Dubai, where to stay?

[Wintom]

We have a 3 day stop over in Dubai on the way back from holiday this summer.

We are in our early 50s and not into water parks or shopping malls. We love a walking tour, visiting mosques, souks, river cruises and people watching. Where would the best place to stay in Dubai? Budget is max £100 per night.

Not sure where to stay as I stayed in Atlantis for the water park but you definitely need to go to the grand mosque in Abu Dhabi. The Dubai museum is good and near the gold souks; I did it as part of a city tour which I would highly recommend.

The Al Seef Heritage Hotel (Hilton), on Dubai Creek might work well for you. I haven’t been since before the pandemic but it’s a nice hotel and you can get the cheap boats across the creek to the souks (although I would say that the souks are quite touristy, so I wouldn’t plan to spend too much time there- the gold souk is pretty impressive though!)

I’d definitely do a trip to Abu Dhabi. The Louvre, Grand Mosque and Qsar Al Watan are all worth a visit.
The houses of Abrahamic Fellowship (a church, mosque and synagogue all together) are really beautiful architecturally if you’re into that sort of thing.
Umm Al Emirat park is nice for some people watching.
Mamsha beachfront on Saadiyat is near the cultural district and has good cafes, bars and restaurants for people watching (Raclette does an excellent breakfast!)

Sharjah safari park is excellent, it’s the biggest outside Africa and really focuses on conservation (it’s nothing like a zoo). It’s actually pretty close to Dubai so a very doable day trip. Get the gold pass if you go, being on a much smaller trip is definitely worth the money.
Sharjah also has some good museums (they focus a lot more on history, education and culture than Dubai does).
It is more conservative than Abu Dhabi and Dubai (it’s totally alcohol free and I’d dress more conservatively).

If you like boat trips then Mussandam might work well for you (you can easily find a tour from Dubai). It’s technically in Oman but it’s part of their territory that’s in the middle of the UAE. You get to cruise through the Fjords on a traditional style Dhow boat, stopping at wild swimming spots, traditional fishing villages and little beaches (we saw dolphins when we went but obviously they’re not guaranteed!).

The dunes are really impressive but don’t bother with the desert safari type trips (they’re super commercial and you don’t really get to experience them properly). If you want to see them then I’d suggest spending a night in a hotel out there: https://whatson.ae/2023/11/7-of-the-most-beautiful-desert-resorts-in-the-uae/
(if you want to save money and not spend the night then it’s worth looking at whether some of the ones nearer Dubai or Abu Dhabi offer a day pass).

Have a lovely time!

Thank you so much @Teaandcrumpets86 . This is so helpful!