Eat Drink Stay Dubai Newsletter 101/w38

Hi Dubai friends,

Welcome to Week 38, Edition 101

Here’s your latest edition of Dubai news, deals & tips, every Friday, in 10 mins or less.

🕺 Brunch Roundup

🍻 Oktoberfest in Dubai

💸 Hurry: Entertainer discount codes stop in days few

🛬 Dubai Connect: ‘free’ hotel for short connections?

🎡 Dubai attractions reopening: Global Village, Dubai Fountain, Dubai Safari Park

🏩 The 1 thing you MUST do to find a Dubai hotel deal

🏊‍♂️ Aquaventure ‘wedgies’ 🥲

🏨 Kerzner International to manage The Meydan Hotel

🏩 Eastern Mangroves Abu Dhabi to reopen

PS. You can always email me here also.

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FOOD AND DRINK

New Season, New Brunch Roundup

As the new season in Dubai gains momentum from mid-September, there’s often a flurry of new restaurants, bars, brunches etc launched and with that, comes the press releases then the articles.

So it’s as good as time as any to try to corral a few ideas for brunching into one place.

Start with this “Dubai Brunches 101” article.

If you’re looking for a deal, consider brunches from the 111 outlets on Entertainer offering Buy One Get One Free. (Don’t forget, promo/discount codes expire in the coming days though!).

Looking for brunch listings? Try Mr and Mrs Brunch or Time Out Brunch Guide.

Looking for inspiration? Try these ‘listicles’ from Time Out and What’s On.

• 14 brunches under 250 AED with house drinks (Time Out)

• 12 new Dubai brunches (What’s On)

• 32 party brunches (Time Out)

• 40 top Sunday brunches (Time Out)

Still struggling to choose? It’s the old Dubai balancing act of how do you research, see what’s available, shop around and compare without becoming too overwhelmed?

And it’s likely, it’s the same solution to anything related to Dubai overwhelm - think about one thing that’s your priority, your ‘driver’, your motivation and just decide using that.

For instance, is a particular cuisine type, a buffet vs menu, or an area, or a vibe (party vs sedate vs family), or something such as the best deal for your money, or the best all-in drinks package to ‘drink back value’?

Once you have ONE thing to select on, it becomes a lot simpler.

Happy brunching!

“O’zapft is!”

Oktoberfest starts tomorrow, and here are a several places you can sample the atmosphere in Dubai - if you can’t make it to Munich!

Ernst Biergarten, at 25hours Dubai Hotel One Central have actually gone early and started their celebrations yesterday, but you have until 26 October to enjoy them.

From 09 through to 26 October, Grand Hyatt will continue its tradition of being one of Dubai’s biggest Oktoberfest events with their Oktoberfest Tent, including the Die Kirchdorfer Oktoberfest Band flying in.

I’ve not seen any announcements, but Bavarian Beerhouse Dubai - which replaced Teatro at Towers Rotana - was due to open this weekend. I’d expect them to get involved in Oktoberfest celebrations too, so keep an eye on their website and social media.

DUBAI DEALS

Last Few Days for a Discount on Entertainer 2025

If you’re looking to purchase any Entertainer 2025 product (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, GCC etc.), all promo/discount codes will likely stop working in the next few days.

This is because Entertainer will soon launch 2026 products, and whilst they may bundle 2025 for ‘free’, it will mean also buying the 2026 product.

A cheaper way, if you are sure you only want to use 2025 without purchasing 2026 products, would be to use promo code EDSD25* for a 10% discount on any Entertainer 2025 product. But hurry, as you only have a few days - like this weekend only, so act quickly to avoid disappointment.

🔗 Entertainer 2025 Promo Code

🔗 Entertainer UAE (official site)

EMIRATES

Dubai Connect: Get a ‘Free’ Hotel Room on Emirates

If you’re connecting through DXB on Emirates, it’s worth checking to see if you’re eligible for Dubai Connect for a ‘free’ hotel stay of a few hours to ease that layover. It also includes transfer and visas (if needed), as well as a transit hotel.

Just be sure to check the rules and eligibility, as they can be quite onerous. The main one is you need to be booked on the ‘next available connecting’ flight, and between 8 to 26 hours.

