Dubai?

[NotDonna]

Considering taking two of my teen daughters to Dubai over Easter. No clue where to begin regarding areas and best places to stay, so some pointers would be great. Is 10 days too long?

With teens I would recommend Atlantis or Jumeriah Beach hotel as both have waterparks

We loved Le Royal Meridien.

Depends a bit on what you want to do and ages. Atlantis and other hotels on the Palm are nice if you mainly want to stay on the resort. Atlantis has lots of activities etc but i think mainly for younger children. Getting on and off the palm is a bit of a faff and taxies can be expensive. JBR you can walk along the strip and its easier to get to malls and other attractions if that's your thing.

We will be in the Atlantis purely for the water park being onsite for 13 days at Easter. It overlaps with Ramadan but that has never made a difference. Kids love them (mine slightly younger - 12) but adults / young adults and old adults / g dads having lots of fun

You can get a taxi pretty much straight away from outside the hotel.

Nice fancy restaurants in there - so easy we don't leave complex much but it's easy to go places ...

Depends if your children will like massive slides or not! Water spots to rent out too - but I wouldn't go on that super fast car on the water!!! We did last time never again 🤣

But maybe the bed combo won't work for you - as it's all in one room - as we can't afford the suites mega money so we get 2 separate rooms for the bed combo 👍

Following. The Atlantis looks like a dream can I ask where you booked it please? It's pricey when I've looked with TUI as a package.

Dubai is nice, but if you aren’t All Inc it will work out very expensive for 10 nights with teenagers. If heart set on it I’d do 5 nights and go all out, or for the same kind of ££ I’d look at Caribbean/Maldives/Mexico etc

British Airways have some great deals on currently

Direct with hotel.

But yes it's very expensive and it does cost more than the Maldives 😂 . Drinks cost a lot especially alcohol! Looking at min £35 a small glass of white wine / beer £15 a pint / Coke £6 / ice cream from a packet eg cornetto etc £6 / salad bowl at the pool £23.

Although if you like to drink water is reasonable 😂

Heart definitely not set on it! But struggling where to go that’s warm enough for watersports at Easter and no more than 8 hours flight.
My 18 year old and I LOVE water! Drinking it I mean. And the 14 year old can take one of those tiny cordials. But we’ll still have to eat. Some hotels seem to offer half board with a dine around option, which could be good. Hard to know. Nowhere at JBR seem to do all inclusive. And given we don’t really drink AI could be an expensive option.
The JBR area looks a good option. Just been looking at The Jumeirah Beach Hotel, is that good? Their website is hideous!

Oh why has my reply been hidden? I’m talking about holidays.

Etihad sale is on now, you could look at Yas Island hotels too.

You can buy alcohol easily at duty free as you arrive and from speciality stores such as Peninsula. No need to hang out in the bar spending £££. You can get all inclusive at some hotels in RAK and Fujairah/Al Aqah beach.

Depends what are you after. Ras al Khaimah or Fujairah are quieter, can get good value for money on AI, lovely mountains nearby if you are outdoorsy.
Yas Island is massive in Abu Dhabi with all the things to do.
Dubai places as recommended above.

All inclusive really isn't a thing in Dubai.

Personally I think 10 days is too long unless you plan to spend most of your time lying by the pool or you want to do several (expensive) excursions.

I wouldn't want to stay in the Atlantis (or on the palm in general) as it's too far away from everything else and you constantly have to get taxis away from it, but I'd definitely visit the waterpark and a couple of the restaurants there.

No I agree, there are only a couple and they tend to me in the Palm for the reasons you mentioned.

JA The Resort - 3 hotels, All Inc loads to do!
Lake View is new and perfect.

@TraitorRoundTable I’d not thought of the JA ones. Is it a pain visiting proper Dubai though as it’s a little out isn’t it?
Does look like there’s lots to do but I wonder how much they cost.
@Alwaysalwayscold how many days maximum do you think? We thought we’d chill by the beach or pool a fair bit.

@mnhq why’s my post disappeared from here - sent at 06.12 - can you reinstate it please?

You won't be cold near the Sea/beach at Easter . We went last April and it was low 30s . I would recommend JBR , the kids will love the scooters to zoom along the Marina . I found the Palm a bit soulless, but the Marina was lively and buzzing especially when the sunsets (it was Ramadan) We got an apartment with our own pool. It was fantastic and gave the option to eat in or out .

Sorry misread your post ...thought it said chilly not chill 😂

JBR area does sound good @bert3400 how long did you go for? I’m looking at maps but it’s hard to tell how far places are from each other.

There is not a lot to do on palm island. And taxis are expensive to get on and off the palm.

Better off staying in JBR where you can walk to the beach/ restaurants/ marina etc. and get a taxi to the Atlantis for the waterpark.

Actually prefer kite beach. Jbr is packed with tourists.

I wouldn't go for 10 days though. There's not that much to do there and it gets expensive.

I would stay for 4 days and use it as a stop over to somewhere further.

3 times just in the last few months, for work.

We go through Dubai a LOT but we never stay as we want to maximise our time in final destination (usually Australia visiting family). So we thought a trip to purposely visit would be good. It’s so out of our usual. We either do an active/adventure type holiday like South Africa or Costa Rica or Sri Lanka or USA. Or a very chilled beach/watersport Caribbean holiday at teeny tiny hotels. So this big high rise city is very different and I’m trying to get my head around if it’s going to be worth it?

JA resort is absolutely miles out. When I first moved to Dubai, I thought it was compact but now I know differently! Traffic is horrendous and sometimes the metro can be much quicker. I used to drive around London and it feels a lot more like that lately - the roads are wider but so are the traffic jams. JBR is quite a way out too but not as bad as JA.

You could do a Palm or beach hotel and then move to a Downtown hotel, or vice versa. Our fave Downtown hotels are the JW Marriott Marquis (get a club room - their lounge is amazing), the Palace and the Taj.

Honestly I'd say a week would be my absolute max. It's lovely but I couldn't stay longer than that. Agree with suggestions to stay in JBR.