Dubai question for Anne (Jayayeff)

[grayjay]

10 hours ago, Jayayeff said:

 

The 5* hotels do not usually operate airport shuttles but will arrange a private car pick-up for you if requested.  Some of the 3* or 4* hotels do have shuttles.   However, if you are planning on staying at the Intercontinental Festival City it is only 5 minutes from the airport so just getting taxi is fine...

 

Anne...

Thank you, Anne. This helps a lot. And a short taxi ride is doable even for tiredly yawning oldies like us...

[bearette]

We are doing a few days pre-cruise.  I like to do home/ apartment rentals because I have twins who will be 7, turning 8 on our trip.  I find I get extra space and amenities like washers and dryers that come in handy.  For an apartment rental, is there a location or place you would recommend?  We will be there mid-March.

[Jayayeff]

16 hours ago, bearette said:

We are doing a few days pre-cruise.  I like to do home/ apartment rentals because I have twins who will be 7, turning 8 on our trip.  I find I get extra space and amenities like washers and dryers that come in handy.  For an apartment rental, is there a location or place you would recommend?  We will be there mid-March.

 

Airbnb is still in its infancy here as foreign ownership freehold property was not permitted until fairly recently however, you can find some properties on there with most of them being in the new development areas of Dubai Marina, Downtown, Palm Jumeirah.  It may be worth taking a look on some of the hotel booking websites using the self-contained filter as several of the hotel companies operate serviced accommodation in buildings often right beside the hotel they operate.  You can also check Rotana Hotels website - they are a regional hotel group who from the start have had a portfolio of 5* hotels (Rotana Hotels), Residences (Arjaan, Residence, Amwaj brand names) and the newest brand Centro (3/4* hotels).  I think you may find the various hotel managed residences could be better located than an Airbnb rental..

 

Anne..

Edited June 10, 2019 by Jayayeff

[bearette]

Thanks for the recommendations, I will check out these places. Would you recommend a downtown area or marina area for a family? We are looking at going to one or two of the theme parks, a dessert safari, Burj Khalifa, the mall, and maybe dinner in the 7 star hotel, (but that may be out of budget with kids, we mostly want to see inside without the $1000 hotel room night bill). We will have 5 days.

[Jayayeff]

11 hours ago, bearette said:

Thanks for the recommendations, I will check out these places. Would you recommend a downtown area or marina area for a family? We are looking at going to one or two of the theme parks, a dessert safari, Burj Khalifa, the mall, and maybe dinner in the 7 star hotel, (but that may be out of budget with kids, we mostly want to see inside without the $1000 hotel room night bill). We will have 5 days.

 

For a family I would say the Downtown/Business Bay (which is the area around the Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall) is preferable to Dubai Marina as it is more accessible, and if you are going to either of the water parks or the theme parks then you will need a taxi from either area as they are not on the metro line...

 

Anne..

[josumello]

First I would like to thank you for all the wonderful knowledge you so generously share with us. Secondly I would like to ask your advice. 

We will be arriving Dubai on Tues Mar 24 at 11:45pm and will spend the next 3 days touring Dubai and possibly visiting Abu Dhabi. Then we leave for a cruise. I was considering The Grand Hyatt or The Hyatt Regency. The Hyatt Regency is quite economical which worries me!! Lol. 

Thanks for any help. 

 

Sue

[Jayayeff]

3 hours ago, josumello said:

First I would like to thank you for all the wonderful knowledge you so generously share with us. Secondly I would like to ask your advice. 

We will be arriving Dubai on Tues Mar 24 at 11:45pm and will spend the next 3 days touring Dubai and possibly visiting Abu Dhabi. Then we leave for a cruise. I was considering The Grand Hyatt or The Hyatt Regency. The Hyatt Regency is quite economical which worries me!! Lol. 

Thanks for any help. 

