Eat Drink Stay Dubai Newsletter 105/w42

Hi Dubai friends,

Welcome to Week 42, Edition 105

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

🧑‍🦽People of Determination & Autism certification

🏨 SO/ Ras Al Khaimah: new All-Inclusive. Dis-Loyalty for 50% discount?

🛬 Cheaper flights by avoiding APD and add-ons

🏩 Jumeirah Creekside: Accor now?

🔐 OKKU, folly Brasserie & Jardin Des Arts close

🚕 new DTC all-electric airport taxi

💸 Save money: use day pass deals

🍒 Playa Pacha

PS. You can always email me here also.

Please note: some links in this newsletter may be affiliate links, and will be denoted with an asterisk (*). This is a link to a partner site that may pay me a commission - at no further cost to you - and if so, helps to support me & this newsletter. For more info, please see Disclosure and Policies

DUBAI NEWS

Dubai Taxi Company (DTC) have announced details of their new red-roof, all-electric airport taxis.

Due to be in operation “in 2026”, the KIA vehicles will be ‘people carrier’ style and include live cameras and AI for passenger interaction such as translation.

Dubai May Have Traffic Lights ‘Talking’ Directly to Cars?

Read about the “UX Fusion” concept RTA are developing, which could see AI link traffic lights and other traffic management information being fed directly to vehicles.

One of its main aims is to encourage specific travel-related information to be sent to vehicle dashboards, rather than drivers rely on handheld devices such as mobiles.

Playa Pacha will relaunch their Pacha ICONS series at FIVE Luxe JBR, starting with Carl Cox and featuring BLONDISH, Peggy Gou and other DJs.

Black Coffee won’t be there it seems, preferring a set at Ushuaia at Dubai Harbour on Saturday, 27 December.

🔗 Playa Pacha 

Halsey will headline the opening of Dubai Shopping Festival on Saturday, 06 December.

🔗 Dubai Shopping Festival

ONE BIG DUBAI TIP

Disability, Dubai and People of Determination

Dubai is such a forward-thinking city on so many levels, and their approach to disability is a leading example of that.

For a start, the local terminology for disabled people - “People of Determination” - is positive and empowering. There are many programmes, strategies, policies, rights and initiatives to raise awareness, educate and support.

What may be called “accessibility” is a prime consideration in terms of design in places like parks, restrooms, malls, facilities and new developments. This is a guide on travel accessibility in Dubai from Visit Dubai, and offers specific links to advice on airports, cruise terminals, Dubai Metro and attractions as well as a link to applying for the SANAD Tourist Card.

Incentives are offered for People of Determination, such as exemption from fees for museums and attractions including Dubai Frame, Dubai Safari Park and Dubai Safari, and Ras Al Khor Sanctuary. Many attractions and venues may also offer discounts for People of Determination.

Two cards are offered, the People of Determination card (aimed at residents and citizens) and the SANAD card (which tourists can apply for).

This link is the leaflet about the SANAD card which lists its benefits.

There are many other advantages and incentives, so if you have any supporting documentation from your home country, it could be worth looking into registering (POD/SANAD) for visits to Dubai.

If you need help with mobility, there are several companies that will hire mobility equipment ranging from wheelchairs, mobility scooters and other equipment. Many malls also offer hire, but these are often only for use on-property. You may also find places such as around JBR may offer ‘golf cart’ type buggies that can save walking.

There are also many blogs and articles from visitors to Dubai about their experiences, along with companies who may provide some content about their services and resources about attractions.

Dubai is one of the first Autism-certified destinations in the Eastern Hemisphere, and many hotels such as Hilton Dubai Palm Jumeirah are “Certified Autism Center” (CAC) accredited. Emirates is also the first Autism Certified Airline and these 8 parks in Dubai are also certified CAC.

Conclusion

As this is a massive subject, I can’t begin to do it justice in the small space of this newsletter sadly. However, I hope it helps raise awareness of all the good Dubai is doing on this front, inspires further research and encourages potential travellers to Dubai.

DUBAI DEALS

Roundup: Beach and Day Passes

One of the best ways to save money/find deals/increase value in Dubai is to ‘slice and dice’ different ways to of doing things. This is because there’s so much competition for your money in Dubai, by being ‘deal savvy’ you can often save money that can then go elsewhere on the trip.

One of the most obvious examples of this is via day passes, either to beaches, pools, beach clubs etc. The theory being, you pay to use somewhere else’s facilities and they will incentivise this by adding things like ‘redeemable’ food and drink, or perhaps offering access to facilities if you attend a brunch.

Note - To save typing and clogging this section up, I cover this in greater detail here.

So if, for instance, ‘a good pool’ is one of your ‘buyer needs’ when choosing a hotel, rather than paying for a hotel that has one for every day of your trip, why not consider getting a cheaper hotel and using a day pass to access somewhere else?

This could work on two measures :-

1. Being honest with yourself, and thinking of ‘utility’, would you really use the pool every day or rather, just because it’s there? Perhaps it may depend on if you’re on a ‘drop and flop’ holiday, but if you’re looking to explore around and make the most of your time, you may not even use the pool every day. If you’re on a seven night stay, and realistically only would want to use the pool on two days, why pay a higher hotel rate?

