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RE: Follow up question: hotel recommendations in Dubai
Dr Dim 03/03/11, 04:45 | 
0 | I still haven't decided if I'm going yet, but the $750 aeroflot ticket (which includes a total of 12 hours of layovers) is tempting.
Does anyone have any hotel recommendations? Some of the places that are coming up on kayak are cheap as hell, but I don't want bedbugs/my stuff to be stolen.
Also how much are cabs and food there? Could I get by if I budgeted $100 a day, with the understanding that I won't have to buy too many of my meals?
Didn't see this before... I have stayed in a couple of places, the only name I remember is the Orchid, just because it was so weird. It wasn't dirty or dangerous, just kind of surreal, and the food was fairly bad. Fun ethnic themed nightclubs though. Where you stay should be based on were you need to be during the day anyway, remember it is stinking hot and transport is horrible. Also confirm your booking by email to the hotel itself (not the booking site) or phone if possible. From what I've seen of mid range Dubai hotels they are way, way more likely to somehow not get your booking right than they are to rob you. If that happens the YMCA near the airport is clean and pleasant enough.
$100 US should be OK, taxis are fairly priced (probably similar to US prices), the food varies. On the other hand, although the rate is not bad you can end up spending a very long time in a cab if you try to get anywhere in the evening rush, and allow up to an hour for even getting one at certain times. I'm not kidding, a full hour. There's a rail line but it rarely goes where you want to go, and the buses are terrible. Most of the mid range food in malls etc seems to be bland garbage, but if you stay around Bur Dubai the Bangladeshi and Indian places are OK, just try to find one with air con or at least a good fan.
If you have time I've heard some of the other nearby emirates are interesting, and they're all fairly close by road. Bear in mind some of the other Emirates are more conservative than Dubai. If you want copied clothes, watches, bags etc there's an area called "Karama shops" (not the mall) out to the west of the city that has the best prices. | | Previous | Reply - Reply With Quote | | | | |
??? (wheellock-railgun) 02/16/11, 11:24 RE: ??? (futurebot) 02/16/11, 12:26 |
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