Eat Drink Stay Dubai Newsletter 32/w21

Hi Dubai friends,

Welcome to Week 21, Edition 32

So here is this week’s digest of the ‘Dubai news worth knowing’, all in 10 minutes or less of your time.

As always, please keep your feedback coming in on how it’s working for you, or ideas for future editions or improvements you’d like to see.

This week, I’ve covered a subject close to my heart - buying booze in Dubai from shops - along with a great tip for how to make it work for you 😉

Cheers!

7 things worth knowing this week ⤵

🍷 Shopping for Alcohol in Dubai, UAE

🚇 Crowding on Dubai Metro

🏨 Palazzo Versace for sale - or not?

💸 Entertainer Promo Code update

🏨 Hilton RAK Beach Resort to Rixos

🏨 Manchester United Fan Suite at Marriott Palm Jumeirah

🛬 Beond launch all-premium flights to Dubai

🗞️ Roundup: Dubai-AUH shuttle bus, Raffles Palm new MD, Grand Hyatt waterpark

If you enjoy this newsletter, have any feedback or suggestions or just way to say 👋, feel free to drop me an email by clicking here 

KNOW MORE ABOUT DUBAI

Shopping for, and Drinking, Alcohol in Dubai

With the recent opening of the new A&E outlet in Oud Metha , seems as good a time as any for a feature about shopping for alcohol in Dubai.

Dubai Duty Free in the arrivals hall (near baggage collection) at DXB should be your first port of call.

Tourists can also purchase alcohol from licensed retail outlets in Dubai, and the two prominent suppliers are African and Eastern (A&E) and Maritime & Mercantile International (MMI). So if you manage to sup all your Duty Free, check the links for the nearest outlet and remember to take your passport.

It’s also possible to arrange delivery, as both A&E and MMI have their own delivery services, namely A&E Home Delivery and MMI Home Delivery (formerly legalhomedelivery, a literal lifesaver for many during the pandemic!)

There are other suppliers and outlets in other Emirates, such as Al Hamra Cellar in Ras al Khaimah, The Bottle Store Outlet in Al Ghadeer, or Windmill and Spinneys for Abu Dhabi.

Now for the important bit - if you’re going to drink alcohol you’ve purchased locally, be sure to be discrete, respectful and (ideally) in private (i.e. hotel room or balcony). All it takes in Dubai is for someone to complain or report you to cause a bad day out, so don’t be carrying open bottles, drinking in public spaces or generally behaving like feral youths at a Croydon bus stop.

TIP

If you do like a cheeky libation or two, I recommend investing in a FlasKap* and a decent insulated travel drinkware such as Yeti Rambler Tumbler*. Basically, you pre-load the FlasKap with several measures short of your preferred short, then dispense shots at your leisure. Ideal for when you can’t be bothered keep getting up out of your chair for a top-up 🍻

Whilst it may seem expensive, think about value: FlasKap plus one or two bottles bought locally compared to the cost of paying hotel prices?

The * denotes affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

DUBAI METRO

Crowding on Dubai Metro - a Victim of Its Own Success?

There’s been quite a focus on crowding on Dubai Metro over recent months - even before the storms - with the usual ‘shock horror’ from the content farms. RTA have implemented “crowd management protocols” at peak timings, and advise to keep abreast of service disruptions and other things, so I thought it may be worth delving into passenger numbers and how they’ve grown over recent years.

So I did a search on Perplexity.ai, and this is what it told me. Quite stunning growth hey? And given the limitations such as carriage numbers and infrastructure, one wonders what may happen over the coming years.

At present, it’s worth being aware of the crowding and planning accordingly - or just sticking to taxis, Uber, Careem etc.

The Dubai Metro has seen a steady increase in ridership since its opening in 2009. Here are some key statistics on the year-on-year growth in passenger numbers:

- In 2010, the first full year of operations, the Metro carried around 37 million riders.[1]

- Ridership grew to 54.7 million passengers in 2011, a 48% increase from 2010.[1]

- In 2012, the number rose to 109.8 million riders, nearly doubling from the previous year.[1]

- Passenger numbers continued to climb, reaching 137.3 million in 2013 (25% increase), 182.6 million in 2014 (33% increase), and 192.6 million in 2015 (5.5% increase).[1]

- By 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Metro carried a record 213.6 million riders, an 11% increase over 2018.[1]

