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LIKE EUTHANSIA and fox hunting, Dubai seems to polarise public opinion. On the one hand you have those that maintain the place is a sandy paradise where the sun shines all year around, there’s no crime, luxury comes as standard, and Dubai business hotels and luxury resorts outshine some of the best in the world. On the other, they say that for half the year the temperatures nudge 50 degrees Celsius and the place has absolutely no soul. So who do you believe? I mean, those famous people that have bought property there – David Beckham, Brad Pitt, Jim Davidson – can’t all be wrong, right?
As ever, the truth is somewhere in the middle. In early 2007 Dubai was firmly camped with the aye set. Sure, if you turn up in the summer months and go to the beach you will die within 15 minutes, not literally of course. And, yes, the place has all the culture of a Las Vegas casino. But one thing that endeared Dubai to the playboy, flash-your-cash set was balls. As any Dubai guide is quick to point out, the place built the biggest, longest, widest and tallest of everything from skyscrapers and shopping malls to rotating ski mountains before throwing its arms open and inviting the world to come and take a look.
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But the global economic crisis has forced the miracle in the desert to take a long hard look at itself. The thrusting, build-it-and-they-will-come confidence has been replaced by no small amount of navel gazing and contrition. Plummeting visitor numbers in 2009 have exposed Dubai to the harsh economic realities it hoped to avoid when it switched its oil-reliant economy to the bright, shiny new dawn of international tourism. But putting all your eggs in a different basket does not stop them spoiling. The risk was there with a capital R.
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| Stomach-churning downhill/ photo: Verghese |
The downturn has been stark. Hundreds of new high rises and hotels remain unfinished and thousands of hotel rooms lie empty as tourists from Europe save their money and stay at home. At first Dubai did what it always does best: enact a grand gesture that the world can’t fail to notice. So when the Atlantis resort opened in 2008 with the most expensive party ever to be thrown – patronised by Hollywood film stars and rock stars – it made headlines but felt out of kilter with the general air of modesty that hung over the world like a low lying fog.
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This, however, might well have been the wake-up call Dubai needed. In many ways it was a victim of its own success. With full occupancy rates and a spiralling cost of living, many were put off. Now Dubai is back to where it was in 2003: eager for tourists, contemplating how to rebuild and ripe for a bargain. If you look around, you can again enjoy the Emirate the way it was supposed to be enjoyed. And some flash is back. On 5 January, 2010, the 828m Burj Khalifa (formerly Burj Dubai) was inaugurated with spectacular fireworks, pomp and ceremony. It lays claim to be the world's tallest building and offers a viewing platform on its vertiginous 124th floor.
Regardless of the current economic climate, its current difficulties are still a relative footnote when you consider its astonishing recent history. In little more than a decade, Sheikh Mohammed – the Ruler of Dubai, and its self-styled CEO – transformed a sleepy emirate running out of oil into one of the world’s top ten tourist destinations. And whilst his projection to attract 15 million people to visit Dubai by 2010 may have to be revised, it’s unlikely he’ll allow a trifling global economic downturn to permanently undo his work. And it is still a Casablanca oasis of calm in a region of notorious instability where myriad nationalities rub shoulders; where you can enjoy luxury hotels, skiing, sand boarding, wadi bashing, paragliding, or nothing at all, all in one day. Dubai is a survivor. But on with our Dubai guide.
To orientate yourself, the emirate of Dubai is the second largest of the seven emirates within the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The city of Dubai is divided by the Creek, an inlet of the Arabian Gulf. Deira, essentially comprising the city centre and the traditional areas comprising the glittering Gold Souk and old-world spice souk, lies to the north of the creek, and Bur Dubai (along the Sheikh Zayed Road business artery towards Abu Dhabi) lies to the south. The traditional way to cross the Creek is by using one of the many traditional abra boats plying the narrow stretch of water (but these days there are several bridges crossing it, of course). So on to our Dubai guide, the best shopping, hotels, and outings.