Also bear in mind, sometimes these hotel promotions seem a great idea but in reality, can get quite busy from time to time (think everyone queuing to check-in, waiting for shuttle buses and so on). Not too bad if you’ve up to the 26 hours of the time window, but if you’ve only 8 hours it may not be as convenient).

Note - Dubai Connect is a different promotion than the Dubai Stopover packages, which are aimed at longer stays and can go up to a few nights.

If you’re flying between Dubai and German cities such as Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg or Dusseldorf on Emirates, look out for Oktoberfest-themed menus and entertainment this September and October.

Emirates have announced they are resuming advertising on social media, namely X, TikTok and YouTube. If you’re a Skywards member or signed up for email alerts, check your inbox from last Tuesday.

This follows a recent pause due to a spate of fake social media posts.

If you see any advertising or posts that you feel may be dubious, check this page on Emirates website.

DUBAI NEWS

Global Village Reopens on Wednesday 15 October

Global Village will reopen for its 30th season on Wednesday, 15 October, with VIP tickets and packages going on presale from tomorrow.

As often is the case with Dubai attractions, if you get distracted by third-party sites offering deals, be sure to do your ‘due diligence’. Dubai Police have warned about scam sites, particularly about fake Global Village packages.

🔗 Global Village: All You Need to Know (Khaleej Times)

Dubai Safari Park will open for Season 7 on 14 October.

Dubai Fountain Reopening: Semantics or Slippage?

Whilst Emaar have confirmed Dubai Fountain is due to reopen on 01 October, there are some conflicting reports about when performances may restart, citing “early October”.

At the minute this seems more about semantics, because everything seems to come from one single source, namely a post by Emaar on Instagram, which seems to suggest whilst the fountains may be “operational” by 01 October, operations won’t resume until “early October”.

I’d suggest keeping across Emaar’s social media if this date and reopening is important to your trip, because the worst-case scenario may be there is some slippage in dates for a full resumption of performances.

KNOW MORE ABOUT DUBAI

Please read this great write-up about Aquaventure World from The Times, if only to see the word “wedgie” 😄

As is to prove these ‘surveys’ and ‘listicles’ are not to be taken seriously.

If Dubai was only voted fourth best city in the world for business travel, which city do you think would take top spot?

I’ll bet you didn’t have Luxembourg City on your bingo card! 🤷‍♂️

A bit more on the recent name change from Nakheel Mall to Palm Jumeirah Mall.

ONE BIG DUBAI TIP

To Find a Deal, Pick Your Dubai Hotel First

If you’re looking for a Dubai hotel deal, the first thing you need to do is know which hotel you’re looking to stay in before anything.

Whilst this may sound obvious, in practice it’s rarely done. There is a tendency to do a blanket search e.g. date, number of people, dining package, room type etc. and let a website, OTA or travel agent pump out a list of results. And only then, do you try to make those results work for you.

I’m sorry to say - that’s just wrong in so many ways.

Firstly, It’s Inaccurate.

Taking a ‘single source’ sales channel and then making judgements from there is the essence of ‘ratty data’. Hotels will often vary in price even for the same dates and criteria, depending on the sales channel.

So, you could be including or excluding hotels that a wider, or more strategic, search may not include. If the agent does not favour certain hotels, you could miss out on a great hotel that fits your needs.

Secondly, It’s inefficient.

If you take a small sample size, i.e. one or just a few sales channels, the prices and outputs it gives may not reflective of the ‘true’ market, in particular the ‘gettable prices’ of hotels.

To then do a detailed analysis of the market, you’d have to repeat the same steps but with different sales channels, strategies and searches many, many times over.

Thirdly, Timing Can Matter - and It Can Cost You.

A common error people make when searching for hotels or travel plans in general is to only consider at that point in time. Anything can change in price, especially with dynamic pricing, and that’s why services like Pruvo* can save a lot of time and money by searching for hotel pricing drops over time.

So, a hotel may show one price whilst doing one search, and you either book it there and then, or you exclude it from your plans. Both could be problematic, as in the former you may not get the best price, and latterly, you could exclude a hotel due to pricing that may drop in the future or over time. Pruvo solves both problems, but also provides data and real-time examples of pricing which can help if you’re looking to do price matching.

