Dubai questions

[zapato1060]

TJ wrote:

BBbetter wrote:

FH2 wrote:

If you plan to visit the theme parks and water parks, consider purchasing the Entertainer app which gives you substantial savings e.g. 2 for 1 tickets to theme parks. You have to pay for the app (can’t remember how much), but if you use enough of the offers, it is worth it. They have a cheaper version for tourists (at least they did when I went in 2022). It also gives discounts at restaurants as well as tourist attractions. There is a detailed thread on how it works in the Dubai forum on Tripadvisor. For the Atlantis waterpark, it’s cheaper to buy tickets online in advance rather than at the gate.

Is there a similar app for Abu Dhabi? I assume the Dubai version wouldnt cover Yas Island.

There is a premium version of the app which covers both Dubai and Abu Dhabi (you can see online what attractions and dining options are covered…they do change from time to time, e.g. Ferrari World was no longer covered when I last checked). You can also ‘rent’ the app from eBay but check the seller’s reviews and also contact them to see what vouchers have already been used before purchasing. We rented the app (effectively the login and password) for a recent trip to the UAE…it cost around £20 which we easily saved on our first 2-4-1 meal.

Ive been thinking of doing this via Ebay as it really seems to save a fortune. What restaurant did you use for the 241? Cheers

[zapato1060]

Angelamc11 wrote:

On a side note – I’m not interested in political views, having been to similar and some worse countries in regards Human Rights.

I always find this comical because those very people, live in the UK and pay taxes here, taxes that have contributed to help UK to sell arms to Saudis (27 billion pounds worth since 2015). Which Saudis have then used in Yemen. But hey, horses for courses.

[NorthernLass]

Angelamc11 wrote:

Some really great tips and advice here – thank you. The app will be hugely beneficial for us.

After doing quite a lot of research today on hotels, both Marriott and Hilton, I think I’ve decided on Hilton Dubai Palm Jumeirah. Seems to tick all the boxes are reviewers score them highly.

I’ll probably pay cash though as the rates seem decent. 5 nights is costing me just under £1500 including taxes, whereas the points would be 280k. I’m not sure if the points rate includes the taxes, but I like to get over 1p a point, regardless of the listed base value. Although I’m kinda new to Hilton points so maybe I’m overly optimistic.

I think I rejected this one because of reports of a really loud beach club/DJ until the early hours either on site or next door? It may well appeal to teenagers but I like my sleep too much these days!

Remember Hilton reward nights should be exempt from “resort” fees!

[bungalow]

NorthernLass wrote:

Angelamc11 wrote:

Some really great tips and advice here – thank you. The app will be hugely beneficial for us.

After doing quite a lot of research today on hotels, both Marriott and Hilton, I think I’ve decided on Hilton Dubai Palm Jumeirah. Seems to tick all the boxes are reviewers score them highly.

I’ll probably pay cash though as the rates seem decent. 5 nights is costing me just under £1500 including taxes, whereas the points would be 280k. I’m not sure if the points rate includes the taxes, but I like to get over 1p a point, regardless of the listed base value. Although I’m kinda new to Hilton points so maybe I’m overly optimistic.

I think I rejected this one because of reports of a really loud beach club/DJ either on site or next door? It may well appeal to teenagers but I like my sleep too much these days!

Remember Hilton reward nights should be exempt from “resort” fees!

2 buildings down left of the hotel facing beach, towards the palm entrance, forgot to mention it and forget the name of the place. I heard it too and I was top right side of hotel so couldn’t be any further away, went on until 4am some nights!
I actually thought it was coming from within the hotel the first few nights and got up to check.
Best you can do is ask NOT to be put in a room on the left hand side of the hotel – facing beach.
To be clear though it definitely didn’t spoil my stay and wouldn’t stop me going back.

* You’re quoted a 20 dirham per night fee (4 quid) in your reservation, but I haven’t been charged it for 4 or 5 years now, by either Hilton or Marriott…

[FH2]

zapato1060 wrote:

TJ wrote:

BBbetter wrote:

FH2 wrote:

If you plan to visit the theme parks and water parks, consider purchasing the Entertainer app which gives you substantial savings e.g. 2 for 1 tickets to theme parks. You have to pay for the app (can’t remember how much), but if you use enough of the offers, it is worth it. They have a cheaper version for tourists (at least they did when I went in 2022). It also gives discounts at restaurants as well as tourist attractions. There is a detailed thread on how it works in the Dubai forum on Tripadvisor. For the Atlantis waterpark, it’s cheaper to buy tickets online in advance rather than at the gate.

Is there a similar app for Abu Dhabi? I assume the Dubai version wouldnt cover Yas Island.

There is a premium version of the app which covers both Dubai and Abu Dhabi (you can see online what attractions and dining options are covered…they do change from time to time, e.g. Ferrari World was no longer covered when I last checked). You can also ‘rent’ the app from eBay but check the seller’s reviews and also contact them to see what vouchers have already been used before purchasing. We rented the app (effectively the login and password) for a recent trip to the UAE…it cost around £20 which we easily saved on our first 2-4-1 meal.

