Eat Drink Stay Dubai Newsletter 116/w3

Hi Dubai friends,

Welcome to Week 3, Edition 116

First up, a belated Happy New Year - all the very best for 2026 🙌 

As I mentioned in my ‘PSA’ email a few days ago, I apologise for not being able to send editions for a couple of weeks due to exceptional circumstances. As I’m still getting back ‘into the swing of things’ this edition may be a little shorter than normal.

I have counted this as Edition 116, as the last one sent other than the NYE edition was 115, back in Week 52.

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

🍻 RAK to lower drinking age

🚶‍♂️ Walking tours of Old Dubai

🏩 Why your hotel brand may matter

🏖️ Jumeirah Beach 1 expansion 95% complete

🏨 New West Palm Beach hotel opens

🍽️ Luxury brunches

🛬 Upgrading on Emirates with Miles

Thanks as always for your support, especially these last few weeks.

PS. You can always email me here also.

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DUBAI NEWS

Let’s welcome 2026 - is it too late to wish everyone a Happy New Year still? - with this list of 112 must-do experiences in Dubai for 2026, from Time Out.

Ras Al Khaimah Lowers Drinking Age

The Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority issued a circular on 14 January to stakeholders stating that the legal drinking age will be lowered from 21 years old to 18. (Archived page here).

Jumeirah Beach 1 expansion is almost complete

Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Rashid Al Maktoum visited the Jumeirah Beach 1 expansion project this week to check progress by Dubai Municipality, and it is 95% complete with an increase of 50% more space.

Note - this is Jumeirah Beach 1, not be confused with J1 Beach.

KNOW MORE ABOUT DUBAI

Walking Tours of Old Dubai

I’ve mentioned before not to overlook Old Dubai, and this is a really great walking tour with several of the ‘must see’ places to see and try, particularly restaurants and hotels.

Of course, you could always book walking and other tours with the experts like Wander with Nada and Frying Pan Adventures.

Did you know that Dubai ranks as the sunniest holiday destination in the world, with over 3,500 hours of sunlight annually?

If you feel Dubai is expensive, there are some clever ways to do ‘free’ things, such as viewing Dubai Aquarium, The Viewing Point, Souk Madinat Jumeirah and more.

Here’s a good round-up of the different bus routes if you’re looking to travel between emirates.

Be aware, that in Dubai, there are several bus stations (Ibn Battuta, Al Ghubaiba and Al Jafilya) that serve as starting points depending on the specific route, and you may still need Dubai Metro or other public transport to get to them.

ONE BIG DUBAI TIP

MICE, and Why Your Hotel Brand May Matter

Conrad Dubai is a hotel that I may recommend to people for a few reasons, not least it is usually decent value for a luxury brand from Hilton but also because of its proximity to Dubai Metro. The World Trade Centre (WTC)Metro stop has the overpass to it in Conrad’s car park. Being in SZR area, the hotels tend to be more competitively priced, especially for five stars, than say Marina or Downtown.

However, something I’ve noticed for a while is it tends to ‘block off’ inventory at weird times of the year. Dubai hotels may often get really busy at peak events like Dubai airshow or some of the many big conferences especially around WTC, but Conrad Dubai is also very popular as Hilton hotel hosts a lot of its employee, regional and management meetings on-site also.

They’ve also just launched one of the largest Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) spaces in the city. It’s worth knowing this, because sometimes the ‘big’ hotels in Dubai that chase this type of business e.g. JW Marriott Marquis Dubai in Business Bay, can feel a little ‘corporate’ and get very ‘busy’ with hundreds of attendees.

With that said, Conrad Dubai is still an excellent hotel, especially if you have Diamond status in Hilton Honors or you book a VIP/Preferred Partner Programme rate with someone like Classic Travel* on Hilton for Luxury rates.

Personally, I have no issue staying in these type of hotels because they’re usually pretty good on service levels, facilities and outlets, along with offering upgrades, lounges etc. through status or elevated rate conditions.

However, and this is the thing to bear in mind if you’re looking to book - they may serve a certain demographic and type of traveller better than say, family travel or tourists.

The giveaway is often the number of conference, meeting and event spaces they have, as well as the number of rooms. This doesn’t mean that if a Dubai hotel has large numbers of rooms and event spaces it will be a ‘conference’ hotel - for example Madinat Jumeirah has some of the biggest event spaces in Dubai - but it’s certainly worth considering, especially if it’s also a ‘city hotel’ rather than a beach resort.