Dubai business hotels and Jumeirah luxury resorts
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| One & Only Royal Mirage/ photo: hotel |
Whether you’re looking for swank Dubai business hotels or a gleaming beach resort down Jumeirah, the first thing you’ll need to do is peruse the options. It used to be the case that if you didn’t stay at a beachfront hotel the alternative was a) book into a Deira flea pit teeming with leprosy, or b) sleep in your hire car. But the area around the main strip of beach hotels past Jumeirah (including hotels such as the stylish Ritz Carlton Hotel Dubai with its spa and beach clubs, Le Meridien Mina Seyahi, the Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort & Spa and the Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Resort) has gone through intensive, round-the-clock renovation – and by that I mean that for over two years the hotels were surrounded by building work of such magnitude that your fitful slumber (if you got one at all) would be punctuated by the sound of drills. Le Royal Meridien, for example, once warned on its website that “development work at the Dubai Marina, which can be seen from our land view rooms, may be a cause for noise disturbance”. The downturn has becalmed fevered development.
Emerging from Dubai's construction flurry is The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina. Its 294 rooms feature LCD TVs, Internet access (both wired and wireless for a fee), safes, and the brand's signature "Heavenly Beds". Bathrooms come with separate tubs and rainshowers. The resort's beachfront location means there's no shortage of watersports available from water-skiing to windsurfing and most things in between. You may choose to charter a yacht, but if sailing is not your style, there's always the pool, tennis courts or fitness centre to keep you busy. Wining and dining choices are aplenty with eight bars and restaurants that offer Italian, Asian, Spanish, contemporary and international fare. Large-scale events, conferences and weddings may be held in the hotel's 15,600sq ft function space. For Dubai conference hotels, this is an address to mark down.
The beachfront Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah Beach is an all-balcony, all-seaview room hotel in the heart of “new” Dubai. With the Dubai Marina in walking distance, you can shop, then drop into a 36sq m room or 54sq m suite with LCD cable TV, Bose sound system, Internet, safe, separate bathtub and tea and coffee-making facilities. Rooms feel comfortable, with attractive wood panelling above the bed and lots of soft furnishings. Rococo, Italian restaurant is swathed in hip neon pinks, with a wavy ceiling that is somewhat underwhelming. Spend more time over your tiramisu or enjoy the more muted tones upstairs. It is all a question of taste.
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| Park Hyatt poolside/ photo: hotel |
Park Hyatt Dubai is set on the bank of the Creek. The stunning arabesque architecture and peaceful surroundings belie the fact that you’re actually a stone’s throw from the city’s main bottleneck – Garhoud Bridge. This is one of the best Dubai business hotels and certainly worth noting in your diary. Set amidst 37 acres of gardens, and overlooking Dubai Creek, is the Grand Hyatt Dubai. Another of the top Dubai business hotels, it offers 674 rooms and suites as well as 186 long-stay apartments. All rooms feature contemporary decor (with an Arabian touch) and amenities include TVs (25-inch or larger), high-speed Internet, minibar, and safes that are large enough to fit a laptop. The marble bathrooms have separate tubs and showers, twin basins, and bidets. No excuses for laziness at this hotel; there are indoor and outdoor pools, squash and tennis courts, and a jogging track, all part of "The Grand Spa". The Grand Hyatt Dubai also has vast meeting and conference facilities.
Jumeirah Bab Al Shams Desert Resort & Spa is another that hasn’t let a lack of beach hamper it. The fact that this Dubai luxury resort is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by miles of unbroken dunes and a deserted, lightly chilled infinity pool more than makes up for the lack of a small strip of sand skirting a salty, not altogether clean, body of water. Farther inland on the Dubai-Al Ain highway is the exclusive "eco-tourism" Al Maha Desert Resort, set within a 25sq km desert reserve. This plush Bedouin-style oasis in the dunes is sufficiently off the beaten path to offer a genuine wilderness setting, complete with falconry, camel rides, archery, sand skiing and four-wheel-drive dune runs. Who says money can't buy you fun?