 

Sue

 

Sue,

 

it’s nothing sinister, just that the Hyatt Regency is one of the older hotels in Dubai and it’s located over on Deira side of the Creek.  It’s actually quite close to the port but a bit out of the way for any of the sights other than the gold souq and the spice souq.  The Grand Hyatt is a larger and newer property on the Bur Dubai side of the Creek, quite close to the Wafi Centre and the Raffles Hotel.  It’s more convenient for ‘new’ Dubai, just a short taxi ride away from Dubai Mall, Burj Khalifa etc...The Frame and Miracle Garden are also very close as is the recently redeveloped Jadaf Waterfront where you’ll find the lovely Jameel Arts Centre and the soon to be opened Mohld Bin Rashid Library...

 

Anne..

[josumello]

1 hour ago, Jayayeff said:

 

Sue,

 

it’s nothing sinister, just that the Hyatt Regency is one of the older hotels in Dubai and it’s located over on Deira side of the Creek.  It’s actually quite close to the port but a bit out of the way for any of the sights other than the gold souq and the spice souq.  The Grand Hyatt is a larger and newer property on the Bur Dubai side of the Creek, quite close to the Wafi Centre and the Raffles Hotel.  It’s more convenient for ‘new’ Dubai, just a short taxi ride away from Dubai Mall, Burj Khalifa etc...The Frame and Miracle Garden are also very close as is the recently redeveloped Jadaf Waterfront where you’ll find the lovely Jameel Arts Centre and the soon to be opened Mohld Bin Rashid Library...

 

Anne..

 

Thank you soooo much!!

[bearette]

On 6/11/2019 at 11:12 PM, Jayayeff said:

 

For a family I would say the Downtown/Business Bay (which is the area around the Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall) is preferable to Dubai Marina as it is more accessible, and if you are going to either of the water parks or the theme parks then you will need a taxi from either area as they are not on the metro line...

 

Anne..

Thanks!  You have been so helpful! I have read your other advice to cruisers as well!

[clojacks]

Good Evening Anne.  A while back, I was starting to do my research on where to stay in Dubai...what we wanted to pay...what would be convenient to get around from...and what features the property offered, and I threw some property names at you that I first encountered without applying my personal filters. We've kind of come up with a logical way to narrow it down, mostly by what we are willing to pay, but the location part has me a little in need of some advice. We will be in Dubai for the last 3 days of January before taking off from Dubai on a cruise ship, so we won't necessarily be looking to head out into the desert or down to Abu Dhabi ( as we were there last January). We will probably be doing our touring via Hop ON Hop OFF bus and metro. With that in mind, do you have any opinions on the Al Bandar Rotana Creek, The Oberoi, or the newly rebranded Voco Dubai?

[clojacks]

15 hours ago, clojacks said:

Good Evening Anne.  A while back, I was starting to do my research on where to stay in Dubai...what we wanted to pay...what would be convenient to get around from...and what features the property offered, and I threw some property names at you that I first encountered without applying my personal filters. We've kind of come up with a logical way to narrow it down, mostly by what we are willing to pay, but the location part has me a little in need of some advice. We will be in Dubai for the last 3 days of January before taking off from Dubai on a cruise ship, so we won't necessarily be looking to head out into the desert or down to Abu Dhabi ( as we were there last January). We will probably be doing our touring via Hop ON Hop OFF bus and metro. With that in mind, do you have any opinions on the Al Bandar Rotana Creek, The Oberoi, or the newly rebranded Voco Dubai?

I do have 1 additional question if we choose either the Oberoi or Al Bandar Rotana Creek, which both appear to be near the Dubai Creek...is it easy to transit or use the water taxis?

[Jayayeff]

2 hours ago, clojacks said:

I do have 1 additional question if we choose either the Oberoi or Al Bandar Rotana Creek, which both appear to be near the Dubai Creek...is it easy to transit or use the water taxis?

