Eat Drink Stay Dubai Newsletter 34/w23

Hi Dubai friends,

Welcome to Week 23, Edition 34

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

This week, with Eid and summer approaching, let’s roundup some of the best hotel deals around, for staycations and otherwise.

Also, pleased to see Nada from Wander with Nada on CNN this week. Do check her out!

A few things worth knowing this week ⤵

🚶‍♀️Why you should Wander with Nada

🏨 Eid Staycation Deals

🏨 Luxury Escapes Deals Roundup

🏨 The H “Escape to the Summer” offers

🗞️ Roundup: Emirates President knocks Heathrow, Dubai Mall to get bigger, Prime 68 to open second outlet, African & Eastern 10% discount

Cheers

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

Why You Need to Wander With Nada

Thank you CNN for reminding me I’ve been meaning to do a feature on the ‘wanderful’ Wander with Nada.

In a city where ‘tour guides’ and ‘operators’ are two-a-dirham, there are only two companies I’d heartily recommend. And as a bonus, they’re both female-run.

One is Frying Pan Adventures, which I’ll cover in more depth in a future edition.

If you ever really want to learn more about Dubai and see the sights away from the bling*, please do check out Wander With Nada. Nada offers an immersive experience, not just around Dubai but also Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, but best of all, she tells the most fantastic stories. And I don’t just mean about Harry Potter.

I’m a big advocate of taking time away from the usual Dubai to spend time in Old Dubai, and Nada’s “Old Dubai Walking Tour” is ‘for the win’.

If you fancy some culture and history away from the usual, give Nada the nod. You’ll not meet a lovelier, friendlier, more knowledgable person to spend time with who loves Dubai as much …. unless you bump into me in Barasti that is.

I can’t say it better than CNN did (or many of the satisfied ‘wanderers’ I’ve referred to Nada). Do peruse the links below - you’ll be glad you did.

*Don’t panic - Nada also does the ‘bling’ with her “Dubai Landmarks Tour”.

🔗 Wander with Nada

HOTEL DEALS

Eid Staycation Deals

Eid Al Adha will soon be upon us, so here’s a quick roundup of some staycation deals.

Do read the small print of each carefully as sometimes, staycations are aimed at GCC residents rather than tourists.

🔗 The Best Summer Staycation Deals (Whats On)

🔗 Eid Al Adha 2024 Staycation Deals in Dubai (Time Out)

🔗 UAE Summer Staycation Deals (The National)

🔗 41 Summer Staycation deals across the GCC (Time Out Abu Dhabi)

THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS

Fire in the Disco

Sadly, fires are not uncommon in Dubai, but it was still alarming to see my ‘special place’ in Dubai - Barasti - hit the flames this week.

The good news is, there were no casualties, the fire was quickly brought under control and the party still goes on. As of this morning, the pool and deck has reopened. And in true Barasti style, they took the opportunity to promote deals (see link).

HOTEL DEALS

Luxury Escapes Deals Roundup

Luxury Escapes is a ‘selling off’ site that offers discounts and added benefits for hotel stays. Sometimes hotels are on there because they’re not as popular as they expect to be or for other reasons, but every now and again great deals can be had.

Here’s a roundup of their current deals.

Andaz Dubai The Palm* (one day left to grab this offer!)

• Five nights from £629 (inc tax and charges)

• Guaranteed upgrade to King Sea View Room

• Travel until 30 Sep 25

• Includes breakfast and nightly dinner

• Complimentary non-alcholic minibar

• Flexible cancellation

Grand Hyatt Dubai*

• Two nights from £219 (inc tax and charges)

• Daily buffet breakfast and nightly buffet dinner

• Daily two hour free-flow beer, wine and spirits

• 150 AED spa credit

• 20% dining discount at on-site restaurants

• Flexible cancellation

W Mina Seyahi*

• 3 nights from £639 (inc tax and charges)

• Daily breakfast and lunch or dinner

• Daily drink per adult

• Adults-only (over 16s)

• All-inclusive upgrade extra (payable)

Atlantis The Royal*

• 5 nights from £2,086 (inc tax and charges)

• Daily breakfast

• Daily access to Aquaventure, Lost Chambers, Skyblaze

• Upgrades available include Club Access (ie all-day premium drinks!)

  *denotes affiliate link. 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.

HOTEL DEALS

“Escape to the H” Summer Deals

The H Dubai is a great hotel on SZR that’s usually available for decent rates.

Being in that neck of the woods, the 5 star properties tend to offer good value and it’s a practical location for exploring Dubai without being as extortionate on the rates as Downtown.

The H has just launched their “Escape to the H” offers, which include F&B, spa and accommodation deals.

🔗 Escape to The H Summer Offers

DUBAI NEWS ROUNDUP

Emirates President Slates Heathrow

Sir Tim Clark laid into Heathrow this week, claiming Terminal 3 resembles a “post second World War structure” and bemoaning the lack of investment.

Personally, I wouldn’t restrict criticism to just Terminal 3, as I think Heathrow has several problems and is a poor customer experience in general.

Dubai Mall to Get Even Bigger

Emaar have announced plans to expand Dubai Mall, which will provide an additional 240 luxury stores and more food and drink outlets. The plans are expected to cost 1.5 billion AED ($408 million).

🔗 Official Press Release

Prime 68 to Open Sister Restaurant

Two restaurants I like, Prime 68 at JW Marriott Marquis Dubai and The Observatory Bar & Grill at Marriott Dubai Harbour, are to launch a new concept.

Prime 52 will launch at Observatory once the revamp has been completed, some time after summer (apparently).

🔗 Observatory Bar & Grill to transform & include Prime52 (Hotelier)

African & Eastern Offer 10% Discount for Drinkers

As featured a couple of weeks ago in the “how to shop for alcohol one” edition, it’s relatively easy these days for tourists to purchase alcohol in Dubai.

One of the two main retailers, African + Eastern (A&E), have announced a range of incentives on their online service African and Eastern Direct to celebrate its 1st birthday, including a 10% discount using code AE10 on first orders and a draw to win a fridge.

Note - you will need to first register on their licencedxb site to order online.

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