That’s not to say that beach areas are totally redundant. Near the marina you’ll find the recently opened Grosvenor House West Marina Beach by Le Méridien, while the One&Only Royal Mirage is arguably one of the best Dubai luxury hotels. The sprawling resort is stunning with three separate hotels contained within its walls. It has the Rooftop Terrace where you can enjoy a cocktail while watching the sunset over the Arabian Gulf. You can also smoke shisha (traditional water pipe) at the "shisha courtyards". The three different accommodation zones include The Palace, the Arabian Court, and the Residence & Spa, each with distinctive architecture, mood and flair.
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| The Address Suite / photo: hotel |
Farther down the coast, you’ll see Dubai’s most famous erection. The Burj Al Arab, a self-styled “seven-star” hotel, is Dubai’s thrusting, phallic symbol of luxury and business acumen. It features on number plates, restaurant signs, sunglasses. You name it, the Burj adorns it. So proud are Emiratis of their 321m construction that fighter jets are on a three-minute stand-by lest anyone wanders into its airspace accidentally. Access for non-guests is restricted. True, the interior resembles the palace of a recently enriched Russian crime boss, but it is still a luxurious experience almost impossible to top.
Two challengers to this level of luxury have recently emerged on the Burj scene under The Address Hotels and Resorts brand. Both The Address Downtown Burj Dubai and The Palace – The Old Town offer complimentary WiFi in all rooms, up to 42-inch plasma TV screens and iPod docking stations, but also direct their luxury arrangements toward different markets.
The Address boasts more of Dubai’s brash and eye-popping “ests” – the world’s tallest tower, flanked by Dubai Mall one of the world’s largest shopping centres. The relentless search for the biggest means that these glass-and-steel statements may soon be dwarfed, but they are an impressive addition to the Dubai skyline. Eight restaurants and bars have every taste covered, but the biggest distinction for The Address is its family friendly focus, which includes a designated children’s pool and the Qix Club children’s programme.
The Palace, built on the edge of a lake and situated at the heart of a traditional Arabian village, mixes Middle Eastern Heritage with contemporary glamour. The hotel’s focus on the high-end business traveller is evident in its location (close to all major business and financial institutions), the comprehensive business centre and three international restaurants. There are balconies for all rooms with a lake or Old Town view and dramatic suites.
The wave-shaped 617-room Jumeirah Beach Hotel next to the Burj was Jumeirah’s original trend-setter at the forefront of the Dubai luxury hotels wave. The place has no less than 18 bars, lounges and restaurants, but some say it’s over-priced and over-rated. There have been upgrades recently.
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| Bab Al Shams luxury resort/ photo: hotel |
The Madinat Jumeirah resort has also taken the concept of “old Arabia” – with a luxury (and theme park) touch. It includes three hotels, 3.7km of waterways with traditional water taxis transporting guests from their rooms to the restaurants and beach and a retail souk (market) with shops, bars and restaurants (more about this later). The Mina A' Salam boutique hotel has 292 rooms sized at least 50sq m and suites have private balconies with Arabian Gulf views. Neighbouring Al Qasr is a “mansion-style” hotel surrounded by water.
Back in the city, in Deira, top Dubai business hotels (with the distinct benefit of being close to the airport) include the luxurious Renaissance Dubai Hotel with good conference facilities, the contemporary-style Taj Palace boasting “the largest room in the city at 61sq m including balcony”, the 262-room Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel & Towers overlooking the Creek, and the JW Marriott with its award-winning conference facilities. New business suites here offer laptops, all-in-one scanners, copiers, faxes and printers, flat-screen televisions and high-speed Internet. Others business choices include the Hyatt Regency and the Sheraton Deira Hotel. That’s the pick of the Dubai business hotels bunch.
There’s no shortage of good accommodation in Bur Dubai either. The Fairmont, resembling a (34-storey) traditional Arabian wind-tower on Sheikh Zayed Road (opposite the Dubai International Convention Centre), has 394 rooms and suites with business facilities and 10 dining and entertainment venues. There’s a two-floor business centre and 40,000sq ft spa and health club.
