Transit in Dubai - sleep options

[Gincision]

We're a family of 4 (kids 10 and 12) who have a 9 hour stopover in dubai in the way to nz in March. We arrive midday after midnight and leave just after 9am.

Have any of you done similar? I can find the international hotel in the airport but we'd need 2 rooms making the cost approx £500!!!! There are a couple of varieties of sleep pods too but that looks as though they'd be about £2-300 for the 4 of us also...

Any advice?

Your post is muddled - do you arrive midday or midnight?

Assuming you mean midnight, then I’d say taxi to a hotel close to the airport as all you’ll be doing is sleeping ahead of getting up and straight off the next day. No point spending money on somewhere with loads of facilities if all you need is the bed? So just search Expedia or whatever and go by price. Dubai is small so most hotels are within a short cab ride, not just actual airport ones

Yes we arrive just after midnight - for some reason autocorrect changed to midday

I'm keen not to have to mess about with luggage though - if we leave the airport won't we have to collect our luggage and clear customs etc? Which would all take time...

If there’s an option for your luggage to be transferred from one flight to the next without you reclaiming it then can you just have overnight bits in hand luggage? Wouldn’t have thought that would stop you leaving the airport but then I’ve never done a long flight like that. Guess it depends if you booked as separate flights or not?

Without knowing your dates it might not be accurate, but I just looked at hotels and Hyatt regency is close to airport, £142 for the 4 of you.

I've travelled long haul and to leave the airport you have to go through passport control and clear customs which means you need your luggage with you. Hence not being able to book a nearby cheaper hotel. I absolutely will plan to have everything we need in our hand luggage, I don't want to have to collect our check in luggage until we arrive. My main aim is to maximise the amount and quality of sleep time we have and keep the cost as low as possible.

I don't know your flight details but if you are taking the first available connecting flight to your destination and your stopover is more than 6 or 8 hours (I can't remember which), the airline may provide you hotel rooms.

We discovered this when we had a 10 hour stopover en route to NZ a few years back. It's not well advertised but it was on the airlines website and very straightforward once we requested it.

A free option would be to use the male/female relaxation zones which are leather recliners and the shower facilities in the airport.

You can absolutely leave the airport without collecting your luggage. You have to clear immigration and customs but that doesnt mean getting bags (assuming they're tagged through to final destination). People do this all the time. If you have a British passport then your visa is free although there will be a bit of a queue.

It's possible that you get hotel accommodation included so check but it's increasingly uncommon now.

Thanks all. It's a while since I travelled long haul so things might have changed. Would give us more options if so!

That's interesting about hotel rooms sometimes being included. Definitely worth looking into!