Dubai

shradhamis
Jun 24, 2024
5 min read

Introduction

The middle east has always been a marvel to the world. With its' soaring skyscrapers and opulence, it attracts tourists from around the world. Dubai, as the most well known city of the United Arab Emirates is a hub of activity for business and tourism, seeping with luxury. My trip was an extremely short, only 2 nights in the city but a promise to return again and update this guide in the future. Dubai is a city I've visited as a kid growing up, but I can certainly tell you that it's a completely different animal now.

Pricing

Now, let's be honest here, the middle east isn't particularly cheap anymore due to the height of tourism. You do have the option of choosing between the ultra luxury and a more affordable trip. Though, as this was another birthday trip, I did splurge significantly! This was a joint trip with Abu Dhabi so I spent roughly £2,500 including flights, accommodation, food, excursions for two people.

Accommodation

Now, this might be the best and fanciest hotel I ever stayed at. In my life. Atlantis, the Royal. The hotel boasts to put great emphasis on the experience of being at the hotel, a destination in itself. Part of the Atlantis Group, The Royal is the latest flagship development situated on the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. Just along. the road from the original Atlantis, both hotels sit on the crescent of the palm providing exquisite views. The hotel has 795 rooms and suites, 17 restaurant and bars and a myriad of boutique stores for you to explore. Depending on the time of year you chose to go to Dubai, you could fork out over £1,000 a night. But if you go on the 'off season' per say, you can get a relatively good deal for bed & breakfast. And when I say breakfast, I mean feast. The breakfast is held in Gastronomy, one of the restaurants in the hotel, and has stations for every kind of cuisine you can think of. You could quite easily fill yourself for the day at breakfast alone!

We went with a Palm view King Room, and I definitely recommend this over the sea view. The lights at night are a wonder and you can even get a birds eye view of the skyblaze fountain which has a show every hour. Total room cost for two - £902 including breakfast. This is an 'off season' price.

Atlantis, The Royal

Sightseeing / Experiences

Dubai does have a lot of options for sightseeing, the man made islands for one a definite to see and experience. The whole city is an engineering marvel really. Because we were only there for two days, we limited our 'sightseeing' per say. To overcome this, I booked a helicopter tour. I'd done of these in New York before and it's well worth it to get an overall birds eye view of the whole city and capture the iconic skylines. Apart from this, the majority of our experiences were food related which you can see further below.

Helicopter Tour - booked through Falcon tours, we opted for the iconic tour which was about 20mins. This starts at the Atlantis Palm hotel helipad, tours over the palm, the Burj Al Arab, the Burj Khalifa and downtown Dubai as well. It costs 979aed / £210 per person and you can pay a little extra for front row seats which are called the panoramic view and this is definitely worth it. It's an expensive excursion, but the experience is fantastic and from start to finish, the customer service is excellent.
Cloud22 - this is a rooftop pool on the Royal. One downside is that it is now chargeable even to hotel guests and there is no discount given. Even with this, it's worth a visit. We had a moonlight session which starts at 7pm - 11pm and you can just about grab sunset from the high viewpoint. The whole pool area is decked out courtesy of Dolce and Gabanna so you really do feel like you're in a different world. There are a range of prices, starting from 300aed / £65. We went with the floating lotus bed which is one of the double day beds within the pool itself and comes with a bottle of champage (the good stuff), 70cl litre vodka or 70cl of gin. This costs 1500aed / £322 for two.
Experience the Atlantis - as part of your stay, you get complimentary access to Aquaventure (world's largest waterpark) and the Lost Aquarium. We didn't get time to visit these but reviews are fantastic and if your stay is over 4-5 days, then you can make the most out of this

Food

Food is one thing you can really spend a fortune on in Dubai. If you're into michellin star cuisine, and the best experiences, then you're in the right place. The majority of our stay revolved around the food experiences and nothing disappointed. All of the restaurants are best booked ahead of your visit as they do get very busy.

The Royal Tearoom - if you are an afternoon connoisseur, then this is perfect for you. The best afternoon tea I've ever experienced, and that's saying something coming from the land of its' creation! The signature afternoon tea for two costs 569aed / £122 and includes 5 savoury sandwiches, and 5 sweet treats including a full loaf of cake AND scones. It's so much food, so make sure you don't have a heavy breakfast on this day. The session includes unlimited tea, coffee and hot chocolate from a wide selection.
Jaleo - I'm a big lover of spanish food so when I found that the Royal had a spanish restaurant offering a brunch menu, I had to check it out. And what an experience it was. The standard brunch package is 395aed / £85 per person and includes a wide selection of food and drinks (alcohol included sangria, beer, house spirits and wine). The food was never ending, every single dish carefully crafted and utterly delicious. The star of the show was the giant dishes of paella! Brunch also includes live music and a dancer which all adds to the authentic atmosphere.
Nobu - located in the Atlantis Palm, Nobu Dubai needs no introduction. The fushion japanese / peruvian cuisine is a fantastic blend of flavours. We chose the omakase menu (there are two options, the classic and the Dubai) and we selected one of each of the omakase. Omakase basically means chef's table, so you get whatever the chef decides which I actually love the idea of. Just let them know of any dietery restrictions in advance. In hindesight, one omakase between two may have been enough food but we got greedy. The food is rich, fresh and extremely tasty. There wasn't a single dish that we didn't love. The classic omakase is 575aed / £123 or the Dubai is 775aed / £165. I would personally opt for the Dubai omakase as the flavours were unreal and definitely more 'fancy'!