2. Given the competition, it’s not difficult to find some ‘value add’ for a day pass, such as fully redeemable (all the price is returned against the food/drink bill) or if it’s a ladies day or similar, a certain amount of time/allowance for ‘free’ drinks.

So what I’m suggesting is you could do two or three day passes for beach, brunch, pool etc. on the right deal, and also save money not needing to plump for a hotel with a super pool that may cost more money.

And this is why I regularly post links for day passes, ladies days and similar - because they are always bringing new ones out, revising deals/offers and it can really bring great value.

Note - you can also read all past editions that feature day passes by clicking here or searching in the Archive/search box or selecting the ‘tag’ (see screenshot).

The ultimate list of Dubai pool and beach day passes (Dubai Family Leisure Guide)

64 best pool day deals (Time Out)

25 fully redeemable pool and beach passes (What’s On)

The best pool and day passes (Visit Dubai)

Last but not least, don’t overlook Entertainer to get Buy One Get One Free on places such as Taj Exotica Resort (pool and beach), Conrad Dubai (pool pass), pool parties and beach clubs.

FOOD AND DRINK

OKKU, folly Brasserie, Jardin Des Arts Have Closed

OKKU at Marriott Resort Palm Jumeirah has closed down, according to Caterer Middle East.

The article also reports two Gates Hospitality restaurants at Address Montgomerie, folly Brasserie and Jardin Des Arts, have also closed. folly Brasserie was a spinoff from the popular folly brand by Nick Alvis and Scott Price that was previously at Madinat Jumeirah.

Nick Alvis has gone on to open The Beam at Le Royal Meridien; brunch review from Time Out here.

Did you know Dubai has two bars in the World’s 50 Best Bars list?

Summersalt Beach Club at Jumeirah Al Naseem has reopened with a new menu, with weekend day passes costing 800 AED (including 400 AED redeemable). Review here from What’s On.

🔗 Summersalt Beach Club

HOTEL NEWS

All-Inclusive SO/ Ras Al Khaimah to Open in November

Ennismore have announced they will open SO/ Ras Al Khaimah, their first all-inclusive resort outside of Europe, in November 2025.

The property will include 257 rooms and suites, along with five F&B outlets.

(if the link doesn’t work, try the archived page here

Top Tip - remember that Ennismore have a paid member programme called Dis-Loyalty that can offer benefits and discounts. What could be interesting to see if it’s possible to join the programme and avail of the 50% discount on bookings for hotels in their first 3 months after opening.

At present, the only two RAK properties showing in Dis-Loyalty are Rixos Al Mairid and Rixos Bab Al Bahr (see screenshot), and they’re showing at 20% discount.

🔗 Dis-Loyalty

🔗 SO/ Ras Al Khaimah

Federico Giovine is the new Hotel Manager at Four Seasons Hotel Dubai International Financial Centre.

Jumeirah Creekside to Move to Accor?

Following on from the news that Jumeirah Creekside appears to have closed, it’s marked up as "Permanently Closed” on Google Maps, yet there still appears to be little in the way of PR or official announcements to media.

Although it appears to show up on Trip Advisor as “The Creekside Hotel - An Accor Hotel”, which looks like it’s the original listing just edited to the new name (note the amount of reviews etc.)

Whereas, if you search on Accor’s main website, there is no listing for the property at time of writing, nor does it appear on the property map.

If I had to guess, I would think this means it’s currently in the process of re-flagging and will be announced for bookings with the new launch at some point in the future.

Watch this space.

Speaking of Jumeirah, Jumeirah Etihad Towers has a new General Manager, Andy Cuthbert.

Starwood Hotels look to be focussing on Dubai as a “key area of expansion”, according to Stéphanie Segaux, their vice-President of Development for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

I’m particularly interested in Starwood Hotels now they have Barry Sternlicht back, and with their Baccarat (due to open in Dubai in 2026), Treehouse and 1 Hotel brands they could be worth keeping an eye on.

🔗 Starwood Hotels

EMIRATES

Find Cheaper Flights by Departing Outside of UK (e.g. Dublin)

An interesting article from Simple Flying suggests Dublin (DUB) could be the next ‘gateway to the Gulf’ due to the increased number of flights from Gulf carriers.

More flights often equates to more competitive flight pricing, and there’s also the point that it’s generally cheaper to fly ex-DUB than UK due to add-ons.

This can be a great way to save money on air fares, especially if you’re willing to consider a ‘positioning flight’ to a cheaper destination to book a return flight from.

See these two sample one-way flights on Emirates in Economy, on the same fare basis (K)

Note that the fare - the first line - is €537.04 Euros (approx £467.10), so there’s not much difference in like-for-like fare comparison. Flying from the UK brings in Air Passenger Duty, or APD, (which has a uplift if in a premium cabin such as Premium Economy, Business, or First) so the combined add-ons are a lower cost if departing from outside of UK.

In this case, there’s a saving of around £133.90 (£677.71 - £543.81) per person. If this saving is typical, that’s over £260 saving on a return flight - and likely much more if you choose a higher fare basis or cabin.

Emirates will now fly two A380s on the London Gatwick (LGW) to Dubai route next summer, rather than the once daily as originally scheduled.

From January to July this year, Emirates reported a 80% ‘load factor’ on this route.

ABU DHABI

Idris Elba will headline the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Yasalam Official After-Party at Garden on Yas on Friday, December 5 with a DJ set.