Taking the wifey to Dubai for the first time. I haven't been in 20 years. Any suggestions for hotels? Any suggestions for things to do? I do remember some stuff but barely.
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Dubai
Taking the wifey to Dubai for the first time. I haven't been in 20 years. Any suggestions for hotels? Any suggestions for things to do? I do remember some stuff but barely.
WILSUU2
If you haven't been in 20 years then it's completely changed. A lot to do there depending on what you want. We stayed in downtown near the Burj Khalifa and it was pretty central to everything worth doing around there, except for the Al Burj hotel which is a bit of ways from there. Worth a visit there too. Do the Desert Safari - they take you in 4 Runners over sand dunes and eventually bring you to campy which has hookahs, food and live entertainment. I loved the Dubai Mall in downtown, every single shop you can imagine, they have it. Nice line up of cars outside pretty much every evening, including a platinum of Veyron I saw.
Forgot the mention the man made Island Palm is worth seeing...that whole area is amazing full of houses of rich people/celebrities while private people were still allowed to purchase property before the government changed the rules. Hotel Atlantis is around there too and is worth checking out.
Last edited by shakalaka; 10-30-2018 at 06:00 PM.
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I'm guessing you are travelling to Dubai and then to the Maldives based on your other post? The wife and I did this last year. We stayed 5 nights in Dubai, then 10 nights in the Maldives, then flew back to Dubai, and travelled to Abu Dhabi, stayed 3 nights, and then travelled back to Dubai for the last night (close to the airport)Originally Posted by Red@8
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We stayed downtown Dubai at the Taj. (with a view of the Burj), and on the last night we stayed at Atlantis on Palm island
Things to do in Dubai:
- visit both big malls
- Aquarium in the mall
- Ski Dubai indoor ski hill in the mall
- visit the worlds tallest building
- desert safari
- take a tour of all of the architecture downtown
- walk down JBR and the beach (Jumeirah beach) lots of shopping and nice beach
- travel to palm island, day pass to Atlantis
- The worlds largest Ferris wheel may be completed by the time you get there.
We stayed at the Yas Marina hotel on the Formula one race track in Abu Dhabi
Things to do in Abu Dhabi
- ride the worlds fastest roller coaster at Ferrari World
- There is a solid days worth to spend at Ferrari world
- drive a supercar on the track at Yas Marina
- shopping at the mall
- There is a car museum there (didnt make it out to see it unfortunately)
- there are mosques to visit (if you are in to that)
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Been there like 5 years ago, we did the following things and enjoyed them all, except for Ski Dubai...save your money..
Visit big malls
Burj Khalifa viewing platform
Afternoon tea at Burj Al Arab (7 star hotel...only way to get in is to stay there...or go to the restaurant, it's the horizontal bar on top of that hotel, pretty awesome)
Desert safari (we didn't do the jeeps, just to get there, but not an actual outting, we did the buggies however, man that was super fun. Overnight is a neat experience sleeping in the desert with an open ski, super memorable)
The beaches
The water park at the Atlantis.
Chopper tour from Atlantis (freaking awesome views of all the islands and downtown)
Boat tour from the Marina (just goes around the marina and towards burj al arab, jump into the water for a swim, awesome!)
I think that's about it, it wasn't cheap but totally worth it!
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Thanks for the tips so far everyone.
Did anyone drive Yas Marina Circuit? They have an Aston and a Ferrari cup car for grabs. Debating if it will be worth the money.
Director of Awesomeness 
I recommend purchasing one of those hop on - hop off bus tickets. It takes you right to Dubai Mall vs taking the Metro (stop is really far away from mall) and is great for checking out sights on the way there. We actually used it to take us to different dinner destinations and then we'd Uber it back to our hotel afterwards.
Dubai Marina is a pretty cool area to check out as well. I believe they have 6 or 7 of the world's top 10 tallest residential buildings there. The Beach Mall there looked really nice (I didn't go, just drove by).
Ski Dubai was neat, but not if you're a big skier or snowboarder, it's like a smaller version of COP but inside of a mall. The wife loved the penguin experience (Peng-friend encounter), spend 40 minutes hanging out with penguins.
Desert Safari Tour was really fun, included a dinner/entertainment as well. We didn't do the overnighter version because we'd rather sleep in our hotel room
Booked Ferrari World / Abu Dhabi day trip via the tour groups in hotel lobby which ended up working out awesome. We were the only ones on the tour so we had a private driver all day driving us around. We booked it at our first hotel, but then we transferred hotels so not sure if that's how we scored the private tour but try it!
We stayed 4 nights at Sheraton on Sheikh Zayed Road (while we were doing the mall and touristy stuff) and another 4 nights at the Grand Hyatt where we enjoyed less active days and just ate at the hotel and did a whole lot of nothing.
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We stayed at the Yas hotel, and got to watch some of the racing from our hotel room, as well as the rooftop patio. I didn't pre book any driving on the track, and regretted it when I was there. We went down to the track and there isn't much for a "storefront", unlike exotics racing in Vegas, if you haven't pre-booked, your pretty much out of luck. There isn't anyone there to take in any last minute people.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
They divide the track up in to two parts, the astons/mercedes usually drive out on the faster part of the track, and the open wheel racers were on the tighter section of the track that circles the hotel. I would do the open wheel racing next time I'm there for sure.
As far as "worth the money" thats more of a personal thing. Some people think its worth every penny, others wonder why we could throw that much money at something that lasts for only a few laps.
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Don't so much as brush up against anyone:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...nst-man-in-bar
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that is absolutely terrifying.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
I have done things MUCH worse in social situations and got a slap on the wrist every time.
The country looks amazing, absolutely gorgeous. But why in the fuck is someone getting jailed for allegedly attempting to be COURTEOUS?
And he got charged for consuming alcohol in a bar? That is the most bass-ackwards thing I have ever heard.
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ftfyThis quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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Yup, not somewhere I will ever go. Way too scary with regards to "offenses" and the like.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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Alcohol is not legal for residents in Dubai. There are no liquor stores, and Alcohol cannot be consumed at restaurants unless they are attached to a hotel. So the only place people can consume alcohol legally is in the hotel pubs and restaurants. I would have to re-check, but I think their laws also stipulate you have to be a guest at that hotel to buy and consume alcohol. So if this guy was renting an apartment and walked over to the hotel pub to drink, that may technically be illegal.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Women are not allowed to show their shoulders or knee caps in public. There are several signs all over the malls that remind guests they have to dress appropriately. PDA's is illegal. It is even considered dirty to hand someone money with your left hand, or eat with your left hand. (this was challenging because I'm left handed) Also the men do not speak to another mans woman, so the concierge, the cab drivers, lots of times people would only say hi to me, and deal with me.
Travelling is all about experiencing other cultures, and respecting their beliefs when you visit. I was really skeptical before we left for Dubai, but after being there, I would not hesitate to go back
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