Eat Drink Stay Dubai Newsletter 55/w44

Hi Dubai friends,

Welcome to Week 44, Edition 55

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 about Dubai this week 👇

🍽 Atlantis Culinary Month.

🕺 Traiteur brunch reopens.

🌇 Get to Know: Dubai Festival City.

🏨 2 cheaper 'Downtown' hotels.

⚽️ Football Escapes Dubai.

🚌 Dubai 'On and Off' bus vs hop on/hop off tours.

🔎 Use Zomato for deals and research bars/restaurants.

🇬🇧 British Airways Business Class Sale.

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Thanks for reading 👏

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EAT

Atlantis Culinary Month

From 01 Nov to 08 Dec 24, Atlantis Dubai have their Culinary Month, which includes several events such as:-

• Celebrity Chef Four Hands & Supper Clubs

• Family Masterclasses

• Feast of Dreams (think super brunch at Gourmet, Atlantis The Royal)

• Opening of two new restaurants at Atlantis, The Palm, namely Studio Frantzen and FZN by Bjorn Frantzen

• Four dedicated weeks, focussed around Restaurant, Sustainability, Truffle and Social

  

🔗 Atlantis Culinary Month

Enjoy ‘alfresco dining with a view’ at The Restaurant by Bla Bla, The Beach, The Walk/JBR.

DRINK

Traiteur Has Reopened for Brunch

If you’re looking for Dubai brunches, the ‘big 3’ in terms of popularity are Bubbalicious at Westin Mina Seyahi, Saffron at Atlantis Dubai and Traiteur at Dubai Creek Resort.

The good news is, Traiteur has recently reopened - and it’s worth your attention, especially if you’re looking for a more classy affair when it comes to brunch. Have a quick Google for reviews, and you’ll see they’re good, and go back years - and for good reason. Here’s one from Time Out from January this year, along with the latest presser.

If people-watching is more your thing, Saffron may swing it for you 🙂

🔗 Traiteur Brunch

Zero Gravity have announced not one, but three, new brunches.

Here are seven late opening, ‘quiet’ bars in Dubai. Bridgewater Tavern and Goose Island get my nod.

And here are seven good outdoor ones, some of which offer some decent deals, such as:-

• Pure Sky Lounge via Entertainer, offers reusable Saturday Sunset Brunch or 3 x Buy One Get One Free Main Courses.

• Wet Deck at W Palm Jumeirah via More Cravings offers Ladies Day, Day Passes and ‘Her Wednesdays’

• Garden on 8 via Entertainer, offers 2 x Buy One Get One Free Bottle of Grape, 1 x Buy One Get One Free Bucket of Hops and 3 x Buy One Get One Free Main Courses.

Get four hours of free-flow drinks at Five Iron Dubai with their two new Ladies Nights.

STAY

Get to Know Dubai Areas: Festival City

Looking for a convenient place to stay in Dubai that offers good value? Festival City is one of those areas that often goes under the radar, but does have several positives worth considering. Especially on a short stay or layover, where time is often at a premium given Dubai’s linear and sporadic layout.

It’s close enough to the airport, Downtown and Old Dubai, next to Festival City Mall and there’s the Imagine Dubai light show too.

Hotel-wise, there are two adjacent IHG hotels, Intercontinental Festival City* and Crowne Plaza Dubai Festival City. A little further away is Intercontinental Residence Suites Festival City, which is apartment style rather than a hotel.

As it’s not that busy an area, prices for the hotels are competitive enough with Intercontinental Dubai Festival City being the pick of the bunch (more upscale brand, nice pool, wide choice of F&B outlets). Dining-wise, consider Al Faris Floating Restaurant, Belgian Beer Cafe or the Hard Rock Cafe at Festival City Mall.

🔗 Intercontinental Festival City*

🔗 Crowne Plaza Dubai Festival City*

Two (Cheaper) ‘Downtown’ Hotels to Consider

Two decent hotels worth considering if you’re looking to be close to Downtown (although strictly speaking, they’re in Business Bay as they’re outside of the Boulevard) are Hotel Boulevard, Autograph Collection and The Heritage Hotel, also an Autograph Collection property.

