There’s lots of talk these days about Dubai being on sale. A soaring debt, a bailout by the UAE Central Bank, a slight-of-palm real estate crash, all of these things contribute to the kind of financial crisis that sooner or later brings down prices. The industry says that some luxury hotels are twenty percent of what they once cost. But my real litmus test for value isn’t the media, rather, it’s my friends Deb and Dave. They’re very frugal and I admire their thrift. The bar they set for themselves is impressive, even though as mature travelers now they mix up the hostels and budget hotels with the occasional splurge. Still, when Deb tells me that they’re flying to India on Emirates and they’re actually stopping over in Dubai to sightsee, I’m convinced that the country must indeed be in peril. Dave and Deb are hovering there; they smell economic road kill.
I’m not an economist so I won’t try to explain the financial crisis. It’s just a fact that in 2010, Lonely Planet published a title like “Top 10 Ways to Burn Cash in Dubai” which may be outdated in 2011. If so, there’s a sad kind of irony in the joke that expats tell about Dubai, that it will be a great place…when it’s finished. Maybe it is. After all, Dave and Deb are there.
But with their expenditures below, judge for yourself whether Dubai is on sale, or not.
Accommodation
Deb sourced the Arabian Park Hotel on the web. Although they thought it was close to the airport according to the map, it still took 15 minutes to reach by taxi. Hotel features included buffet breakfast, in-room safe, outdoor salt-water pool, a friendly bar and a free shuttle service. It was the best value they found in their research at a little less than $100/night.
Touring
They considered taking a group city tour for 240 Dirhans (~$63 Cdn.) for two, but opted to go their own way. They grabbed a cab to the Spice and Gold Souks and eagerly accepted the driver’s offer of a two-hour personal city tour for 250 Dirhans in his pristine, air-conditioned Lexus ES350. They not only took in the Souks but saw the Burg al Arab hotel (from the outside since it costs $50 pp to go into this 7-star hotel), the Palm Jumeirah and took a stroll around the Atlantis resort complex.
Their Souk experience was disappointing in that an aggressive vendor set a bad tone for the excursion, although in balance, they were pretty much left alone since tourists are not the target market here – too poor.
Eating
It was difficult to find some place reasonable to eat in the Souk. But eventually they stumbled on a tiny Indian diner. For about 46 Dn (~$23.00) in total, they enjoyed a delicious and large meal: yogurt with finely chopped vegetables, bottled water, grilled flatbread and two saucy and spicy roasted chicken pieces along with two plates of rice.
Back at the hotel, two complimentary drink vouchers were included with the room so they headed to the bar. Dave describes an interesting character they met there:
“We enjoyed the company of a gentleman who lived in the hotel while on his consulting assignment. We noticed he was missing a leg below the knee and learned that, only a year earlier, while snorkeling, he encountered some coral that infected his body with poisonous spores. Once they migrated to the bone, amputation was the only option.”
The vouchers consumed, it should be noted that the regular price for a beer in the bar was over $10 Canadian.
Mall Shopping
The next day they decided to spend it mall shopping, one of the highlights in Dubai. Their hotel is part of a conglomerate called the WAFI Group, and they offered a free shuttle and discount coupons to the WAFI Mall. Dave describes the excursion:
“The WAFI Mall is a substantial architectural achievement and pushes an ancient Egyptian theme pretty hard. The exterior walls are adorned with carvings styled from the temple walls, cartouches, columns and statuary of ancient Egypt. There was even an obelisk and glass-covered pyramid. It all had a Las Vegas feel. Inside the stores was high-end merchandise. But a few things were missing in the mall: directional information, price tags, and customers.
The highlight of the Mall was the Galler Chocolate Shop, a Belgian company with, unusual in this location, a casual restaurant. It was one of the more reasonable eating places we found, offering a three course lunch plus coffee for 40 Dn (under $12). A fine lentil soup, Ciabatta sandwiches and spectacular dessert with memorable coffee left us more than satisfied for the remainder of the day. Those desserts included freshly made ice cream and chocolate crepes.”
Deb’s Overall Impression
“ Dubai is this crazy mix of Disney World, Las Vegas and Fifth Avenue. The architecture is truly amazing, and the sites all look so close on a map. We now know that maps are not to scale. On average, it’s a $10 or $15 Cdn. taxi ride between sites.
The staff at the Arabian Park Hotel were the best part of Dubai. They are expats from all over: India, (especially Kerala), Burma, Kenya, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.”