Ive been thinking of doing this via Ebay as it really seems to save a fortune. What restaurant did you use for the 241? Cheers

I used the Premium version of the app in Abu Dhabi in 2019 in the restaurants for 241 in our hotel (St Regis Saadiyat) plus many restaurants in the mall. I used it in hotel restaurants in Dubai too (Fairmont the Palm and Sofitel the Palm).

[SteveJ]

NorthernLass wrote:

Angelamc11 wrote:

Some really great tips and advice here – thank you. The app will be hugely beneficial for us.

After doing quite a lot of research today on hotels, both Marriott and Hilton, I think I’ve decided on Hilton Dubai Palm Jumeirah. Seems to tick all the boxes are reviewers score them highly.

I’ll probably pay cash though as the rates seem decent. 5 nights is costing me just under £1500 including taxes, whereas the points would be 280k. I’m not sure if the points rate includes the taxes, but I like to get over 1p a point, regardless of the listed base value. Although I’m kinda new to Hilton points so maybe I’m overly optimistic.

I think I rejected this one because of reports of a really loud beach club/DJ until the early hours either on site or next door? It may well appeal to teenagers but I like my sleep too much these days!

Remember Hilton reward nights should be exempt from “resort” fees!

Hilton sits in between the Marriott and the Five resort. The Five is the one with the late night parties. The Hilton and Marriott seem to be mirror images of one another so maybe the Marriott is the better bet as it has the Hilton as a buffer from Five.

[TJ]

zapato1060 wrote:

There is a premium version of the app which covers both Dubai and Abu Dhabi (you can see online what attractions and dining options are covered…they do change from time to time, e.g. Ferrari World was no longer covered when I last checked). You can also ‘rent’ the app from eBay but check the seller’s reviews and also contact them to see what vouchers have already been used before purchasing. We rented the app (effectively the login and password) for a recent trip to the UAE…it cost around £20 which we easily saved on our first 2-4-1 meal.

Ive been thinking of doing this via Ebay as it really seems to save a fortune. What restaurant did you use for the 241? Cheers

The App covers a very large range of establishments and in essence promotes two key ways to save. Either 2-4-1 off your food/mains or 25% off your entire food bill. There’s also the ‘cheers’ option which is normally included in the premium version which offers BOGOF on drinks at bars, restaurants, and nightspots. Depending on how much you would normally spend on F&B you can make significant savings. You can see all the premium establishments they cover here: https://www.theentertainerme.com/en-ae/dubai-n-emirates/search/outlets?section=premium_dining.

[Carlos]

its worth mentioning the extortionate fees for new years

[NorthernLass]

So literally, “Five will make you get down now” 😂

Interesting to see that it boasts “the world’s only drive-in nightclub”. Do you dance in your car, or what?

[Aston100]

NorthernLass wrote:

So literally, “Five will make you get down now” 😂

5ive
I was thinking this earlier, but wasn’t sure the rest of the HfP crew would get the reference.
We must be the same age group.

[NorthernLass]

I think I’m a bit older than you, @Aston100, but I have always been an avid follower of pop trends (literally from being a tiny child. My earliest influences were Roxy Music, Abba and everything disco). Did you see on the chat thread the other day how excited I was to score Girls Aloud tickets?!

Also I used to work in an area where the pronunciation of the letter “i” is, shall we say, idiosyncratic, so the non-locals would mercilessly make fun of anything which involved, e.g., five (or 5ive), alive, mind, wild, etc. The songs of 5ive, therefore, provided much fodder for cruel mimicry.

But Five, Dubai. Just been reading the Poor and Terrible reviews on TA, it sounds like it needs a visit from the morality police!

[Blair Waldorf Salad]

Be warned the Marriott Dubai Palm, the twin of the Hilton, classes itself as a resort and thus exempts itself from various Bonvoy elite benefits – including lounge access.

The one point I’d make about the Hilton Palm is that the sole pool is entirely linear, so it’s one wall of sunbathers facing another row of them opposite. Scant feeling of privacy.

Granted it does have a ‘private’ beach, but this is a private area of loungers on the otherwise public West Beach. Not a true private beach like say the trio complex of Westin-Le Meridien-W Mina Seyahi. The Hilton beach also necessitates one walking out a gate from the pool area and crossing the public boardwalk of West Beach to then reach the Hilton’s loungers. That’s quite a different vibe to the entirely private and self-contained Waldorf Astoria Palm (although I’m no great fan of that property either, being as it is an overly large wedding cake sited on a too-small plot of land).

[Blair Waldorf Salad]

@NorthernLass re air conditioning, I sometimes get the shivers indoors in Dubai when I’ve reached the end of dinner and rarely stay for dessert. Preferring instead to get back to my hotel for a hot cup of tea.

If you’re gift shopping, Bath & Body Works are ubiquitous in Dubai and regularly have their large candles on offer. They have the best ratio of throw to price of any candles I’ve come across.

Also if you’ve never been to The Cheesecake Factory in the US because of outrageous wait times for a table, prepare to be amazed by the availability of tables in their Dubai outlets. Portions are the same outrageous US size, so I tend to order 2 starters and that suffices.

[Carlos]

If you go to the palm, i highly recommend going to wagamamas. You get the whole place and outdoors to yourself (well almost) i cant believe its empty most of the time