Wow…where do I start?
I visited Dubai last year but unfortunately didn’t get to experience it in its entirety, although loved every minute of it. The temperature reached low 40s and I spent the week sunbathing at my friends pool.
This year was a little different. We had an itinerary in place and we stayed at my friends apartment on the palm which looked over Sheikh Mohammad’s private little island. Fun fact lol.
As my friend and her fiancé live out in Dubai and happen to be subscribed to every type of membership going, we were able to make use of their privilee cards. This meant we were able to use pretty much every resort in Dubai. Make use of the pools, hotels, spa, food and drink etc. This was a highlight for me as it meant each day we sunbathed from a different view. Each day was something new and exciting as opposed to the same hotel bedroom for the 4th day in a row.
Below is a breif run through of how my week went and what we got up to:
Saturday:
Zero Gravity. We landed at around 10am so once we got back to the apartment we got ready straight away and headed to Zero Gravity. It was 250AED which is roughly £50 and I believe it’s one of the longest brunches. From 12-5 you can eat and drink as much as you like while enjoying the sea views and dancing around in the infinity pool.
Sunday:
Chilled and sunbathed all day at Shades – Address hotel. This hotel was on the marina and had a great view of Pier 7 and the marina in general. The pizza was amazing and the daiquiri….omg the strawberry daiquiri…
In the evening we ate at home and went for drinks at Barasti and then went to meet friends at The Four Seasons for more drinks at club Provocateur
Monday:
In the morning we relaxed at The Waldorf on the palm and used their private beach. At around 1pm we headed back to the apartment as we were being picked up at 2 to go into the desert.
For 115AED (£25 roughly) a company picked us up, drove us into the desert to do ‘dune bashing’ which was, umm, interesting to say the least, and then parked up to enjoy the food and attractions. I’ve been on a camel before but this one was moving mad so I didn’t stay on it long lool. We had a few hours to look round, buy touristy things, get henna done and enjoy their freshly cooked BBQ. They then drove us all the way back to the apartment. We got back around 10pm so we just chilled and had an early night because it was quite a long day trying not to die.
Tuesday:
Me and Jess thought we’d have another chill day so we slowly walked to a resort not too far from our apartment. We went to The Fairmont on the palm and sunbathed on the beach which had a gorgeous view of the princess tower and the big wheel which is still being made. Around 4pm we headed back for dinner and got ready for ladies night. Ladies night if you didn’t know is basically a free night for women. Drink vouchers are provided at a number of bars and clubs and you can drink away until you’re vomiting over the balcony. We chose Pier 7 (great views at night of the marina) and ate at Aisa Aisa. Honestly, their black cod is everything. The food was amazing. Drinks were free. Really nothing to complain about.
We then went and met friends at Indie DIFC which was downtown near the Burj Khalifa building. DJ Charlsey was playing and it was quite a laid back atmosphere so we carried on drinking there until around 3.
Wednesday:
We went down to the Marina at Pier 7 around 11am and rented a yacht for the day. We bought loads of food and drink and literally just sailed through until around 3pm. We then went to The Westin for a few hours until the sun went down. Ended up ordering Wagamama’s to the apartment because we were too tired to venture out. Deliveroo works out there just fine!
Thursday:
Today we did tourist and walked round the mall, went up to the top of the Burj and then ate by the fountains. We then spent the rest of the day at Palace Downtown which overlooked the fountains with a great view of the Burj Khalifa. In the evening we took our friends out to dinner at Madinat and ate at P&B. Honestly, the best food I’ve ever tasted. I only had fajitas and mac/cheese but boy it was sooooo nice. I’m actually upset I couldn’t finish it because I would do absolutely anything to have it right now.
Friday:
Friday was brunch at the Taj which is situated near the Burj in downtown. I think it was called hidden brunch. It was 399AED but with an app called ‘let’s brunch’ we managed to get it for 319AED. This included drinks and food from 1-4. The food was incredible, with so many different options to choose from. As I love meat I ended up having several beef and chicken skewers and a steak along with mash potatoes, spicy broccoli and other random nibbles. I’m pretty sure I drank around 3 litres of Vodka lol so I definitely got my money’s worth.
Saturday we flew back so the morning was spent catching the last bit of sun on the patio and packing up our things.
Our flight was at 3pm so we managed to get 7 1/2 days in Dubai flying with Emirates so it’s definitely worth paying the extra bit more to get a good flight out there. I’m usually a budget flyer and the difference was evident. I never really considered that the cheaper you fly the worse the timings you get in your chosen destination. I’ve booked 7 day holidays before and ended up only having 5 days sunshine due to rubbish departure times.
But anyway, I hope you enjoyed the pictures and I have included links to the destinations we visited in case you were thinking of planning your own trip out there! If you have any questions please do leave me a comment!