Eat Drink Stay Dubai Newsletter 60/w49

Hi Dubai friends,

Welcome to Week 49, Edition 60

Hi Dubai friends,

This week, I’d like to ask a question about how you read this newsletter.

I’ve added a poll, which I’d kindly ask if you could answer (it’s literally, a one-click deal), as it would help improve future editions.

The reason this is important is some email providers ‘clip’ emails over a certain size or length, and I’m trying to weigh up if a more ‘long form’ version would be preferable to you, or if you want the less than 1500 words, quick and short reading version.

As always, if you’d like to provide further feedback, including which content you’d like to see more of (or not!) do let me know by clicking here

Thanks for reading 👏

Shaun

PS. A big thank you to all those that clicked the advertisement in the Special Edition. That helps to support my efforts in writing these newsletters, and I appreciate you.

PPS. If you didn’t, and would like to support me, please feel free to follow the link to the Special Edition in the Black Friday section below, and check out the advertiser’s page by clicking through. Ad Revenue can really help creators 👍

Please note: some links in this newsletter may be affiliate links, and will be denoted with an asterisk (*). 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

EAT

folly is returning to Dubai

folly at Madinat Jumeirah used to be one of my favourite Dubai restaurants, but it sadly closed in 2024.

However, it appears another Folly outlet, this time called folly Brasserie, will be opening at Address Montgomerie Hills. As yet, no information is available which chef will be involved and no opening date has been confirmed, although a media event is planned for late December.

note - it’s styled as ‘folly’, it’s not a typo 😉

Torno Subito Has Closed

Dubai has unfortunately lost an excellent one Michelin starred restaurant, as Torno Subito at W The Palm closed on 30 Nov. No plans have been announced for what will happen with the available space.

Ironically, the name of the restaurant apparently translates to “I’ll be back soon”.

DRINK

In case you missed this edition, Dubai has a thriving and very competition ‘pool and beach pass’ scene.

Like many things in Dubai, the overwhelm of choice and competing options can bring value to tourists and visitors prepared to shop around, and one of the best deals are the redeemable passes. Many will offer the full amount of entry as a credit against food and drink, which is nice.

Comment

I’ll still regularly post reminders about beach/pool passes in future editions, as these can be a great weapon in your armoury for value when visiting Dubai.

Think about it this way - why pay a ‘standing daily cost’ to stay in a beach resort if you’re not going to be using the beach or pool every day when you could stay in a cheaper ‘city’ or ‘beach facing’ and use day passes, AND get drinks or food credit?

STAY

(Belated) Happy Birthday to Burj Al Arab

As of 01 Dec, Burj al Arab celebrated its 25th anniversary. Check out pictures of its construction, including a sketch of its first concept, here. Or read a good interview with the General Manager, Giovanni, Beretta, below.

Lapita, Dubai Parks & Resorts Autograph Collection is now officially a five star hotel, due to its increased focus pn ‘eco-hospitality’.

This article explains how they achieved the journey to five star classification.

Jumeirah have partnered with Thanda Group to open two properties in Africa.

Jumeirah Thanda Island will open in Tanzania and Jumeirah Thanda Safari in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa.

DUBAI

Dubai Is the 6th Most Popular Destination for Hotel Searches

According to the hotel chain Accor, Dubai ranks sixth most popular ‘trending destination’ for searches.

New York City was the most popular destination with a score of 97.58, whilst Dubai sat in sixth place on a score of 93.13 behind Dominican Republic (93.40) and Bahamas (93.03)

Your Reminder That Dubai Shopping Festival Starts This Weekend.

Here’s a breakdown of what to expect, including (another) stunning drone show.

🔗 Dubai Shopping Festival

Arabian Adventures opened a new desert attraction, The Fort - Lusaili, for their desert activities.

Arabian Adventures are part of Emirates Group, and one of the ‘big three’ desert safari providers along with Destination Insight and Platinum Heritage, so do check them out.

🔗 Arabian Adventures

Yet another reminder that if you’re going to hire a car as a tourist in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, be sure to know the local laws and traffic regulations.

Especially the ‘minimum speed lanes’ into Abu Dhabi 🙂 

How can you miss these signs? 👇

DUBAI DEALS

Last Shout for Travel Tuesday Deals

You (hopefully!) read the Special Edition sent on Tuesday about Travel Tuesday deals roundup, but if you didn’t, a few more promotions and offers have been added on the link below.

🔗 Black Friday Travel Deals on Eat Drink Stay Dubai

FLIGHT DEALS

Site to Check: Loyalty Lobby and Their ‘Airfare of the Day’

There are many websites worth keeping an eye on for travel deals, and a good blog called Loyalty Lobby has an excellent feature called “Airfare of the Day”. They publish decent deals for a variety of airlines and routes, such as this Business Class Milan to Bangkok in Business Class with Etihad from €1,965 or London (LCY) to Dubai for £1,201 with ITA (also Business Class).

Comment

There still are some great deals for flights these days, and the best way to take advantage is to keep track of several sites (ideally via an RSS feed with something like Feedly or a dedicated app).

Also, the more flexibility you have on things like dates, routes, carrier and if you’re willing to take a risk with non-refundable, the more chance of success you will have.

🔗 Loyalty Lobby: Airfare of the Day

ETIHAD

I thought I’d include a couple of snippets about Etihad this week, as I’ve seen a growth in interest about Abu Dhabi, especially as it’s usually cheaper to fly to (and of course, is a great destination to visit also!).

Here is a good overview for an introduction about the best ways to book Etihad Business Class. Note the section about using AAAdvantage (American Airlines’ loyalty program), as that’s the route I’ve taken several times to book both Etihad Business Class and First Class.

This may sound complicated, but one of the best programs for beginners is to try to ‘earn’ (or buy) points in a program that’s transferrable, such as Marriott Bonvoy. Then you can transfer to American, and redeem those points on partners such as Etihad.

The mistake many make when starting in the loyalty game is to think miles and points can only be earned, but buying points/miles strategically when they’re offering a bonus such as this recently-expired Etihad Guest promotion can be worthwhile.

Personally, my tip would be to use Marriott Bonvoy as a ‘catch all’ if you’re interested in starting with points and miles. Even if it’s just buying a few points, or earning them with Marriott stays.

One last thing about Etihad, going back to the bit about great deals, is they seem to be one of the more common airlines regularly available for super-low prices, though maybe not on the peak touristy routes. For example, flights from Italy to Abu Dhabi in economy were gettable for £100 or so a few months back. You’ll probably see them crop up more than most if you keep track of Loyalty Lobby’s Airfare of the Day.