Also on Sheikh Zayed Road is the five-star Dusit Thani Dubai, bringing a Thai touch to Dubai and featuring 321 hotel rooms, suites and fully furnished and serviced one and two-bedroom apartments. The nearby Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai is a 200m, 43-storey hotel with 301 generously sized guestrooms, good business facilities and a luxurious spa and health club.
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| Atlantis, Lost Chambers/ photo: hotel |
Raffles Dubai cuts an iconic pyramidal figure on Sheikh Rashid Road, Wafi, with direct access to Wafi Shopping Mall. The hotel’s 19 storeys contain 248 suites that range in size from 70sq m to a whopping 650sq m. With Middle Eastern and Asian design influences, rooms feature balconies, TVs, iPod docking stations, free WiFi Internet access and Raffles Amrita Spa amenities in the bathrooms. There’s ample space for business and leisure events – 11 meeting rooms, a 750sq m ballroom, and a botanical garden. Expect a breezy pool, spa, and library (with 15,000 books, no less). This about wraps up our Dubai business hotels review but wait, there’s more luxury resorts and developments to come.
Another famous (or infamous if small and subtle is your thing or you’re one of the 1,869 relocated fish) is The Palm Jumeirah, a giant man-made island. To say that The Palm Jumeirah is large is an understatement. Developers claim it is the “eighth wonder of the world” – it has pretty much doubled Dubai’s coastline and consists of “fronds” that branch out from a 2km “trunk” as well as an 11km crescent circling the fronds. When eventually complete, there will be residences, hotels, shops, and myriad entertainment and leisure options. The flagship resort is Atlantis, The Palm, which opened September 2008. In step with its host, Atlantis is gargantuan, covering 46 hectares with 1,539 rooms offering views over the Arabian Gulf or The Palm itself. Guests can choose from a variety of accommodation including the indulgent Bridge Suite (spanning the entire Royal Towers, above the signature arch of the building, with three bedrooms, two balconies, and a private lift) or Lost Chambers (three opulent floors with bedrooms that look into the underwater world of “Ambassador Lagoon”). There are no less than 17 restaurants, lounges and bars – celebrated Japanese restaurant Nobu has opened here. These are found on a promenade called The Avenues that is also home to a nightclub and dozens of brand-name shops.
Shopping and eating are all well and good, but what to do when you’re craving activity? Well, consider the Aquaventure water playground – 18 million litres of water, cascading rides, tidal waves and rapids, and seven water slides. Or take in the sights of the aforementioned Ambassador Lagoon, a marine habitat that is home to around 65,000 species of sea life, or Dolphin Bay – an education and conservation centre for one of the ocean’s most enchanting creatures. The resort also has 5,600sq m of meeting and function space. If this is too much to contemplate, visit the spa for a few hours of relaxation. Or simply head to the beach with a bucket, a spade, and a sunhat. If you need a top Dubai luxury resort where ostentation is not out of place, this one’s for you.
Dubai shopping guide and a few extras
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| Ritz-Carlton on Jumeirah Beach/ photo: hotel |
You can say Dubai was built on sand but really it was built on shopping. The once yearly Dubai Shopping Festival (www.mydsf.com) – usually held for several months at the beginning of the year – was started in the late 1990s to attract more visitors to the emirate and its explosive success has been in no small part due to this.
But while once you could get great bargains, now you’ll have to look harder for prices that can beat other places in Asia. Not even at the awful Global Village, a huge, semi-permanent bazaar selling authentic tat from around the world. In fact, shopping is Dubai’s great fallacy. The designers stock last year’s threads, and prices are no different – sometimes they’re actually more expensive – than back home, not that any Dubai guide would care to mention this of course.
But there are some places worth checking out. Most of the best Dubai shopping is conducted in air-conditioned malls. One of the top ones is the Mall of the Emirates (tel: [971-4] 409-9000, www.malloftheemirates.com), the second biggest mall outside North America that seems to house everyone from Armani to H&M. Best of all, however, is that you’ll be able to go skiing. You might burn like an albino on a sun bed outside, but inside Ski Dubai (tel: [971-4] 409-4000, www.skidxb.com) you can experience “real” snow and a huge slope down which you can ski, snowboard, pull some tricks or just fall over gracefully.
