wordsonascreen · 30/09/2010 17:28

ski dubai (at the mall of the emirates ) the dc can have snowball fights..

Wordsonascreen · 30/09/2010 17:30

mirdif has the blowy up air things for faux sky diving

ferrari world due to open soon in Abu Dhabi

tbh I've been to lanzarote I went to a waterpark and a parrot show

Wordsonascreen · 30/09/2010 17:31

oh and a fake castle for chicken in a basket and jousting (that was fab though)

barbie1 · 30/09/2010 17:33

Actually there is a lot to do when i see it all written down! Grin Second ski dubai...

If you do decide to come you must buy the explorer book (the family issue) it's a book of bogof offers, ranging from food to water park entrance fee's .

wordsonascreen how you tried the sky diving thingy??? it looks so much fun, but sadly with my post baby weight i doubt ill get off the ground!

Wordsonascreen · 30/09/2010 17:41

no! [they have to turn up the power depending on what weight you are}no way am i risking max power !

ds nearly hit the ceiling Grin

barbie1 · 30/09/2010 17:43
Grin
desertgirl · 30/09/2010 18:34

there are a bunch of cultural things to do in Sharjah which is right next to Dubai and not as hard to get to as people who live in Dubai generally think - see eg here

have not tried skydiving yet either, have done hot air balloon in the desert - good fun.

The Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding arranges various things - look at this

also have a look at the lists on here (there are other operators providing similar things)

or see what sort of things may be going on, at Time Out Dubai

Here endeth the message from the Dubai Tourist Marketing board... (seriously - have lived here for 8 years and I do like the place, whatever the UK press like to make it out to be :))

YunoYurbubson · 30/09/2010 18:41

Really, don't go on holiday to Dubai. When you think of all the beautiful places in the world that you will never see, don't waste your time and money coming here.

There are things to do... but there are better, cheaper things to do elsewhere.

desertgirl · 30/09/2010 19:08

The alternative doesn't appear to be to go for the holiday of a lifetime in Laos or Peru or whatever, though - the OP wants an affordable week of sunshine.

It probably is a bit expensive at the moment; depends where the pound is against the dollar; but you don't have to spend a lot to have fun.

Chinghehuang · 30/09/2010 22:54

I did'nt enjoy Dubai, but if you just want heat & a nice hotel it's ok, you really need a car to get around, not a place to walk on the streets no pavements hardly, plenty of taxi's. Locals are not friendly, do not give you eye contact, and you have to be modest in what you wear as most locals cover up from head to toe and one got the impression that they looked down on westerners.
Stayed in a nice hotel but did'nt feel a happy holiday atmosphere and to be honest I was glad to leave. Oh and they do have weird dust storms and haze due to pollution from cars. Felt nervous at the aiport had heard of people being arrested for having a poppyseed in their pocket from a roll they had eaten! you have to be careful what medication you take as well some are banned, but check this before you go.
I'd rather go to Spain, Greece or Italy than Dubai anyday.

Original poster
LadyWellian · 30/09/2010 23:44

Thanks guys - thought this thread was dead in the water (like my holiday plans!) so good to find some replies.

Hotel I saw was Amwaj (sp?) Rotana - on strip but not own beach, public beach access. DH wouldn't be impressed by dry hotel! Any info appreciated. It's quite new so TripAdvisor reviews are thin on the ground.

Have checked and definitely can't afford same week in Indian Ocean islands, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia etc and Egypt was looking pretty expensive too. Any other suggestions gratefully received. Haven't had a foreign holiday since 2007 and would hate to spend what would be a significant sum for us (£1500-2000) and find that while there might be lovely things to see in the water, it's too brrrr to go in!

Went to Abu Dhabi on business in Nov 08 and it was just so nice to be warm for a couple of days. Have no problem at all dressing - and acting - respectfully while out and about. Any views about whether DD (10) would get Hmm looks if out in 10yo summer gear?

OP posts:
Original poster
LadyWellian · 30/09/2010 23:54

sailorsgal afraid DH would rather eat Brazil nuts and suffer anaphylactic shock than play golf. He's a tricky bugger Grin. Actually do feel a bit sorry for him as he loves swimming and the rash thing started when DD was small, so he's never been able to enjoy it much with her as she's a bit of a wuss in the sea.

OP posts:
Original poster
LadyWellian · 30/09/2010 23:59

Oh and wordsonascreen and barbie1 - I do love to bring people together Grin. And thanks for the inside track.

OP posts:
desertgirl · 01/10/2010 07:00

Chinghehuang, sorry you had that experience; not sure the 'locals' are any less friendly than in any other big city. I have pictures of my kids as tinies with various abaya-clad women I don't know in parks or cafes or whatever, because they wanted to play with them. When MIL was over and we were wandering around a mall with her in a wheelchair (available to borrow at all the malls) an elderly local lady also in a wheelchair reached out and grasped her hand and smiled a lot, clearly not having any English (don't think the daughter or whoever was with her had much either, and my Arabic is pretty basic).

And the locals I work with are like anyone else, some friendly some not so....

LadyW I never get out to hotels these day so haven't come across that one, sorry, if I hear anything will come back and let you know.

kreecherlivesupstairs · 01/10/2010 08:31

I'd go, and while you are there, drive over to Oman. We lived in Muscat for three years and would go to Dubai for glitz and glamour. The weather is fabulous and the people are great.