 

The Oberoi and the Al Bandar Rotana Creek are nowhere near each other.  The Oberoi is in Business Bay which is the new development area south of Dubai Mall and the Burj Khalifa.   The Al Bandar Rotana Creek is on the Deira side of Dubai overlooking the Creek.  The Voco is located directly on Sh.Zayed Road quite close to the World Trade Centre metro station...  

 

The abras on the Creek are used for local trips between points along the Creek only not to other parts of the city.   The RTA operates some larger enclosed water taxis between various points from Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Water Canal, Business Bay, Al Jadaf, Festival city but they work on a set timetable so you can only use these for planned trips from Point A to Point B not for random trips....

 

Anne...

 

 

 

[clojacks]

Thanks for all your "eyes on the ground" perspectives Anne. As always, I have another question for you. I'm sure you are aware of the TripAdvisor numerical rankings of Hotel Properties...as an example, Raffles is listed is #1 out of 633 properties in Dubai. What makes the Oberoi, #11 versus the Zabeel House Al Seef being #173? Prices are comparable for similar rooms. We were considering Zabeel House, due to its location, until clicking on its rating. Is the difference between, say the top 200, negligible? Is there a significant difference that makes the Oberoi at #11, better the Jumeirah Zabeel Saray at #78, or the Zabeel House Al Seef at #173? In looking at pictures, location, etc, I would pick anyone of these, but am I missing something?

[Jayayeff]

22 hours ago, clojacks said:

Thanks for all your "eyes on the ground" perspectives Anne. As always, I have another question for you. I'm sure you are aware of the TripAdvisor numerical rankings of Hotel Properties...as an example, Raffles is listed is #1 out of 633 properties in Dubai. What makes the Oberoi, #11 versus the Zabeel House Al Seef being #173? Prices are comparable for similar rooms. We were considering Zabeel House, due to its location, until clicking on its rating. Is the difference between, say the top 200, negligible? Is there a significant difference that makes the Oberoi at #11, better the Jumeirah Zabeel Saray at #78, or the Zabeel House Al Seef at #173? In looking at pictures, location, etc, I would pick anyone of these, but am I missing something?

 

No I don’t think you are missing anything, and like you I would be happy to stay in any of those three.   I think the reviews vary so much because many of these hotels are very new so they may not have built up a broad enough volume of reviews be they consistently good or not so good ones.   Also, they are in very different parts of the city and some reviewers may not have been aware of where in the city their selected hotel was, how accessible it was to what they wanted to see or do, etc.  I wouldn’t worry too much about the ranking and pay more attention to the actual review content....

 

Anne...

[kurgan]

Anne, I have a question about Sheraton hotels. I see there are 3 Sheratons- 4 points Sheraton Downtown, 4 points Bur Dubai and Sheraton Dubai creek. Which one is better for access from airport (our flight  suppose to arrive around 10 pm), for sightseeing  and for access to cruise port?

Thanks

[Jayayeff]

31 minutes ago, kurgan said:

Anne, I have a question about Sheraton hotels. I see there are 3 Sheratons- 4 points Sheraton Downtown, 4 points Bur Dubai and Sheraton Dubai creek. Which one is better for access from airport (our flight  suppose to arrive around 10 pm), for sightseeing  and for access to cruise port?

Thanks

 

The Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel is the most convenient for a late arrival into Dubai International airport.  It’s one of the earlier 5* hotels in Dubai but still very popular due to it’s location right on the Creek.   The two 4 points ones are on the cruise terminal side of the Creek but the Creek Hotel is a better location, and via the Shindaga Tunnel it’s a fairly short taxi ride to the terminal.   If you can get a Creek view room that would be even better!!!

 

Anne..

[kurgan]

22 minutes ago, Jayayeff said:

 

The Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel is the most convenient for a late arrival into Dubai International airport.  It’s one of the earlier 5* hotels in Dubai but still very popular due to it’s location right on the Creek.   The two 4 points ones are on the cruise terminal side of the Creek but the Creek Hotel is a better location, and via the Shindaga Tunnel it’s a fairly short taxi ride to the terminal.   If you can get a Creek view room that would be even better!!!

