Ras Al Khaimah and Dubai family fun

Desperate for sun and in need of some R and R, we thought we’d go away for a February half term break. Having sold Dubai a lot but never actually visited, I thought it was high time we went to the UAE and saw it for ourselves.

We spent the first three nights at Rixos Bab Al Bahr and to be honest, we didn’t really expect much as I’d booked it as a cheap flop-on-a-beach escape before our Dubai city break.

We were very pleasantly surprised and really loved the resort and our ridiculously big two bedroom suite. We had two rooms connected by a lobby area and the biggest balcony with loungers and table. Also surprisingly, the garden view was actually a view of two sides of the sea!

The resort was lovely, and the food was amazing. They do a la carte and buffet and we couldn’t fault any of the meals. Entertainment was top notch and appealed to all nationalities.

Honestly, we’d love to return as it’s great value for guaranteed February sunshine!

We then spent three nights in Dubai, where our hotel, The Grosvenor House exceeded our expectations. We loved our stay in our spectacular, huge two bedroom suite, with again the most amazing balcony with a view that is hard to put into words.

For those with families, it’s perfect as one room had huge twin beds and a main bathroom with bath and shower opposite, while we had the biggest bed in the master suite with ensuite bathroom. We even had a very swish kitchen and a washing/dryer machine.

We had the half board package which included two buffet restaurants or a la carte in several restaurants in Grosvenor House and the sister hotel Le Meridian on the beach. There is a courtesy shuttle bus between the two hotels which saves a bit of a walk!

We spent three jam packed days exploring Dubai, going to Souks, seeing the tallest building in the world, travelling on the metro and the monorail, promenading the JBR, eating delicious food everywhere and finishing the trip with a day at Aquaventure and the aquarium at Atlantis The Palm.

One thing I didn’t realise is that Dubai is HUGE! However, the metro, tram and monorail system is really easy to use and ridiculously clean. It’s also cheap as are taxis, which when you consider the price of a glass of wine in Dubai (not cheap!) is amazing! I can honestly say we loved Dubai and will return – it’s perfect for a stopover on the way to other places too and my kids keep on asking to return to Aquaventure for another go on the Zoomerango!

We won’t forget this trip and have made some amazing memories we’ll treasure forever.