Dubai - anyone here been ?
 

Local travel agents have come up with a super price for a ten night stay in Dubai next june, never been before but wife has always said she would love to go, anyone been ?? justa bit worried how expensive it actualy is when out there ? would be staying at the Atlantic palm hotel on a half board basis.

would be great to hear from anyone who has been to see if its worth a visit ?

I've worked there and in my opinion it's not the greatest place for a beach holiday. Great shopping malls if you want to spend some serious money but not a lot to do. Car hire is cheap and fuel so cheap it seems almost free to us. Also you need to bear in mind that despite the apparent westernisation it is still under the surface a Muslim country with all that that implies. Personally I would go to Lanzarote instead and save some money!

I agree with Paben, I pass through often with work and while on the surface it looks the bee's knees, underneath there is still the old Muslim culture and I never feel truly relaxed. I know people who have gone for 4 days and loved it! Unless your on a major shopping trip of stopping off en route to somewhere else I would spend my money somewhere else

Dubai is fantastic, ultra ultra modern, and the Atlantis Palm hotel is nice on the Palm Jumeirah. Everything in Dubai is OTT, biggest shopping malls in the world, tallest buildings etc.

Taxis are very cheap, everything else can be quite expensive, shopping in the malls is FAR FAR more expensive than it is in the UK, go to buy say something like a Ralph Lauren polo shirt, it will cost you £70 in the UK and probably about £120 in Dubai. Alcohol is expensive, I was around £26 for a double vodka red bull in the 360 bar and when I went into the Burj Al Arab for a meal, approximately £45 for a cocktail.

Waterparks are £45 per person so a day out there for 2 adults 2 kids = £180.

June is scorching hot (I was there 14-24 June this year) and it was 40-44c, if you're not sitting around the beach or the pool, its too hot to go walking around, everything is taxi ride and restricted to indoors.

2 main water parks, a few good shopping malls, plenty restaurants to eat in, I guess its what you're after really.

Atlantis is about £250pn for a basic room though, for the larger comfier rooms, try £500+ and for the footballer types, they have rooms/suites available at £25k + per night. Palm Jumeirah is the best place to say I would say, but it is secluded with no shops, you have to get back to the main land for even a grocery shop which means a taxi ride if you want some food outwith your hotel.

You also need to watch out and be on your best behaviour, it's an Arab state afterall

Dubai while worth a visit for a day or two, isnt all that and soon becomes tiresome looking at all of the biggest of the big but with no character.
Arid, cheap in places (we stayed in the premier inn near the airport as we were on a stop over to Singapore). We dined in the Atlantis on the Palm and as fantastic as it was, I would far rather suggest Singapore over the "bleached arsehole of the planet".

Cheers guys appreciate the info given. was £3600 for three adults, half board and again staying at the Atlantic palm hotel for ten nights / 8 full nights next june, a seriously good price according to the travel agent we booked thru and one that no other travel agent could get anywhere near !!

45 degrees at 6 in the morning

Why would you

:cuckoo:


Best place is inside teh airport imo

Hi,
Out of interest - which dates next June do you intend to visit Dubai?
Reason that I ask is that Ramadan will start around 18th June 2015 and lasts for around 30 days.
Things are very different during Ramadan - no eating or drinking in public during daylight hours, reduced opening hours, restaurants not open until sunset etc.
It could be for this reason that the travel agent has cheap deals!
Cheers
Steve

I'll be there next week for a few days work. I don't mind short 5 or less days trips when someone else is paying but I wouldn't pay to go on holiday for most of the reasons mentioned (I up my daily rate by £50 there over elsewhere to cover the extra food/drink costs). Very hot in Summer, lots of concrete and lots of whores.
Probably best visited as a 2 day stopover en route to Oz or the like for those who are paying.

Hi,
Actually - it is around 36 degrees at 6 in the morning right now!
It gets to 45 degrees by about 10am!
Cheers
Steve

I'm looking forward to a pint and £18 burger in the Irish Village already.

Be a bit cheeky though, not mentioning Ramadan.
But holiday season is more November to March anyway because of temps.

Hi,
Love the Irish Village - except we don't smoke and it is too hot to sit outside this time of year - great in the winter though!
Cheers
Steve

Hi,
Nothing would surprise me with travel agents! To be honest - they may not even realise it will be Ramadan and are just seeing the great prices!
Where do you normally stay when you visit Dubai?
Cheers
Steve

Where do you recommend now, that isn't just a flash hotel?

I think it is a horrid place but the brain dead seem to love it.

Why on earth would anyone pay £26 for a shot of vodka and a drop of red bull when you can pick up a 1 litre bottle of Smirnoff vodka in the UK which isn't exactly the cheapest of places anyway?!??? I don't get it.

Customer pays and arranges hotel so don't know until we (Spanish engineer going too) get there. Best location (but worst hotel) so far was Dubai Marina because it was good for eating places in the evening by the water.

You've been then.

Hi,
Media One is nice hotel - very modern, not too expensive and near to the Marina (but not in the Marina - so not plagued by traffic problems).
Cheers
Steve

I was thinking more of where to go in the evening. Spanish matey has been angling for the Burgh Kalifa (likely spelling error) for some time but that seems to require some advance planning.
The Irish village/ Barista bar are reliable fallback options.

Horses for courses , but that sound like hell on earth to me

I was there with a small team back in February '08 when Dubai had more rain in two hours than they'd had in the previous seven years added together. The only light relief on an otherwise boring trip was watching the locals driving at speed into the flood water. Millions of pounds worth of cars with hydro-locked engines were beached at the roadside. Not funny really I suppose but it amused us.

For me the best place in Dubai remains the airport departures lounge!