Souk Madinat (tel: [971-4] 366-8888, www.madinatjumeirah.com) on the other hand, tries to take a more authentic approach by modelling itself on a traditional souk. Most of the stuff on sale here is tacky and triple the price you’d get elsewhere in the city, but the Madinat does have a maze of fantastic bars and restaurants to explore (check out Agency, BarZar and the Noodle House) when you get bored of the shopping.
Jumeirah Emirates Towers (tel: [971-4] 330-0000, www.jumeirahemiratestowers.com) on Sheikh Zayed Road (the twin towers you can see from anywhere in Dubai) is where to head when you want to peruse some designer brands or fancy some karaoke. (Harry Ghatto's has “Gold” by Spandau Ballet and “Boys Don’t Cry” by the Cure. Enough said.)
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| All that glitters: Dubai Gold Souk |
The BurJuman mall (www.burjuman.com) is by far the most upmarket of Dubai malls, despite being located in a downmarket area of Bur Dubai. There’s little in the way of independent shops in Dubai but there are a few green shoots poking through. Five Green (tel: [971-4] 336-4100, www.fivegreen.com) is perhaps among the best Dubai shopping gems in this genre. Brought to you by the same people that run iBO, Five Green is found around the back of a café in Oud Metha and stocks achingly cool street wear, nicely folded on its white-washed minimalist shelves. They also keep a few sneaky copies of banned magazines like Vice under the desk, if you ask nicely.
There is still one totem to Dubai’s massive ambition that survived the downturn, and that’s the Dubai Mall (www.thedubaimall.com). The Dubai Mall has taken gargantuan shopping experiences to a whole new, ludicrously massive level. It’s officially the biggest shopping mall in the world so you could visit here on the first day and not actually leave until a) your credit card runs out or, b) you need to take a shower and a change of clothes. The sheer breadth of shops is impossible to list here. But needless to say this is one place where you can truly believe that, if they don’t sell it here, nowhere does.
Rather more quaint is the Ibn Battuta mall (www.ibnbattutamall.com). Found on the highway to Abu Dhabi, it has often been forgotten amongst the plethora of glitzy shopping outlets. So it has stayed stout and let Dubai come to it. As the city has spread northwest, Ibn Battituta, with its crazy, theme-park theme – based on the adventures of the famous Arab explorer – has started to finally attract the attention it deserves. With more children’s entertainment than any other mall, this is definitely one to take the kids to.
For a bit of old world, pre-boom bartering head down to the Gold Souk (www.dubaigoldsouk.com) in Deira. You won’t find the airconditioned molly coddling you get in Dubai’s shopping centres, but it’s all the better for it. What you will find, though, is store after store jammed with gold, silver and diamonds. The souk is regulated so you everything you find is bona fide. Be prepared to haggle hard but with some of the cheapest gold prices in the world you will walk away with a bargain. And it’s not often you can say that in Dubai these days.
Some dining options for gourmets
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| Landmark Burj Al Arab/ photo: hotel |
You’ll need all that designer clothing, faux or not, to look the part at Dubai’s many high-class restaurants. A few years ago fine dining would have meant a greasy shawarma kebab with sauce after a night out. But then Gordon Ramsay came to town. His elegant eatery at the Hilton Dubai Creek Hotel in Deira, Verre (tel: [971-4] 227-1111) blew the spots off the competition (even the shawarma man outside the Cyclone bar) and set the standard for others to follow. To this day his blend of contemporary French cuisine and sincere, doting service is still the city’s best, but others are catching on fast. (The Hilton Dubai Creek Hotel also has a rooftop pool and all mod cons for business travellers.) And on with our Dubai guide to dining.
