Eat Drink Stay Dubai Newsletter 42/w31

Hi Dubai friends,

Welcome to Week 31, Edition 42

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

👇 A few things worth knowing this week 👇

🎲 Casinowatch: New Gaming Authority, Regulations and Lottery

🛬 Avios-Only flights

🍽 Restaurant Month at JW Marriott Marquis Dubai

🍻 Drinks under 20 AED

🏨 Sofitel Dubai The Obelisk from £139 with Club, breakfast & cocktails

🏊‍♂️ Fully Redeemable pool and beach passes

🗞 Tittle-Tattle: Dubai visitor numbers/hotel occupancy, Taj JLT, Marsa al Arab, Indian Restaurants

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CASINO WATCH

UAE Publishes Gaming Regulations, Launches Lottery

Welcome to the General Commercial Gaming Regulator Authority, which recently opened up its website. Based in Abu Dhabi, GCGRA is the authority that will regulate ‘gaming’ (inc gambling - possibly) and has launched the first UAE lottery licence.

Whilst this is the first step, it remains to be seen what the impact will be for developers of casinos and ‘megaresorts’. Skift speculate the licencing could favour local companies, rather than the megabrands.

As mentioned in previous editions, it’s going to be interesting to see Emirate-wise which (if any) develop first on the resorts. Dubai is the obvious contender, but personally if I was ‘gaming’ I’d be favouring at Abu Dhabi (licencing/proximity) or Ras al Khaimah (more development space).

Comment

Note that going forward, it’s likely ‘gaming’ will be the general terminology used locally, in a similar way to how alcohol is not promoted directly, but rather by ‘hops’ or ‘grape’.

🔗 GCGRA

🔗 UAE Publishes Rules For Legal Gambling (Skift)

POINTS AND MILES

BA Avios-Only Flights to Dubai & Abu Dhabi

British Airways have added an ‘Avios only’ flight to Abu Dhabi during Easter 2025, as reported by Head For Points. There is also a Dubai flight during October 2024, again referenced in this Head for Points article.

Tip: If you’re not already reading HFP, you should be!

Comment

These flights could be interesting to compare against cash rates, especially given they are at peak travel dates. There’s also a far better chance of finding availability, given every seat is available for redemption rather than just the usual handful.

BA tend to offer a few ‘Avios Only’ flights on some short haul routes, so these are some of the first long-haul options available.

🔗 Abu Dhabi Avios Only on BA (HFP)

EAT

Restaurant Month at JW Marriott Marquis Dubai

Other than being a great hotel, JW Marriott Marquis Dubai in Business Bay is a tremendous venue for dining and drinks, having 12 award-winning outlets.

August is ‘Restaurant Month’ with a variety of month-long deals for residents and tourists, and each venue has either a Signature menu (Fine Dining) or Casual Dining menu.

Signature Menu from Dhs245 at:-

• Prime68

• Tong Thai

• Izakaya

• Rang Mahal.

Casual Dining menus are included at:-

• La Farine

• Positano

• Bridgewater Tavern

• Lush Burger

• Kitchen6.

🔗 Restaurant Month at JW Marriott Marquis Dubai

DRINK

Drinks for Under 20 AED?

This has always been a quest of mine …. is it possible to get a beer (‘hops’) for under 20 AED in Dubai?

The answer is yes, but it’s not always easy. Sometimes you may have concede a bit, either on brand (eg. Asahi) or location (JLT), but truth is - it’s always going to cost something.

If you’re around Madinat Jumeirah on Fri 02 Aug (tomorrow), be sure to check out Mezzanine Bar and Kitchen, as they’re offering all-day beers for 19 AED.

mezzaninedubai

View more on Instagram

There’s also a decent promo for “All Day Every Day Happy Hour” at Zabeel House The Greens that runs through to the end of August.

🔗 All Day Every Day Happy Hour at Zabeel House The Greens

STAY

Sofitel Dubai the Obelisk From £139 With Club, BF & More

Luxury Escapes have a ‘Limited Time LUX Exclusive’ for Sofitel Dubai The Obelisk*. This is a decent price for a new-ish hotel (3.5 years since opening) with some good benefits.

Sofitel Dubai The Obelisk is situated close to Wafi Mall and Raffles Dubai, in the area now known as Dubai Healthcare City.

• 3 nights from £419/room

• Guaranteed upgrade from a Deluxe Room to a Deluxe Club Room

• Daily la carte breakfast at La Veranda

• Club Millésime access and garment pressing

• Two hours of nightly free-flow cocktails and canapes at Club Millésime

• Daily afternoon tea at Club Millésime

• AED100 dining credit per package to use at Brasserie Boulud or Taiko Dubai

🔗 Luxury Escapes: Sofitel Dubai the Obelisk*

DUBAI

‘Fully Redeemable” Pool and Beach Passes in Dubai

Beach Clubs and day passes are really a ‘thing’ these days in Dubai.

We’ve covered them in previous editions, but it’s worth keeping on top of as there’s that much competition for your money, some can be really good value.

Just remember that there’s often some confusion about terminology, ranging from day passes, pool passes and beach clubs. There are some out and out beach clubs, such as Zero Gravity, that may not be part of a hotel and are standalone venues.

Then there are hotels that may ‘let out’ their facilities for walk up customers (ie non-guests), and these are usually known as pool or day passes. It’s sometimes possible to get redeemable F&B, where the cost of the pass grants an amount of credit at F&B outlets onsite.

As always, do check the small print or directly with the venue before booking to avoid disappointment. It could be for instance, that bookings are essential, or there are restrictions at some venues (ie only the pool, not the beach).

Here’s a list of some ‘fully redeemable’ pool passes, courtesy of What’s On.

🔗 32 of the best pool passes in Dubai (What’s On)

🔗 Best beach clubs in Dubai (Luxury London)

DUBAI NEWS/TITTLE-TATTLE

Dubai welcomed 9.3 million overnight visitors from January to June this year, a rise over the same period in 2023.

Call me Statto, geek, or whatever, but I like to look at the hotel stats such as:

• Hotel occupancy increased 1.0% to 78.7%

• Average Daily Revenue (ADR) rose 4% to 558 AED

• Revenue per Available Room (revPAR) rose 6% from 415 to 439

• Total Available Rooms increased from 148,689 to 150,879

There’s a new General Manager at Taj Jumeirah Lakes Towers. It’s worth remembering this hotel because it’s a decent property in JLT, often available for great rates.

Just to indicate you don’t always need to spend ‘Marina Money’ on hotels, as sometimes you can get a smashing hotel that even with taxi costs thrown in, will be less and save some money for those 20 AED drinks!

Here’s a decent list of “Best Indian restaurants” in Dubai.

As always, these lists are not exhaustive - there are certainly several more I’d pick than those - and subject to debate, but it’s a good start. Plus, you can always work your way through them and see for yourself!

Jumeirah’s Marsa al Aarab is recruiting, with open days in August and September.

Could this be a sign opening is imminent? Word on the street suggested some of the restaurants would open before the official hotel opening date, so let’s see.