You can see Dubai without stretching the budget, says Jeannine Williamson
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High living doesn’t have to cost the earth. Despite its reputation for gold taps and glitzy hotels, a recent consumer survey found Dubai was the only destination to top the polls in both the luxury and affordable luxury sections.
It certainly isn’t ceding any territory at the top end of the market, with plenty to keep the uber-rich coming back time and again.
But as the overall number of holidaymakers edges upwards – there were 845,000 UK visitors in 2014, up 11% on the previous year – it seems people are starting to realise there’s a world beyond the designer shopping malls and headline-grabbing seven-star hotels.
That’s a promising shift, if Dubai Tourism wants to achieve its five-year target to more than double its UK and Ireland visitors numbers to two million a year.
So with that in mind, is it possible to enjoy this exciting and ever-changing emirate without having to break the bank?
Stay: Keep it simple
A new initiative is seeing a rise in midmarket properties and self-catering accommodation as part of the Vision for 2020 strategy, which aims to attract 20 million annual worldwide visitors by 2020.
Ian Scott, UK and Ireland Director of Dubai Tourism, explains: “We launched an incentive to hotel developers to increase our offering of three and four-star accommodation as well as a new decree regarding the regulation of self-catering apartments, townhouses and villas, which will open up the emirate to a broader market.”
In the meantime, there are budget-friendly options if you know where to look. Slightly outside the city centre are value-driven properties such as the three-star Ibis Deira City Centre.
It is only a 15-minute drive to the old town and just a stone’s throw from Deira City Centre metro station, yet is more competitively priced than its more central counterparts. Three nights with breakfast here starts at £79 per person through Travel 2, based on stays in June.
The rise of all-inclusive accommodation in Dubai should also provide a boon to those who need to keep an eye on their spending, as holidaymakers can set a budget before they travel.
Five-star properties such as Movenpick Hotel Ibn Battuta Gate, JA Resorts Palm Tree Court and Jebel Ali Beach Hotel have all started to offer all-inclusive options in recent years.
Ricky Wason, Travel 2 general manager of short-haul product and purchasing, says: “Eating out, and in particular alcohol, can be expensive in Dubai, so the most cost-effective and best-value stay in Dubai would be on an all-inclusive basis.”
Eat and drink: Added value
Dubai’s traditional Friday brunch is available in most hotels, often on a huge scale, offering a great excuse to eat as much as you want over a good few hours.
There are some eye-wateringly expensive options that include all the trimmings, but opt for one with a good range of dishes and soft drinks rather than alcohol included, and it can be great value for money.
The quirky XVA Art Hotel, tucked away in the old town, has an alfresco vegetarian restaurant in the courtyard open all day, where snacks start from as little as £3, or for a quick pit stop between shopping or sightseeing in the city, shopping centres such as Dubai Mall have all the familiar burger and pizza chains in the food courts.
If clients don’t want to compromise on quality, eke out better value from food and drink stops by combining them with sightseeing.
There are atmospheric dinner cruises along Dubai Creek to watch the busy city skyline light up after dark (from £42 per adult and £27 per child through Do Something Different).
In the sophisticated Neos bar, at The Address Downtown Dubai, the signature Level 63 cocktail (named after the floor on which the bar is located) costs a shade under £11, which is worth it just for the panoramic view over the Burj Khalifa and night-time cityscape.
Guests staying outside the centre won’t be stuck for options either. Gold Medal product manager Joanne Lowery says: “If you head to Jumeirah Walk, you’ll come across an extensive choice of restaurants and cafes, which are perfect for families. Options here include affordable and well-known brands such as Subway.
“In the Deira area, clients can enjoy local cuisine, even dining with the locals, with many options to choose from and fantastic quality. You’ll get great-quality food for less than the price of a takeaway in the UK.”
These are close to some of Gold Medal’s most popular properties which, the operator says, “won’t break the bank but still offer a superb level of service”. These include the Amwaj Rotana Jumeirah Beach Residence, which is right on The Walk, and Movenpick Hotel Deira.
Activities: See for free
Spectacular entertainment comes free of charge at the world’s largest music and lights show in downtown Dubai. Shooting water 500ft in the air, the ‘dancing fountain’ comes to life at 1pm and 1.30pm and then from 6pm to 11pm daily.
In Dubai Mall, the vast window into the aquarium is also free to visit, offering a hypnotic view of more than 30,000 aquatic animals and a great way for families to while away some time at no expense. If they do want to explore further, entry to the underwater zoo and tunnel costs £13.25 through Travelcube.
The ultimate sightseeing highlight is a £22 trip to the viewing platform on the 124th floor of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building by quite a distance.
Other top attractions include an exciting 4×4 dune-bashing safari with a Bedouin camp barbecue and entertainment (from £45 for adults and £38 for children through Do Something Different).
Or get a full day’s entertainment from the action-packed waterparks Aquaventure at Atlantis the Palm, or Wild Wadi in the Jumeirah complex, both £45 for adults, or £38/£37 respectively for children, when booked with Attraction World.
Sample product
Virgin Holidays offers five nights at the 4V-rated Vida Downtown Dubai from £985, staying B&B in a Deluxe Room with transfers and Virgin Atlantic flights from Heathrow, departing November 18. vhols4agents.co.uk
Travel 2 can offer five nights at the five-star Movenpick Hotel Ibn Battuta Gate in Dubai from £999 all-inclusive, based on travel between May 16 and June 30, 2016, and including flights from London, transfers and a Superior Room. travel2.com
Gold Medal offers three nights’ B&B at the five-star Hyatt Regency Dubai in Deira from £479, including Virgin Atlantic flights from Heathrow, for departures between May 5 and June 19, 2016. goldmedal.co.uk
How to sell
Getting around is cheap in Dubai compared with cities such as New York or London. On the Dubai metro, single tickets cost 30p or about £2.50 for a day pass, and a taxi fare across the city is just a few pounds.
Tried & Tested: Vida Downtown Dubai
The last time I visited Dubai, I spent a huge amount of time getting lost in a vast resort hotel, heading down blind alleys in lookalike corridors in the quest to find my room.
So it was a refreshing change to check into Vida Downtown Dubai, dubbed by some as the emirate’s first boutique hotel when it opened two years ago.
With 156 rooms, including a swanky two-bedroom executive suite, it’s small compared with the majority of its towering cousins dominating the Dubai skyline.
It certainly doesn’t have the stamp of a corporate brand, with plenty of fun and individual touches, from the high-tech bedrooms with mouse-driven interactive Wi-Fi and entertainment system (which does take a bit of getting used to), to the pool that’s transformed into a cool evening chill-out zone with the addition of low tables to the four poster sun loungers.
A standout feature is the choice of four dining options, which include a Japanese restaurant, bistro with its own mouthwatering French-inspired bakery where the locals come to buy their breads and pastries, and a three-in-one eatery that takes on a number of guises.
The most novel is the weekly ‘urban picnic’ for Friday brunch, a Dubai ritual where hotels compete for the best all-you-can-eat-and-drink spread. Vida provides guests with hampers they can load with food and drink, some of it served in glass jars, and tables are adorned with fake grass mats.
It’s another imaginative touch at a property that has broken the mould of Dubai’s typical hotel scene. In addition to Virgin Holidays, other operators that sell Vida include If Only, Premier Holidays and Beachcomber Tours.
