Princesspeahead did you go/are you going to Dubai?

[anto]

Hi

PPH, I've just seen your Dubai thread from last November. We (dh, me & dd1 & 2, aged 3.5yrs & 11 months) are thinking of going for 10 days in late Feb/early March, also to the Ritz Carlton (sounds least tacky option). Did you ever decide to go or have you even been already? Would be interested to hear what you decided and if you came up with a better alternative (am already getting grey hairs at the thought of taking my very mobile 11-month-old on a 7-hr flight!). Many thanks.

she is going ( Ican answer as her lady in waiting)

anto, her ds2 is poorly at the mo - I will tell her to reply when I next speak toher

Thank you, lady in waiting, looking forward to getting the full low-down when PPh's dd2 is restored to health!

Is he Coddy? What's wrong, is everything OK?

Hi Anto! Have booked it, but not going until late march, so you'll be able to give the low-down to me rather than the other way around! Staying at the Ritz-Carlton, which seems to have been unanimously recommended by those who should know as the only place to stay. Quite looking forward to it now, suddenly feel I could do with some sun and the fact that there is zero culture just means there is nothing to tempt me off the beach/out of the pool which is just fine by me at the moment. Taking 6, 3 and 7mth old. My only top tip is that if you are going economy like the masochistic peaheads, Emirates has 2" more legroom than BA!

and emerites is really the best airline! We just took it to Dubai(then we went on to India on a different airline) they had the coolest stuff for kids including stuffed animals, these cool games or sticker things, lunchboxes with a ton of food and watches!, child sized earphones, the movies were not the best but there are cool games to play(my husband and i played mostly) also they have phones on each seat that you can call other seats!! and each air hostess knew all the kids names on the flight and were so so nice. I would go to Dubai only to fly again on Emrites!

Blimey, thumbs up for Emirates then! I am not flying on BA as I am not their biggest fan and would rather avoid them at the moment anyway.

We are thinking of going to the Ritz-Carlton at the beginning of March but a major spanner landed in the works today when I realized that firstly dd2, who is 10 months old, doesn't have a passport yet - durrr - and that mine expires in June and they won't let you into Dubai with less than 6 months to run on a UK passport. So we need new ones pronto. Were about to book but realized couldn't do it as too risky without the passports in my hot little hands.

I also think R-C looks gorgeous but am having a bit of a wobble as someone at work today who's sister lives in Dubai told me that Jumeirah Beach Hotel, while wildly OTT and very Footballer's Wives, is better for kids and that R-C kids club doesn't take kids under 4yrs (dd1 is 3.5) so might have to investigate.

Are you having all 3 in your room - brave! - I am panicking about what will happen if dd2 wakes in night and fancies a good old scream or a couple of hours of light entertainment in the pitch black while dd1 and dh snore away in background!

Also...who did you book through, if you don't mind me asking...

if you do your passport renewal through one of the "partners" (lots of travel agents and post offices etc) the application gets priority and only takes a couple of weeks.

couldn't take the footballers wives-ness of the jbh. also its colossal and looks like a tower block. lie and tell the r-c that your daughter is 4 - I'm sure they'll be fine, esp as you aren't going in the school hols so they will only have a few young children there anyway.

are you mad? three children in our room?! taking 2 interconnecting rooms!!

Poor husband has got to go to Passport Office in his lunchtime to get special fast-track service!

Interconnecting rooms sound good - do they actually have a door between them or are they just adjacent? And are they just the normal rooms or the club ones? I think dd2 is trying to put me off going - she woke this morning at 4.57am and didn't go back to sleep till 6.30am - lots of intermittent screams & moans - bet our neighbours hate us.

door between them. have "deluxe" rooms which I suspect are just standard ones. no actually I think they said they were slightly bigger than standard ones. didn't go for the club floors, they didn't have any interconnecting rooms left (we are going in easter hols and seems pretty booked up) - mind you, I'm not sure there is much benefit to the club rooms really.
booked through elegant resorts btw - I always use them, they are excellent.
good luck with the passports!

Think I may be out there at same time as you Princess, around 25/26 March! But this time i think we we are going out of Dubai to the Al Hamra beach resort for 10 days then probably a few days at the Fairmont.

Will be v interested to hear your views on the Ritz Carlton. Have satyed at the Bahrain RC and that was fab so i bet the Dubai one is too. (did love Jumeirah Beach Hotel for kids though, but it DOES get v. busy and yes it's a bit ott!!)

Princess - just to say won't be joining you out there!! Change of plan and we've taken a place down near Miami Beach for a few weeks instead. Still be interested in yr report on RC though. Enjoy.

Did you go Princess - what dd you think?

I did! It was fine. The Ritz Carlton was OK, although operates at 100% occupancy, which means there are necessarily a few disgruntled people around. I don't think any 5* hotel can manage any more than about 85% occupancy without standards seriously slipping, and that was a bit apparent there. But it was very well set up for children, rooms nice albeit a bit american, food fine etc.
Dubai itself, however, I found fantastically boring. In fact I found it a bit like being on a film set - colossal construction works of unbelieveable projects (the world's first completely underwater hotel anyone?!!), everyone there to build tourism or service tourism, no locals (everyone was from somewhere else), no local architecture, culture, anything. It really is a massive building site in the desert. I have some friends who live there and I must say I'd kill myself if I had to!
So to sum up - I wouldn't go back, but it was fine for 10 days of guaranteed sun in a quite good hotel that was undeniably child friendly. And Emirates was great - don't even think about going BA!

Interesting PPH, we were in the RC in Miami and i was NOT impressed with kids facilities. Have heard that Hilton Creekside and 'Royal Mirage one and Only' are good but haven't yet been - apperently spa is fab there.

I like Dubai for the lack of jetlag tbh, tho I hate Emirates business class with kids - BA is far more child friendly in Club i find.

Where else would you rate with kids, mine are 3 and 9 yrs - pref without too much jetlag !! thanks

sorry mabs, only just seen this.
one of nicest places I have been for children (ie a nice hotel which also caters for children rather than eg a mark warner thing which isn't my scene) is the Residence in Mauritius - really great hotel, beautiful rooms, wonderful food, excellent spa, nice low key kids club, beautiful beach. not bad on jet lag (4 hours) but a long night flight to get there unfortunately. Closer to home, we liked the Anassa in Cyprus - wonderful for adults, good kids club for little ones, not sure if the 9 yr old might get a bit bored though. Not sure what 9 year olds look for in a hotel, haven't got to that stage yet!
I also love Goa... Leela Palace is excellent and India generally is super child-friendly. And any holiday that involves riding an elephant on the beach will get their vote IMO!
Caribbean... prefer to go to staffed villas there. Don't go to Glitter Bay, it should have been completely refurbished about 15 years ago and wasn't. Some friends of mine go to the sandpiper every year with young children and like it, but I don't think it has any children's facilities. There is a hotel in Anguilla with a wrecked-pirate-ship-playground on the beach that sounds excellent for kids, but I haven't been there yet! Next Feb, maybe...