They used to be Vida Downtown Dubai and Manzil Dubai (respectively) before reflagging in early 2024, and are now under Marriott Bonvoy.

Both offer decent value (often around the £150 bracket), compared to the more expensive (inside the Boulevard) hotels like Address Downtown or The Palace Downtown.

🔗 Hotel Boulevard, Autograph Collection*

🔗 Heritage Hotel, Autograph Collection*

DUBAI

Football Escapes Dubai: Football Camps With Ex-Players

If your child loves football, and would enjoy training with ex-Premier League footballers, do check out Football Escapes Dubai. These are soccer camps at hotels around Dubai, such as these confirmed dates for 2024 at Jumeirah Beach Hotel:-

• 21st -25th October (with Michael Dawson)

• 28th October - 1st November (with Michael Owen)

• 27th - 31st December (with Joleon Lescott)

2025 dates are confirmed, though as yet, not the players/coaches (nor location):-

• 17th -21st February

• 7th - 11th April

• 14th - 18th April

• 20th - 24th October

• 27th - 31st October

• 27th - 31st December

🔗 Football Escapes Dubai

Dubai ‘On and Off Bus’ vs Hop on/Hop Off Tours

RTA recently launched a bus service called the ‘On and Off Bus’.

It costs 35 AED, runs from 10am to 10pm, with a journey time of approximately 60 minutes. The itinerary covers ‘8 of Dubai’s landmarks’ such as:-

• Dubai Frame

• Heritage Village

• Museum of the Future

• Gold Souk

• Dubai Mall

• La Mer Beach

• Jumeirah Mosque

• City Walk

In addition to Al Ghubaiba Metro, Bus and Marine Transport Station.

Comment

Whilst this seems an interesting offering, not least for the relatively low cost, do compare it to the two main ‘hop on, hop off’ tours Dubai offers, such as City Sightseeing Dubai and Big Bus Dubai. Both of those are available in Entertainer with Buy One Get One Free deals, and offer a wider range of routes over a greater area.

The On and Off bus is a good option if you’re looking to stay relatively close to Downtown, Creek and Old Dubai but if you’re looking to go hop on/hop off further afield, the other two may be a better option. Also bear in mind, if you’re into more of a commentary or ‘guide’, the On and Off Bus is more of a bus service rather than tour.

Don’t discount using hop on/hop off services to get around a lot of Dubai with convenience, as it can work out cheaper than taking a few trips by taxi.

🔗 RTA On and Off Bus

🔗 City Sightseeing Dubai

🔗 Big Bus Dubai

DUBAI TIPS

Use Zomato to Research Food and Drink Outlets in Dubai

I often say, research pays off with Dubai more than in most places, purely because there’s so much overwhelm when it comes to choices. However, that’s also a benefit because it means there is a lot of competition for your money, which can bring more deals and value.

A good site to know of is Zomato, which is a platform where you can search by outlet, areas, and categories - such as this one, for ‘Happy Hours’.

As always, be mindful of spurious reviews, usually by blaggers, side-hustle posters or over-keen PRs offering freebies for glowing words.

Zomato covers many places, including Abu Dhabi as well as Dubai, and also offers their own deals such as Zomato Gold, which offers two for one and dining discounts as a paid membership.

🔗 Zomato Dubai

FLIGHT DEALS

British Airways Business Class Sale: £500 Off Return Fares

British Airways are currently running a Business Class sale*, offering up to £500 off worldwide return fares.

Book by 05 Nov 24.

Top tip: don’t wear a MAGA hat whilst flying to Austin, Texas.

🔗 BA Business Class Sale*

DUBAI NEWS/TITTLE-TATTLE

• Ahead of UAE Flag Day on 02 Nov, learn all about the UAE flag.

• RTA resumes 4 bus routes to Global Village.

• Drift Beach gets a Missoni makeover.

• Would you pay 4,000 AED for a table at Nandos Downtown for NYE?

• Or, how about the Gipsy Kings at TANG Dubai for NYE instead?

• Dubai Airports CEO discusses the future of DWC airport.

• Inside “Dubai’s risky bid to become the world’s crypto hub” according to Fortune.