Dubai - which hotel should we look at?

[WellTidy]

Fancying the thought of Dubai for a week over October half term. I have no idea which hotel to go for. We have ds12 and ds8 (who has severe ASD so a developmental age of about 4yo in many respects. He is also a non swimmer but loves the water). Our requirements are:

Pool with a decent slide for DS12
Play area within the pool for ds8 that would suit, say 5-9yo children
Sandy beach to play on and build sandcastles
Playground for Ds2, so again suitable for say 5-9yo children
Somewhere to play football for Ds12
Not far from a water park
Plenty of eating options but also needs to include pizza
Plenty to do and see in the hotel

Any recommendations or steers please?

Jumeirah al Naseem is next to the Wild Wadi water park and is child friendly. The complex has 30 restaurants. I would think a pizza would be available! The Telegraph Travel section gives more review details. It’s big but it’s got everything and inter connecting rooms. I know friends who have been to Jumeirah Beach with DC too.

I assume @BubblesBuddy that you have been to Dubai and stayed at the Jumeirah al Naseem? Out of interest what did you particularly like about it from your own personal experience?

The Al Naseem is a huge luxury hotel which has a reputation for being very expensive - great if you have a big budget. The Al Qasr in Jumeirah is half the price and has much of what you are looking for & is close to the Wild Wadi Park.

Both have been built over bulldozed down previous buildings in Dubai’s ever changing urban landscape. If you are looking for sun and sea and an easy holiday then Dubai has much to recommend it. It is personal choice and entirely up to you but what isn’t generally known to tourists is that the majority of these huge buildings and hotels that have been literally thrown up quickly have been built by quasi slave labour from the Indian sub continent. I’ve lived in Dubai and the treatment of certain sections of the immigrant work force is genuinely awful. There are many articles on this and you may want to check out what Amnesty has to say but this article sums it up - travellingjezebel.com/modern-slavery-dubai/

The OP was not asking about ethics. The question was about which hotel. The OP didn’t say she was on a budget. Some of us can afford luxury hotels. Yes, I have been to Dubai. Personally I would not go back because I’m looking for culture and history in greater amounts than Dubai can provide but for DC it was great for a week when they were younger. We preferred the Caribbean overall. However for DC with SEN, the flight to Dubai is shorter.

If you apply ethics about building in many cities you wouldn’t go near them! Anyone thought about what goes on in China? Probably not. Or forced labour used by many regimes in the past? Probably not. We tend to pick a nice place to go for a holiday.

SJaneS48. Perhaps you should read about forced child labour in your beloved Sri Lanka before you criticise the recommendation I made in Dubai. Sri Lanka should be avoided too.

I didn’t recommend the hotel we stayed at in Dubai mainly because it didn’t have a huge array of restaurants and wasn’t near a water park. I tried to answer the question posed by the OP.

Thanks Bubbles, I appreciate your reply and the information you've given.

The Habtoor Grand. It's near Wild wadi, has a waterslide, park, beach. big grassy area and pizza.

www.jumeirah.com/en/stay/dubai/jumeirah-beach-hotel?gclid=Cj0KCQiAkKnyBRDwARIsALtxe7hXKY4U15sij_GmYHayezEnRFq0CNyBcOWqd3aoNxxrJo-BuSE5Ug8aAoxYEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

We go here - it’s gorgeous!

@BubblesBuddy tone down the aggression! I was interested if you’d been to Dubai as in other posts you’ve been very very dismissive of it!

No the OP didn’t ask about ethics but as the article says, the majority of tourists going to Dubai are unaware of the conditions of both the people working in hotels and the migrant labour that built them. Should they know? Well yes - change won’t happen otherwise will it! Do I personally care about the human rights records of countries I visit, personally yes and no I wouldn’t visit China.

I did also recommend a hotel (also 5 star) and say it was entirely personal choice in terms of whether people choose to visit or not. It obviously is. Go with open eyes though!

As for all the passive aggresive nonsense about my ‘beloved Sri Lanka’ -being so very well informed @BubblesBuddy, you’ll know it’s something that has been addressed and improved significantly. www.ft.lk/news/000-children-working-as-child-labourers/56-680064

I thought your comments towards the hotel I suggested were aggressive towards me! I bet Dubai would say the same about their labour improvements too! Don’t they all?

No. I’m not a fan of Dubai for the reasons I stated above. For the OP, though, I can see the attraction. As I also stated above.

I was merely stating facts @BubblesBuddy, it does have that reputation. Fine obviously if you have a big budget and having a big budget is also fine, it’s not a criticism of being wealthy! Don’t read things that aren’t there.

And no, you haven’t been a fan (at all) of Dubai in other posts, in fact you’ve actively told people not to go there. Hence the question. I was genuinely curious after multiple posts slating it if you’d since been.

Travel an hour to Ras al Khaimar and stay at the double tree - it has its own mini waterslide park , gorgeous heated pool. All inclusive food has Lots of child friendly options. Much better value than Dubai itself and an easy journey from Dubai airport.

Atlantis would be fun for kids that age or the Rixos if you dont mind being far out from the central attractions (fortunately its 10min from the Atlantis, so they could go to that water park/ aquarium etc).

Ras al Khaimah as @olympicsrock has suggested is better value than Dubai. It’s more visually attractive as well as it’s greener and in the mountains. It doesn’t have all the shopping opportunities of Dubai but has retained more of its history and laid back way of life. Fujairah is nice for the same reasons. We used to stay at the Sandy Beach hotel - no water parks but it does have a lovely beach for sandcastles and a pretty view. It’s very popular with the ex pat population. Appreciate it might be a bit remote OP but if you hired a jeep there are old mosques, mangroves, forts and wadis in driving distance so would be more interesting on the day trip front than Dubai (IMO!).

sandybeachhotel.ae/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIm67akL_Y5wIVBbDtCh2v-wBKEAAYASAAEgI4ZfD_BwE

I can’t help with your question as I haven’t been to Dubai, we were also looking at October half term but the hotel prices are quite high as that is the same week the world expo starts. Just thought I’d make you aware as I didn’t know about it till a friend mentioned it. I think we’re going to Oman instead.