V-Flyer

Hi V-Flyers,

Am going away with my mum in January 19 for 4 nights of Sun in Dubai after getting a great deal of Economy Classic upgrading to G’s!

Can anyone recommend which hotel to stay at? I see there’s loads to choose from and at hugely different price points!

Any recommendations of location, hotels, and when to book for the best price would be hugely appreciated

Thanks all!
Chris

It would probably help if you gave a rough idea of your budget and preferences (eg is being near a beach or mall important?).

As a rule Dubai hotels are not cheap but you pay for quality there.

Around £400 or less per night, and preferably near a beach

If you input your dates into Expedia you'll discover a plethora of hotels coming in at way under your target pricing e.g. Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah Beach (£894 for 4 nights).

It's worthwhile, after selecting a hotel, to check the hotel website to see if you can pick up any additional offers e.g. breakfast / half-board included. The food is, almost, invariably good in the larger hotels but there are some spectacular restaurants in Dubai that it's worth the hair raising taxi ride to eat at.

Hotels may have in-house promotions such as 15% off restaurant bills if you pay with VISA etc.

There's an Intersec conference running 20 - 22 Jan 18; it probably won't have that much impact on hotel availability, but I would be inclined to research and book or reserve/pay later now.

Jumeirah Beach Hotel, fantastic hotel on the beach right opposite the Berj Al Arab and next door to the small Water Park. If staying there you get into the water park 1 hour earlier than the public. which means you can leave earlier and comeback to sit round one of the hotels pools. Water Park never very crowded. The service is second to none.
Several very good restaurants in and around the hotel and food is fantastic. Wine per glass pretty expensive. All rooms look out to sea with floor to ceiling windows, and are large and very comfortable, beautiful bathrooms. You can visit any of the other Jumeirah hotels but if you try to walk to them or other nearby hotels, you will be picked up by the little golf cars that drive around for your convenience. If you want to visit the Berj Al Arab, unless they have change their rules, then you need to have a reservation to eat there in one of the restaurants - well worth making a reservation just to visit the place, its amazing. Highly recommend.

Thanks!

Will take a loom at the JBH!

Thanks for the conference heads up (we’ll be the week after).

I have put my dates into expedia (hence my original question) as theres so much choice available, i was rather hoping for a killer recommendation!

Would also recommend the Jumeirah group hotels.
We stayed on the Palm at the Zabeel Saray last year, the service was second to none and we had a choice of over 50 restaurants with our half board vouchers. We used Wild Wadi (the water park mentioned above) a few times as access was free - as it is with all Jumeirah hotels .
Would recommend getting half board as food is quite pricey.
Only downside is journey time onto the mainland from the palm but taxis are cheap and readily available.

As you are only there 4 mights this location may not work for you though.

We stayed in JBH a few years ago too, also highly recommended and very handy for Wild Wadi and The Mall of the Emirates . Make sure you take a free ride on the Abras behind the Mina Souk

Always check hotels don't have any building work going on though - I think JBH was renovating but this might be done now

Hi Chris,
I always think if you have not been to Dubai then choosing a hotel is a bit of a minefield. One thing that gets missed is just how many hotels in Dubai have the swimming pool in the shade. Bit of a let down if you turn up to sunbathe and there is no sun!
I’m thinking of compiling a website guide to reflect this tbh.
Anyway, you cannot go wrong staying near the marina. Specifically JBR walk. The only drawback being don’t get your taxi to drop you on the walk itself as traffic can be crazy at times, other than when you arrive and leave with your cases etc. Getting dropped off on the back road is best and it’s a quick cut through on foot.
Doubletree is great with a good pool and private beach. Hilton Jumeriah is an old favourite again with its own private beach. Hilton (tower block) The Walk is attached and shares the same facilities. I’m staying there tomorrow. The Sofitel is also great. I stayed in the Movenpick once and we had a room overlooking the road, the sound insulation was terrible and young guys revving engines driving up and down at 4am at the weekend was not ideal. The pool there now also has the shadow of the gigantic Rixos (which would also be an option for staying) built right in front of it.

A great location with “The Beach” development right there. The Sheraton’s rooms are really dated but some of the others down by the Habtoor would still be ok.

Hope that helps.

Scott

Thanks Scott! - Super helpful!
Would you advise against the Atlantis the Palm?
(I’ve heard some good and some not so good things!)
Chris

SIL & niece just returned from there, both sun worshipers & loved it tho they did say it was a bit manic at times. Really depends on what you want, the sun shines on them all so if its just sun you want then go cheaper hotel & spend your money on shopping & checking out all the other hotels for future reference

If you've not booked yet we stayed at Le Meridien Mina Seyahi which was great. Private beach out front. It's on the mainland at the base of the palm, close to Beach Walk. Barasti is a large sports bar come nightclub is right next door as is Zero Gravity beach club.

Meridien's sister hotel is the Westin next door which has a much larger pool area (including a large, lazy river style adults only pool). Great bonus is that this pool is chilled!! We went in September and it was 43 degrees, sea temp 35 degrees and the unchilled pools probably warmer than that so it was a relief to have this one.

2 final bits of advice:

Get a club room if you can - in the club lounge you will get free breakfast, afternoon tea and free alcohol and canapes for a couple hours in the evening. We used it a lot, especially for pre dinner drinks and it saved us a packet.

The Entertainer is an voucher brochure and an online App - like a cross between Yellow Pages and Groupon. There is a very limited free version and a paid for version (very expensive) which gets you 2-4-1 drinks and meals pretty much everywhere in Dubai. Pay version is about £500 I think so maybe not value for a tourist but we rented access to the full version on Ebay for £12 for a week. You download from Appstore/GooglePlay and the Ebay guy sends you his username and login. I'd estimate this saved us about £400 in dinner and drinks so definitely worth it!!