 

Anne..

Thank you very much!  Another question- How far this Sheraton Dubai creek from Miracle Garden? Do we have enouph time to visit Miracle Garden at morning before embarking cruise of it will be too risky?

Thanks

[Jayayeff]

27 minutes ago, kurgan said:

Thank you very much!  Another question- How far this Sheraton Dubai creek from Miracle Garden? Do we have enouph time to visit Miracle Garden at morning before embarking cruise of it will be too risky?

Thanks

 

It’s quite a long drive from the Creek out to Miracle Garden.  It opens at 9.00am but in morning traffic I’d say it could take 45mins to 1 hour to get out there, and a similar time to get from there either back to the hotel or directly to the port...Depends what time you want to get to the cruise terminal for embarkation whether it’s worth making the trip or not... What day of the week are you looking at???? 

 

Anne..

Edited July 25, 2019 by Jayayeff

[mef_57]

50 minutes ago, kurgan said:

Thank you very much!  Another question- How far this Sheraton Dubai creek from Miracle Garden? Do we have enouph time to visit Miracle Garden at morning before embarking cruise of it will be too risky?

Thanks

Also to keep in mind Miracle Garden is seasonal, so check your dates.

 

[kurgan]

1 hour ago, Jayayeff said:

 

It’s quite a long drive from the Creek out to Miracle Garden.  It opens at 9.00am but in morning traffic I’d say it could take 45mins to 1 hour to get out there, and a similar time to get from there either back to the hotel or directly to the port...Depends what time you want to get to the cruise terminal for embarkation whether it’s worth making the trip or not... What day of the week are you looking at???? 

 

Anne..

My cruise suppose to start Friday morning in November

[Jayayeff]

23 minutes ago, kurgan said:

My cruise suppose to start Friday morning in November

 

The traffic would be much lighter on a Friday morning with it being the weekend so making the trip would not be as risky as on a weekday morning.  The garden is usually open from November until the end of April but I can’t see a confirmed opening day noted on the website as of now, but the beginning of the month does fall on a weekend so it may open then....

 

Anne..

[kurgan]

• Anne, thanks again!

[josumello]

Another hotel question Anne. We Will be in Dubai the end of March. The two hotels I have narrowed it down to are Hyatt Regency Dubai and Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel. We like being close to airport and cruise terminal. Also we would like to be able to be fairly close to the main attractions. I realize there are many. We would probably start with hop on hop off bus to give us an overview. Is this doable and are the hotels nice?  Again thanks so much. We all appreciate your help. 

 

Sue

[irisbax3]

Hi Anne, I have reservations at the Sheraton Creek(Dec. 5-7). Since we've stayed there before (we liked it a lot) I'm thinking maybe I 'd like to try another hotel. What do you think about the Intercontinental Hotel/Residences Festival City? Are there restaurants nearby?

[Jayayeff]

1 hour ago, irisbax3 said:

Hi Anne, I have reservations at the Sheraton Creek(Dec. 5-7). Since we've stayed there before (we liked it a lot) I'm thinking maybe I 'd like to try another hotel. What do you think about the Intercontinental Hotel/Residences Festival City? Are there restaurants nearby?

 

There are two distinctly different Intercontinental properties.  The Intercontinental Hotel Festival City is linked to the Festival City mall and entertainment area (as is the Crowne Plaza Hotel Festival City - the two hotels share a base podium) so apart from the in-house restaurants of both hotels you also have access to eateries within the adjoining mall.   The Intercontinental Residences is a separate building a short distance from Festival City Mall that consists of serviced suites of varying sizes.   As far as I’m aware (rented one for a visiting business exec once) they are self-catering and there is only a coffee shop on site but they do provide a shuttle between the Residences and Festival City Mall - there is nothing else within walking distance.

 

This is a photo I took of the Residences building from Al Jaddaf Waterfront on the other side of the Creek....Beautiful building but better suited to long-stays....