Gary Rhodes’ Mezzanine restaurant (tel: [971-4] 399-8888) at Grosvenor House is a case in point. The modern, white interior, Perspex lime-green walls and chintzy 1940s furniture makes it look like something out of Alice in Wonderland but gets the point of the menu across: modern, continental takes on British culinary favourites.
Pisces (tel: [971-4] 366-8888) at Souk Madinat is also worth a mention, an expensive but unassuming seafood restaurant that hasn’t put a foot wrong in years. From the sublime to the ridiculous, if you have the money Al Mahara (tel: [971-4] 301-7600) at the Burj Al Arab is worth a visit, if only for the submarine ride down to the “underwater” restaurant. Of course, you’re really eating in what’s essentially the car park but they make a big show of taking a voyage when you climb into the lift. The pilot even cracked some inappropriate jokes about the ride being a little bumpy because of aftershocks from the tsunami. Still, as much as I’d want to the put the boot into them – mainly because you have to sell one of your kidneys to pay for a meal – their seafood fare is up there with the best in the city.
Not everyone will be able to afford to eat fine food and down expensive wines. But you can gorge on slightly less fine food and moderately priced wine for far less. For about 30 cents to be precise. The Glasshouse (tel: [971-4] 227-1111), situated right opposite Verre in the Hilton Dubai Creek, is another Ramsay restaurant offering more affordable food for the masses. But go on a Monday night and you’ll be able to enjoy Dhs1 drinks until they have to roll you home. Who cares what the food tastes like?
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| The smart Fairmont/ photo: hotel |
Oddly, you’ll also be able to find the best curries in the world in Dubai. Over half of the city’s population are from India and Pakistan and there’s no shortage of places to find a decent biryani or madras curry for next to nothing. Gazebo (tel: [971-4] 391-6789) in Bur Dubai is a little more upmarket but you’ll still be able to order the most expensive thing on the menu and have change from a Dhs50 note for a cab home. It is unlicensed though.
Dubai nightlife and bar guide
Dubai nightlife has grown up in recent years. You’ll still find middle-aged Western men drunkenly hanging off the arm of a Russian, er, friend at old haunts like the Cyclone Club (honestly, it’s not even worth us giving you the number), but the city’s younger crowd is a little more discerning. The best club in town is Chi (Al Nasr Leisureland, tel: [971-4] 337-9470, www.lodgedubai.com). Once a sleazy booze pit called The Lodge, a pricey refit later and this outdoor venue is now attracting the dream of European and American DJ talent.
But if you like the soundtrack of your night to be punctuated with clinking glasses of Crystal, then head for The Apartment (tel: [971-4] 406-8000). There are not too many reasons to enter the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, and the place has lost out a little bit to Chi’s emergence, but The Apartment does have some merit in the fact that the music is always fantastic: usually variations on a house theme, but they’ve been known to delve into hip hop, drum and bass and sometimes even dub.
But the coolest club in Dubai is Alpha (www.alphaclub.ae). Taking up the mantle from the gone, but not forgotten, iBO, this is the closest you’ll find to a night out in London or New York with cutting edge DJs and a few live acts thrown in for good measure. Check out See You Next Friday which, unsurprisingly, shakes the foundations every Friday night.
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| Mall Of The Emirates/ photo: mall |
A dishonourable mention must also go to the Buddha Bar (Grosvenor House, tel: [971-4] 399-8888). Yes, it is a proper one and yes it does have beautiful décor, amazing cocktails and actually-not-that-bad chill-out trance soundtrack. But it’s all undermined by a clientele of such insufferable arrogance that you’d rather stab yourself in the neck then engage in another conversation with a wealthy – but very lonely – local about his latest Bentley purchase. Still, the Southeast Asian fusion menu is pretty good. And that’s pretty much the best of Dubai nightlife for the peripatetic.
Some fun stuff, entertainment, golf
As you would expect from an expat haunt with more money, space and sunburnt Englishmen than sense, Dubai has a prolific number of golf courses. In fact, the emirate’s insatiable desire for lush, green courses is one of the reasons why the UAE, per capita, consumes more water in the world than anyone else. The oldest, and still one of the best, is the Emirates Golf Course. The “miracle in the desert” was the Middle East’s first grass course and now hosts the Dubai Desert Classic, a PGA event where the best players in the world come and chance their arm.