- Ridership dipped to 124 million in 2020 due to mobility restrictions during the pandemic.[2]

- In 2021, the Metro saw 153 million passengers, a 23% rebound from 2020 as restrictions eased.[2]

- In 2022, the Dubai Metro carried around 193 million riders, marking a 26% growth compared to 2021 and nearing pre-pandemic levels.[3]

The consistent year-over-year growth, barring the pandemic-affected years, highlights the increasing popularity and reliance on the Dubai Metro as the city's population and urbanization expands rapidly.[1][2][3]

Citations:

[1] https://thredbo-conference-series.org/downloads/thredbo10_papers/thredbo10-themeB-Kaiser.pdf

[2] https://scholarworks.uaeu.ac.ae/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1929&context=all_theses

[3] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40864-020-00129-0

[4] https://www.oliverwyman.com/media-center/2023/nov/road-to-1-5-degrees-urban-sustainability-mobility-help-limit-climate-change.html

[5] https://www.intelligenttransport.com/transport-articles/145398/rta-integrated-transport-dubai/

🔗 Etihad Summer Offers

HOTEL NEWS

Palazzo Versace Up for Sale - Or Not?

It’s been an interesting week for Palazzo Versace. News broke early last week that it was for sale and would soon go to auction, with a starting price of $9 billion.

Then, a court order instructed the auction to be stopped - less than 24 hours before the auction was due to close.

It brings to mind the shenanigans that went on between FIVE Palm Jumeirah and Viceroy a few years ago.

Who knows what the next steps will be, or how the story may unfold further? Watch this space …

DUBAI DEALS

Entertainer Promo Code EDSD24 Update

It’s now been confirmed that the promo code EDSD24 will work on all Entertainer products, including Dubai 2024, Abu Dhabi 2024 and GCC 2024.

Initially, it worked for a 10% discount on all products except Dubai 2024, but since Ramadan it’s now been allowed to work on Dubai and also again for GCC 2024.

Click the banner below, or use this link, to go direct to Entertainer to purchase and don’t forget to enter code EDSD24.

If you need any help how to checkout, see this link.

🔗 Entertainer Promo Code EDSD24 for 10% Discount

HOTEL NEWS

Hilton RAK Beach Resort to Rixos From 01 July?

In other UAE hotel drama, the ongoing uncertainty about Hilton Ras Al Khaimah Beach Resort (first reported here in April) looks to be concluded.

As observant readers will recall, it was first flagged up as leaving Hilton only for the the leaving date to change. Now it’s finally been confirmed to becoming a Rixos as of 01 July.

Well, that’s what the press release says - although it’s not listed on Rixos’s website for UAE properties, as yet.

Here’s a decent thread from Trip Advisor Forum about the back and forth, along with some tips if you’ve been caught up in this.

HOTEL NEWS

Manchester United Fans Suite at Marriott Palm Jumeirah

If you’re unlucky enough to be a Manchester United fan and just want to sleep on the last season, or maybe dream of new awakenings under Sir Jim and Ineos, Marriott Palm Jumeirah have the perfect hotel room for you.

Manchester United Fan Experience in UAE (Marriott Press Release)

Book a 90s United Nostalgia Suite in Dubai (Time Out Dubai)

Comment

It doesn’t really look that great that, does it? I don’t mean Manchester United’s future, just the hotel ‘suite’ 😉

If you are a Red, you’d probably do better looking at Hotel Football at Old Trafford, or the Bonvoy Suite inside the ground or even Manchester Marriott Victoria & Albert as they have some nostalgic United-themed rooms with memorabilia in.

I’ve just realised - sorry, but those three places are in Manchester, so maybe won’t work for Man Utd fans 😁 

DUBAI NEWS ROUNDUP

Beond Launch ‘All Premium’ Flights to Dubai

Beond, the world’s first ‘premium leisure’ airline, announced they will start flights from Zurich to Dubai (DWC), along with their existing Dubai to Maldives flights.

It will be interesting to see how the ‘all-premium’ concept does going up against Emirates and other carriers. Plus, the Zurich flights will be flying to DWC rather than DXB.

Raffles Palm announces a new Managing Director

Dubai to Zayed International (AUH) 24/7 Shuttle Bus Service Details

Grand Hyatt to Open New Waterpark in 2025

Who Says Dubai Has No History?