Last but not least, the type of hotels that tend to service the conference and business travel event market will often look for a high number of ‘block bookings’, so you may also find they tend to be in the ‘stopover’ programmes,. For example, JW Marriott Marquis Dubai is owned by the Emirates Group, so they use it for their stopover programmes. Bear this in mind because they can often feel like ‘busy’ hotels at certain times.

If you are looking at hotels such as these, and the prices seem high it can often be due to peak event bookings and demand, or maybe reduced inventory. If this happens, be sure to Google around and see if there are any big events nearby at the time you’re looking at, and perhaps consider elsewhere as it may be cheaper (more space often means more competitive rates).

FOOD AND DRINK

15 of the best restaurants in Dubai with a view for 2026 (What’s On)

Good to see Barasti still features on the Beach Club listicles, even if it doesn’t make the Top Ten best beach clubs, according to Time Out.

Or how about these ‘hottest beach clubs in Dubai’, according to Vogue Arabia?

Gulf News have a great podcast called The Hustle, and here’s an episode with chef Nobu Matsuhisa (from Nobu restaurants) fish shopping in Dubai’s Waterfront Market.

Speaking of Nobu, their One Za’abeel restaurant is open for booking from tomorrow, 17 January.

Whilst this list of luxury brunches  has some great options, I’m not sure why they missed out Traitteur or Zuma for example.

Saffron is a very comprehensive spread, but I’d always say it’s better for ‘people watching’ and is often the ‘go to’ for visitors.

Then again, brunch is such an emotive topic in Dubai, and in true Dubai style, there’s a lot of overwhelm and choice!

HOTEL NEWS

Mileo Mykonos Open Mileo Dubai at West Palm Beach

There’s a new hotel at Palm West, Mileo Dubai.

It’s located directly on Palm Jumeirah Road on the ‘trunk’, just past Marriott Resort Palm Jumeirah as you head towards Atlantis The Palm. Whilst it has a rooftop pool, it’s not altogether clear how it claims ‘beach access’, unless it has an agreement with one of the Palm West beach clubs or outlets.

Note - the website states it is called Mileo The Palm.

🔗 Mileo Dubai

Matthieu Busschaert has been appointed General Manager of The Creekside Hotel Dubai, an Accor Hotel.

The 15 most romantic hotels in the UAE, according to Conde Nast Traveller ME.

Personally, I think the desert resorts such as Al Maha and Qasr al Saab are hard to beat if only for the experience and ambience. As is the case with listicles, balance is difficult because they usually try to have a few from each emirate.

For example, I don’t think Park Hyatt Dubai is one of the top 15 most romantic, not even top 3 in Dubai. I think their Abu Dhabi property is much nicer and a true beach resort.

EMIRATES

Emirates will widen their Premium Economy route expansions to include Phuket, Barcelona, Mexico City, Rome, Copenhagen, Brisbane, Cape Town, Addis Ababa and Kuwait City.

The new 777x Business Class suites will include privacy doors and a small lounge, as this ‘first glimpse’ indicates.

Looking for the best seats in each class on Emirates’ Airbus A380s? Look no further.

Top tip - now that Seat Guru has gone the way of the Dodo, aeroLOPA is my go-to site to check seating plans for any airline.

🔗 aeroLOPA

How to Upgrade Emirates Flights Using Miles

Whilst there are a few ways to bag upgrades on Emirates with cash, upgrading with Miles is often overlooked (IMHO).

Depending on how you may consider paying cash, and what fare basis you will get - e.g. an ‘unbundled’ one - sometimes Miles/Points may be a better option - and not always Skywards Miles.

I’ve mentioned speculatively purchasing Miles and Points previously, but also consider transferable points such as American Express Member Rewards or Marriott Bonvoy.

However, as a starter lesson, this is a really good guide to using Skywards Miles to upgrade, including how many miles and what tickets can be upgraded. Just remember such as the limitations, namely kids eight and under are only allowed in Emirates First Class via cash tickets, and tickets booked through other airlines - even partners - aren’t upgradeable.

As a teaser, here are some examples of fine dining in the sky, including Emirates.