At the other end of town is the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, where you can play their par three course if you fear you’ll embarrass yourself with the big boys and girls. But the new breed of courses has an added extra: celebrity endorsement. Colin Montgomerie already has a course here, Ernie Els and Greg Norman are having theirs built and Tiger Woods has announced he’ll build one soon. It’s only a matter of time before John Daly will put his name to a course where you’re docked shots for not consuming ten pints and 30 Benson and Hedges by the time you reach the back nine. On with our Dubai fun guide for the family, kids, and sizzled dads.
Other than golf, watersports by the beach, and maybe a desert tour, you could try some culture. Dubai Museum (tel: [971-4] 393-7151, www.dubaitourism.ae) in Bur Dubai takes you 30 minutes, if that, to get around and ironically highlights the city’s cultural paucity. But visitors interested in the city’s history might still find it worthwhile.
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| Dusit Dubai/ photo: hotel |
If you prefer to spend your time looking for the real Dubai that doesn’t exist, revel in its excessive wastefulness at Wild Wadi (Jumeirah Beach Hotel, tel: [971-4] 348-4444, www.wildwadi.com), the Middle East’s biggest water theme park. It occupies 12 acres (right next to the Burj Al Arab) and has just had a refit to pack in more rides. The 80km/h Jumeirah Sceirah death slide – my name for it, not theirs – has long been a crowd favourite. God knows why: I almost lost my lunch on it.
Although Dubai is an emirate, the city sprawl pretty much takes stretches from its eastern border with Abu Dhabi to its western one with Sharjah. But drive south and you’ll soon find rolling sand dunes and arrogant camels who wander onto the semi-deserted highways unconcerned that they might be complicit in a fatal road accident. (Actually, do be careful. Killing a camel may cost you millions of dirhams in compensation, as the animal has protected status under UAE law).
After 40 minutes you’ll notice that the sand has changed colour from a pale yellow to a rusty red as you enter the Hajar Mountains and Dubai’s mountain retreat of Hatta. People come to Hatta for three reasons. Firstly, to escape the heat. In the summer it’s cooler than the rest of Dubai plus it has the Hatta rock pools, natural fresh water ponds that provide a blessed relief from the pounding heat. Secondly, to go on a visa run, as it’s situated on the Omani border. The third is to go for a dirty weekend at the Hatta Fort Hotel. You can’t miss it. It’s the splash of green on your left as you drive into the town. It used to have a ’70s Swedish porn set ambience but they have since opted for a refit, as a result losing some of its charm. Still, it has great amenities including a swimming pool, par three golf course, archery, skeet and clay pigeon shooting and floodlit tennis courts. Plus there’s a harassed camel tethered to a pole outside that is available for short rides. Perhaps the owner was one of the unlucky drivers on the Hatta-Dubai highway.
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| Wild Wadi water churner/ photo: Wild Wadi |
But back to the sand. Midway back from Hatta you’ll notice a hut next to a massive sand dune and a collection of crazy expats ploughing their four-wheel-drive Toyota Landcruisers at insane angles. You’ll soon realise that the kind of people who boast about doing a spot of wadi-bashing – careering around dried-up river beds and up sand dunes at great personal risk – are the kind of people you’d rather leave to burn in the desert than spend a day with. But with downward angles more vertiginous than the earnings graph of a Hong Kong investment fund, it’s pretty darn fun. Cars skeeter down slopes and then up soaring hills, teetering on knife-edges before going over the top. I worked out that petrol was cheaper than a litre of water, so tank up and head on out if self-drive takes your fancy. Per person dune-run charges with an alfresco dinner thrown in are around Dhs250.