Last but Not Least - the Biggie

If you are struggling to pick a hotel, step back and think of one over-arching priority (and only one!) that you will base your decision on. Too many people try to spin too many plates when trying to choose Dubai hotels, and then they blame Dubai for being too overwhelming!

Whilst I’ve mentioned 3 reasons already, this is the one you really need to take on board.

It’s far easier and more productive to know which hotel, or at worst a shortlist of 2-3, and only then, look for the deals from there.

Reason being, each and every hotel in Dubai - or anywhere for that matter - has its own quirks and particular strategies or tactics unique to it for finding the best deal.

Example - if it’s a hotel with a price match or best rate guarantee, then it’s hard to beat a well-researched and executed Best Rate Guarantee, given it’s possible to get over 30% discount which is almost unbeatable by any other method.

Another example - some OTAs or agents may skew results, maybe based on promotions, commissions or something else, or have preferential rates or targets to hit, so the results they show you may not be 100% objective.

Final example - sometimes there are almost ‘mistake rates’, such as the double-dip quirk I’ve mentioned using Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Passport to Luxury (Jumeirah’s VIP/Preferred Partner Programme) to get increased benefits at rates well below anywhere else can offer (even at lesser rate conditions).

Conclusion

The best way to prove this tip is to give you a recent, real-world example.

Please have a look at this thread on Trip Advisor Forums, and whilst it’s long it proves the point exquisitely. This was someone who put a lot of time and energy researching, shopping around, making several bookings and comparing plans - all to be applauded for effort of course 👏 - but had such a broad brief, there was a far more effective, simpler and quicker path to success.

Because they couldn’t specify a priority in their search, they were adopting a bit of a scattershot approach. If you jump to the tail end of the thread, once they’d decided on a particular hotel, I found a far better deal for them in less than ten minutes.

That’s not because I’m smarter or anything - it’s because I had a very narrow focus. I knew which hotel, I knew there was a loyalty program that offered discounted rates, and from there, I knew there was a chance of a ‘double dip’ via a second promotion to get further benefits that beat anything they’d seen previously.

The only difference between me and them was the process, not the person. In this case, if you don’t know what you’re aiming for, how will you know if you’ve hit the target?

It really is that easy - that is, pick a priority first that will make anything else irrelevant (in this case, which area because they already a shortlist of a four hotels) and then once the hotel is decided upon, then pick the strategy and tactics to search for the best deal, price or benefits.

HOTEL NEWS

Kerzner International to Reopen The Meydan Hotel in 2026

Kerzner International have taken over the management operations of The Meydan Hotel, and it will reopen in “early 2026” after a refurbishment of rooms and public spaces.

The Meydan Hotel has always been a terrific hotel, but its location perhaps impacts popularity other than for equestrian fans or events like the Dubai World Cup. It’s going to be interesting to see what Kerzner do, given their strong record locally with properties such as Atlantis The Royal, Atlantis the Palm, the One & Only resorts and Bab al Shams.

Bookings are available via the official website :-

🔗 The Meydan Hotel

Here’s a ‘review’ of Siro One Za’beel, the wellness-focused property of the two hotels in the stunning One Za’beel (the other being a One & Only).

Raffles Dubai has a new General Manager, Safwan Abu Risheh.

Ahmad Shaban Fernandez is the new Cluster Manager for NH Collection Dubai The Palm and Dukes The Palm.

ABU DHABI

Eastern Mangroves Abu Dhabi to Reopen in December

Eastern Mangroves Abu Dhabi will reopen in December 2025 as a Hilton LXR property.

The former Anantara resort will be the first Abu Dhabi hotel under Hilton’s LXR Collection,which is an independent collection of luxury hotels that are “truly authentic to its destination, while knowing that the standard of service and experience is going to be exceptional."

Dubai used to have a LXR hotel, namely the Habtoor Palace at Al Habtoor City.

ETIHAD

A brief, but informative, interview with Antonoaldo Neves, CEO of Etihad Airways.

No doubt he’ll be pretty chuffed they’ve recently carried two million passengers in one month for the first time. That’s an impressive 22% increase, year-on-year.