So it might be true that there's some value these days in Dubai for your tourist dollar. Paying attention to what's included in your hotel is important, as well as serendipity in finding some modest but good restaurants. But that's true for anywhere. What I don't see coming down in Dubai is the price of going up, that is, in the elevator of the magnificent Burg al Arab hotel.
Read the full story of Deb and Dave’s travels to India on their blog at:
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/wasagadave/2/tpod.html
I’m not an economist so I won’t try to explain the financial crisis. It’s just a fact that in 2010, Lonely Planet published a title like “Top 10 Ways to Burn Cash in Dubai” which may be outdated in 2011. If so, there’s a sad kind of irony in the joke that expats tell about Dubai, that it will be a great place…when it’s finished. Maybe it is. After all, Dave and Deb are there.
But with their expenditures below, judge for yourself whether Dubai is on sale, or not.
Accommodation
Deb sourced the Arabian Park Hotel on the web. Although they thought it was close to the airport according to the map, it still took 15 minutes to reach by taxi. Hotel features included buffet breakfast, in-room safe, outdoor salt-water pool, a friendly bar and a free shuttle service. It was the best value they found in their research at a little less than $100/night.
Touring
They considered taking a group city tour for 240 Dirhans (~$63 Cdn.) for two, but opted to go their own way. They grabbed a cab to the Spice and Gold Souks and eagerly accepted the driver’s offer of a two-hour personal city tour for 250 Dirhans in his pristine, air-conditioned Lexus ES350. They not only took in the Souks but saw the Burg al Arab hotel (from the outside since it costs $50 pp to go into this 7-star hotel), the Palm Jumeirah and took a stroll around the Atlantis resort complex.
Their Souk experience was disappointing in that an aggressive vendor set a bad tone for the excursion, although in balance, they were pretty much left alone since tourists are not the target market here – too poor.
Eating
It was difficult to find some place reasonable to eat in the Souk. But eventually they stumbled on a tiny Indian diner. For about 46 Dn (~$23.00) in total, they enjoyed a delicious and large meal: yogurt with finely chopped vegetables, bottled water, grilled flatbread and two saucy and spicy roasted chicken pieces along with two plates of rice.
Back at the hotel, two complimentary drink vouchers were included with the room so they headed to the bar. Dave describes an interesting character they met there:
“We enjoyed the company of a gentleman who lived in the hotel while on his consulting assignment. We noticed he was missing a leg below the knee and learned that, only a year earlier, while snorkeling, he encountered some coral that infected his body with poisonous spores. Once they migrated to the bone, amputation was the only option.”
The vouchers consumed, it should be noted that the regular price for a beer in the bar was over $10 Canadian.
Mall Shopping
The next day they decided to spend it mall shopping, one of the highlights in Dubai. Their hotel is part of a conglomerate called the WAFI Group, and they offered a free shuttle and discount coupons to the WAFI Mall. Dave describes the excursion:
“The WAFI Mall is a substantial architectural achievement and pushes an ancient Egyptian theme pretty hard. The exterior walls are adorned with carvings styled from the temple walls, cartouches, columns and statuary of ancient Egypt. There was even an obelisk and glass-covered pyramid. It all had a Las Vegas feel. Inside the stores was high-end merchandise. But a few things were missing in the mall: directional information, price tags, and customers.
The highlight of the Mall was the Galler Chocolate Shop, a Belgian company with, unusual in this location, a casual restaurant. It was one of the more reasonable eating places we found, offering a three course lunch plus coffee for 40 Dn (under $12). A fine lentil soup, Ciabatta sandwiches and spectacular dessert with memorable coffee left us more than satisfied for the remainder of the day. Those desserts included freshly made ice cream and chocolate crepes.”
Deb’s Overall Impression
“ Dubai is this crazy mix of Disney World, Las Vegas and Fifth Avenue. The architecture is truly amazing, and the sites all look so close on a map. We now know that maps are not to scale. On average, it’s a $10 or $15 Cdn. taxi ride between sites.
The staff at the Arabian Park Hotel were the best part of Dubai. They are expats from all over: India, (especially Kerala), Burma, Kenya, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.”
So it might be true that there's some value these days in Dubai for your tourist dollar. Paying attention to what's included in your hotel is important, as well as serendipity in finding some modest but good restaurants. But that's true for anywhere. What I don't see coming down in Dubai is the price of going up, that is, in the elevator of the magnificent Burg al Arab hotel.
Read the full story of Deb and Dave’s travels to India on their blog at:
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/wasagadave/2/tpod.html
No comments:
Post a Comment