Egypt or Dubai in January

[moondog]

Need to leave Turkey (where we live) in mid January as there is a big religious festival during which dh is not allowed to work and we will go mad if we stay cooped up here.

Searched for info on Dubai-people seem to think it is a bit of a building site. Is this still the case? Is it warm enough to swim in the sea in Jan. and is the Wild Wadi attraction open then? (Doesn't seem to be according to official Dubai website!)

How about Egypt? Ditto re weather?

I don't normally 'do' these sorts of holidays, but we just need somewhere near, warm and uncomplicated so that dd (4yrs) and ds (5mths) can enjoy themselves.
Oh-and a bit of pampering for poor old mum would be nice too!

moondog - my advice is to bump this up tomorrow during the day when more people are logged on. I can't advise you as not been to either. you really will get bigger response during peak times.

Thanks Helsi.
Will do!

Oh Dubai is wonderful - it was becoming a bit of a building site last time we were there (earlier this year) but some hotels are not too near the works. We always stay at the Royal Meridien which is fab - very luxurious. The sea is warm enough for swimming - not sure about the Wild Wadi but it is certainlyl open end of December as we were there at Xmas a couple of years back. We would be going back again this Xmas but will be 6mths pg by then and don't feel I can face the flight.

Should have added - they also have great kids clubs and a spa for pampering!

I live in Dubai and the weather started cooling down mid-November, we even had a huge rain & hail storm recently. January will still be quite cool, the sea will be cold but Wild Wadi is always open, but don't know if they heat their pool.

Dubai is going through a construction boom but nothing to affect your holidays.

Check out this site on the entertainment/social scene here: www.timeoutdubai.com

Another one to look at is the Dubai Tourism & Commerce Marketing website: dubaitourism.ae/www/Discover/Attractions_Captivating.asp?menuID=20&MenuStatus=1&SubMenuID=16

Cheers.

We did egypt befre we had the kids one christmas. The weather was wonderfil , mid 70s. Can't comment on the sea temp as we were on the nile.

Thanks very much ladies for all the tips!
Will check out the websites and the Meridien.
Notice that a lot of people have said that the Jumeirah Beach is great but it appears to be full around then.

So would there be enough to do in Dubai for about 5 days with a 4 yr old and a 6mth old?
It's not ALL shopping is it (not really my scene!)
We usually just take off somwhere on a flight and find our way around as the mood takes us, but this time we thought we'd do something less demanding.
Any more for any more?

BTW, for those of you who are in the Middle East/Muslim, will the festival I am referring to affect trade in Egypt and Dubai. In Turkey it is the festival of the sacrifice, when sheep are slaughtered to commemorate God sparing Abraham's son. Everything seems to shut down in Turkey (hence our desire to ship out temporarily.)

Catherine, I also live in Dubai, whereabouts are you.

And yes there is more to Dubai than shopping, IMO January is a lovely time to visit

Soory to bang on, but Calamity Jane, could you give me a brief rundown of the sort of stuff?

Also what temp (Celsius) woul it be in the day on average then?
Do you know anything about Oman? Someone on another thread said that this was the 'new' Dubai!

Bump
(Just thinking about me me me!)

Ok girls, jumeirah beach is full in jan. and the royal meridien looks great but i don't know...
saw someone recommended the dubai marine beach club. website makes it sound great but 'time out' guide says the rooms are 'tired'. is this true? don't want anywhere grotty!
is position good? worried about the sound of all this building work. please help-got to book by tomorrow and its hard to do all of this on my very slow lap top with two littlies needing constant attentio.

calamityjane- I live in Garhoud near the Welcare Hospital / Chilis restaurant. What about you?

There is a big gap between the 5 star hotels and the below average one, so it will be expensive but for a few days should be ok.

World's only 7 star hotel- The Burj Al Arab

5 stars hotel in Dubai: Grand Hyatt, Emirates Towers, Fairmount, Shangrila, Dusit Thani

Others (dont' know the ratings)- Intercontinental, Le Meridien (lots of nice restaurants), Al Bustan Rotana Hotel, Metropolitan Hotel.

Hotels by the Jumeriah Group are pretty good (www.jumeirahinternational.com/)

Temp in the day is between 27 degrees to 35 degrees and drops to about 20ish at night. There is a very cool breeze coming through.

You can go 4 wheel driving into the desert for half a day or camp for the night, great weather for it, lots of people getting their camping gear out. The company that does outdoor stuff is Arabian Adventures, I'm sure they are on the internet.

That's the Eid holday and there's no real changes to opening hours for shopping centers or restuarants.

HTH

Catherine, do you know which will NOT be affected by all of this building work I hear of?
(If you could give me an indication of area I could look at a map and work it out.)

Avoid Bur Dubai, its in the heart of the red light district.

Avoid Deira, the roads are poorly designed so a constant traffic problem.

Any hotel on Sheikh Zayed Rd is fine, most of the 5-stars I mentioned are along it. One more is the Crown Plaza.

Hotels on Jumeriah Rd are ok as well, right on the beach but may be fully booked- Madinat Al Jumeirah & Jumeriah Beach Hotel (beside Wild Wadi).

Al Sufouh Rd- Further up from Jumeriah Rd is ok, has the Le Meridien Mina Seyahi, The One & Only Royal Mirage.

Construction is very close to Sheraton Jumeriah Beach, Hilton Dubai Jumeriah, Oasis Hotel, Ritz Carlton, Le Royal Meridien and Metropolitan Hotel.

thanks so much. v grateful to you!

No problem, hope you enjoy your holiday which ever you decide on.

My sister just returned from Dubai yesterday and stayed at the Jumeirah Beach - cos it was her b'day they upgraded her and then didnt have a balcony room so gave them a villa suite and free meals in the restaurant. Also had use of the Burj al Arab which she said was "utter bling" but so fab. She met up with a friend of mine who lives in Dubai (Emirates pilot) and they had a brill time..

Sounds lovely Jampot!
(That hotel is full in January unfortunately. Bugger, orI may have pretended it was my birthday too!)

Hi,

There seems to be a number of Dubai based mums on this site, so I posted a Dubai related question in the Day-out recommendations sections with the thread title: First time mum with 7mth old living Duabi, where to go?'

Would appreciate your advise.

Thanks.

Hi Catherine, I also live in Garhoud, behind Yellow Brick Road Nursery / opposite Al Bustan Rotana Hotel, so quite near to you, visit the Welcare Hospital quite often with my 3 1/2 yr old ds

Moondog, sorry didn't post sooner, we've had the outlaws here and my computer at work has been playing up, I was going to suggest the Desert Safari, wild wadi, the big bus tour but not sure whether your youngest would be up to all that.Ther is also the Dubai museum and heritage village. You also mentioned that you didn't like shopping and the Dubai Shopping festival starts on the 5th Jan for a month, suppose that's why all the hotels are full. We stayed a night in The Royal Meridien in summer, it was a great hotel, you couldn't hear the building work but you can certainly see it, you have to pass all the building sites to get to the hotel, but that was 4 months ago.

HTH and have a great holiday where ever you choose to go