Of course, Dubai is only one of the seven emirates making up the UAE. The others are Abu Dhabi (the capital, expensive and dull), Ras al Khaimah (mountainous and on the up), Ajman (tiny but liberal alcohol laws), Umm Al Quwain (sells itself as an extreme-sports centre) and Fujairah (a long drive but has some of the best snorkelling and diving in the Middle East). But the closest to Dubai is Sharjah. The two emirates have had a fractured relationship. An ex-army officer once regaled friends with a story of how troops from Sharjah and Dubai massed at the border for a scrap a mere 10 years ago before being subsumed into a larger UAE army.
And if you really want to go to Sharjah…
Dubai residents see Sharjah as a backward little anachronism – mainly because it’s “dry” and you can get nicked for carrying a bottle of wine – while the majority of Sharjah’s residents have to work in Dubai (where the wages are higher) and live in Sharjah (where the rents are half the price). The result is a near permanent traffic jam that snakes from the border all the way back to Jumeirah and a lot of very unhappy Sharjah residents who have to spend three hours commuting a journey that would usually take 15 minutes.
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| Sunrise at Sharjah docks/ photo: Verghese |
But despite most Dubaians’ disdain for the place, it has plenty of positives. For one, it has a wealth of museums that Dubai can only dream of. In fact, the Sharjah Biennial is the biggest modern-art event in the Middle East. Because of it, Esquire magazine dubbed the place “the new Monaco”. They might have gone a bit far but shopping here is generally much cheaper too. The Blue Souq on Corniche Road is perfect for picking up Middle Eastern souvenirs like shisha pipes, which are half the price of outlets in Dubai.
The Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife (tel: [971-6] 531-1212, www.breedingcentresharjah.com) outside Sharjah city is the best wildlife park in the region. Here you’ll find local species galore plus the odd cheetah or lion. They aren’t indigenous to Sharjah, obviously, but the emirate has long been a centre for endangered animal smuggling. Whatever gets rescued at customs gets sent here. So what you see when you get there depends on what mood the animal smugglers were in that week.
Good spots to unwind at are the lagoon-side Hotel Holiday International (which plays host to international cricketers and features a large sports TV screen in the lobby) and sister resorts Marbella and the simple yet stylish Lou' Lou'a (with a private beach). The Marbella Resort has a pleasant green coconut-grove setting, also on Khalid Lagoon, with 50 villas. All three are ideal for families and at affordable prices. Also on the beach is the Coral Beach Resort, with 156 rooms, most of which have sea views.
The beach-front, five-star Radisson SAS Resort Hotel, Sharjah caters to business and leisure travellers, with free Broadband throughout the hotel and a beach, spa and fitness centre.
If you're a South Asian foodie, check out the biryani at Pak Ghazi, Bank Street, Sharjah (Indian food is across the main road at Rolla Square). Or Saravana Bhavan and Vastanta Bhavan (for South Indian in Dubai). Al Fawar in Sharjah has excellent Lebanese (which is also abundant in Dubai's Al Nasser Square).
Flying to or transiting Dubai
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| Hatta Fort Hotel/ photo: hotel |
Emirates airline is a great way to enjoy a Dubai stopover. Its new terminal offers 32 gates including five specially crafted aerobridges for the A380 behemoth. Expect over 10,000sq m of duty free shopping in this gleaming new Dubai terminal with, hopefully, some attractive duty-free prices. The Emirates A330-200s have pleasant service and comfy seats (2-4-2 in economy) with PTV and a nose-wheel camera for gripping take-offs and landings. There is also a downward camera. Stewardesses speak Chinese, Russian, Hindi, Bengali, Arabic and Thai, and it is reassuring to get headphones with ear cushions already attached so you don't have to fumble with them for hours. Travellers receive three stickers, which they can affix to their headrest – "do not disturb", "wake for meal" and, rather hopefully, "wake for duty-free". The inflight payphone costs US$5 per minute and a fax facility is available. It's a pity its Skywards frequent flier programme does not link with THAI, Cathay Pacific or Singapore Airlines though SriLankan is a partner. Cathay Pacific flies to Dubai from Hong Kong. The city is well connected from Europe and Asia.
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