Dubai 12-16th September 2015

Jackie Cook on 30 September 2015
Sponsored by Emirates, Arabian Adventures and Dubai Tourism

I was very fortunate to be offered this trip to Dubai having already visited this destination 3 times before but with Dubai, the changes with the skyline changes so quickly, the last visit being 8 years before, it was important I returned to see the difference. We flew from Birmingham and we were delighted to learn we had all been upgraded to Emirates Airlines Business Class. Getting to know 10 other people you have never met is so much easier sitting in the business lounge sipping Champagne at 8am! Our flight was on time and was far too quick! The service was fabulous and so friendly too. We arrived in Dubai at around 19:15 and were met by Arabian Adventures and taken to the Hotel Ritz Carlton The Walk. This is close to the Marina which was just a building site the last time I was there. We checked into our individual rooms and once unpacked met for a quick drink down on the beach. This really is a fabulous location and although the hotel is classed as a boutique hotel and not that large, the hotel still has plenty of outdoor space and a fabulous private beach. Having come from the UK where the temperatures had dropped to below average for September, we were suddenly hit with temperatures of 38 degrees plus so quite difficult to adjust to. Obviously air conditioning is a must in all hotels. Our first full day we visited the hotels in the “One & Only” group and then “The Atlantis The Palm” for a site visit and lunch. After a fabulous buffet lunch hosted by Kyp Charalambours, sales director, we were offered our wrist bands to spend an afternoon in the Atlantis Waterpark. This park has unlimited access to all residents of Atlantis The Palm but non-residents can pay for a daily pass too. Our evening meal that night was hosted back at the Ritz Carlton by Luca and Natalya, from the sales department. This was in the newly opened restaurant on the beach which has a very casual atmosphere and fantastic food. Our next day was a busy day of Jumeirah hotel visits. I had stayed in one of the Madinat Jumeirah hotels, the Al Qasr in 2004 but it was lovely to see the property again and its sister hotels. There is another hotel being built alongside the Mina al Salam which is very noisy unfortunately, but it did not affect the other hotels. There is a water way all around the hotels so you can reach different parts of the Madinat (which also includes its own souk) by boat. We were all excited to read on our itinerary that we were having lunch at the Jumeirah Burj Al Arab. This is described as the most luxurious hotel in the world and I would not argue with that. Most people class this as a 6 star but as this rating does not actually exist, we have to accept it is the very best of a 5* The hotel has been built off shore and resembles a sailing boat. The interior is lavish but extremely tasteful. Everything you see is gold or gold leaf and the furnishings are very colourful. There is nothing the owners have not thought about with the design and the service; A beautiful hotel. We had lunch in the Al Iwan restaurant. It was buffet style and I had lobster for a starter! I was interested to hear that in the low season, anyone staying on half board at any of the Jumeirah Hotels can have a meal at the Burj at a small supplement. We then drove to the Palm and visited the Jumeirah Zabeel Saray. This hotel reminded me of a cruise ship because it includes a cinema and a music hall as well as numerous restaurants. I really liked this hotel and the decor for each restaurant was totally different but all had hand painted ceilings. We checked into our 2nd hotel, The Kempinski the Palm. This is an all suite hotel so we were given a 2 bedroom suite and I shared with my Travel Counsellor colleague, Helen. The suites are massif with a large fully equipped kitchen, a large lounge and dining area and 2 double size bedrooms with bathrooms. The decor of ours was gold and cream and was exactly my taste. Others I understand were silver. We had a long balcony which stretched across the back of the whole suite. Our view was out to sea to the west, rooms on the other side face the Palm This hotel is extremely good for families and has some suites of 4 bedrooms and a 5 bedroom Royal Villa. That evening we drove into downtown Dubai which is where the tallest building in the world is, the Burj Khalife. This is where the night life is. It is also where the fountain show is held every night, every half hour from 6pm. We were able to watch the show a couple of times from the 2 “The Address” hotels we were visiting and then had our evening meal, the Hotel Manzil and the Hotel Palace. It was a lovely evening and certainly the place to head for some nightlife. The next morning was something I had been so excited about since reading our itinerary first; a seaplane flight over Dubai. This is operated through Seawings and from the Dubai Creek Golf Club. We had an early start and arrived in good time to hear from the Seawings representative some information about where we would be flying over and a safety drill as you would hear on a normal flight. We were then driven down to the pontoon where we boarded the small 9 seater plane. It was thrilling to see all the sights of Dubai, including the Palm, the Burj al Arab and the newly reclaimed land to form The World from the air. I cannot imagine anywhere in the world which has a better view from the air because of Dubai’s incredible buildings and landscapes. It also helps you relate where the different areas of Dubai are located It lasted 40 minutes and it will be something I will always remember. We then visited the new Taj Dubai hotel and had lunch at the “Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding” (SMCCU). We were taken to an authentic Emirati House where they run programs for better understanding of how a true Emirati actually lives. We were offered authentic food, sat on cushions with the food all set out in the middle of the floor for us to help ourselves. It was delicious. Then a volunteer, in our case, a 19 year old college student dressed in all back with her head covered, sat and answered questions from us all. Apparently they don’t care what we ask, nothing is taboo. It was fascinating. We had one more hotel visit which was the Four Seasons Hotel. Mohammed, the sales director took us first into the Hendricks bar and offered us an unusual cocktail made with Gin and Tea served from a tea pot (cold!) It was certainly a G&T with a difference and was gorgeous. As we were leaving, he invited us to join him and his sales team to their reopening of their roof top bar. It stays closed during the summer months because it is too hot so that night was reopening for the winter months. He said he would send some cars to pick us up. We talked about it on the way back to the hotel because we were reluctant to have a late night as we were up early the next morning for our flight home but eventually we decided we would not get another opportunity and we would go for just ONE drink after our hosted meal at the Kempinski. We were collected at 10:20 and driven the 30 mins to the Four Seasons in beautiful Mercedes cars! The one drink became 3 and we eventually got to bed about 1:45am with our alarm clocks set for 4am! Catherine, our group leader was extending her stay in Dubai so was not flying with us but did escort us to the airport. We checked in in economy class and headed off to the wonderful Dubai Duty Free area. On passing through the gate to board our plane, our economy boarding cards were taken off us and replaced with business class! We were so thrilled. This made the lack of sleep and early start so much easier to bear! I had a fabulous time in Dubai and met some lovely people. Thank you to all involved who made this trip truly wonderful.