Eat Drink Stay Dubai Newsletter 67/w4

Hi Dubai friends,

Welcome to Week 4, Edition 67

Here’s your latest edition of the ‘Dubai news, deals & tips, every Thursday, in 10 mins or less’:-

💼 Business meeting spots

🛂 ‘smart’ entry into UAE

🆙 Salik toll prices to rise

🍻 Happy Hours in Dubai

🍽 Taste of Dubai Festival

🏨 2 lesser-known Palm Jumeirah Hotels

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

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EAT

Taste of Dubai Festival

Taste of Dubai will be held at Dubai Media City Ampitheatre from 14 - 16 Feb 25. If you’re a foodie, or just looking to watch 14 celebrity chefs including Marco Pierre White in action, why not pop along to the festival?

🔗 Taste of Dubai

Inside Jean Imbert’s dual-dining destinations at The Lana Dubai.

Here’s a few dining deals, including a lunch at Pierchic, dinner at Prime 68 and Nobu, that won’t burn your pocket. A good way to get into top restaurants without the big prices.

DRINK

Happy Hours in Dubai

Whilst it’s almost impossible to keep a list of Dubai’s Happy Hours up to date, this article is a decent starting point, as it lists by area.

As always, be sure to research well - as it always pays off! - because some venues actually do two Happy Hours, an early evening one and then a late, just-before-closing one aimed at barflies and last-order-merchants.

Cargo Dubai at Pier 7 is a great example of this, as it offers the first Happy Hour at 12pm/1200 - 8pm/2000 on Sun to Fri, and 11pm/2300 until closing daily.

STAY

Two Lesser-Known Palm Jumeirah Hotels

Palm Jumeirah has plenty of hotels and resorts these days, and they aren’t all the ‘big names’. Not all have their own private beach - so don’t assume they can be considered as ‘resorts’ - and some are ‘select service’ brands, so they’re not all five star.

The National have this review of Th8 Palm Beach Resort, part of the the Vignette Collection by IHG. This property switched over from Accor to IHG, as covered by Head for Points back in 2023.

One that (almost) escaped my notice, is another Hilton property. I’m not sure exactly when it officially opened (or if it’s still in a form of ‘soft opening), but Tumbi West Palm Beach Hotel Dubai, Tapestry Collection by Hilton (to give it its full name!) is located at Palm West Beach, so quite a ‘happening’ location. It’s between the Adagio Premium, Voco Dubai The Palm and Marriott Resort Palm Jumeirah, and is on the ‘trunk’ road side rather than directly on the beach (so check rules for beach access).

Tapestry Collection are a Hilton ‘soft brand’ (ie there aren’t fixed ‘brand standards’ so each hotel tends to feel more unique and individual), and looking at early ‘reviews’ there seems to have been a push for ‘stay for praise’ ‘guests’ 😉 

There hasn’t been the usual amount PR or news about this property, so time will tell, but with all the great offers for Hilton Resort Palm Jumeirah it will be interesting to see how things go.

🔗 Tapestry Collection Locations

🔗 Tapestry Collection Factsheet

DUBAI

Salik Toll Pricing to Rise

Your Salik tolls could get a little more expensive, as price rises have been announced along with Ramadan pricing.

Salik are the toll gates around Dubai, and a usual price of 4 AED is levied every time you pass through, as every car in Dubai has a Salik tag/registration. If you’re in a taxi, the price should be included in the meter charge, and if you’re in a hire car the hire company will automatically pay then bill you, possibly with an ‘admin charge’ on top.

There were over 29,000 labour law violations across the private sector in Dubai in 2024, according to MOHRE. Dubai has very strong and robust labour laws, and as the article proves, they go to great lengths to enforce them.

Who needs that ‘viral Dubai chocolate’ when you can have the Burj al Arab’s 25th anniversary chocolate?

Smart Entry Into Abu Dhabi and Dubai

Did you know there’s a UAE Fast Track App you can use for faster entry through Abu Dhabi, even for first-time visitors, according to ICP?

For Dubai, there are the Smart Gates (scroll down to the drop-down section on the link for more info) which can also be used for tourists availing of Visa on Arrival (VOA), and here is the GDRFA website to check eligibility.

Gwen Stefani will feature as part of Saadiyat Nights on 21 Feb 25, and Black Coffee will headline at Playa Pacha, FIVE LUX JBR on 03 Apr 25.

FLIGHT DEALS

Etihad Business Class CAI-SIN From 1404 Euros

Loyalty Lobby have found another Etihad Business Class ‘Airfare of the Day’, this time from Cairo to Singapore for 1404 Euros.

Comment

Note these are Business Value fares, ie Z, so do check what the ‘fare brand’ (as Etihad calls them) currently offers if things like lounge access, chauffeur etc. are important to you.

Cairo is relatively inexpensive to get to for ‘positioning flights’ especially if you can fly Egyptair (bear in mind though, it’s a ‘dry’ airline if this matters to you).

KNOW MORE ABOUT DUBAI

Find the Perfect Business Meeting Spot in Dubai

Dubai is a popular place for business meetings, and it doesn’t always have to be a formal boardroom.

Whilst Entrepreneur has this list of 20 great places for business meetings in Dubai, it’s really more a list of decent hotels. Depending of course what your needs are, you could consider either a decent coffee shop, a ‘coworking space’ or even a mall F&B outlet.

A lot could depend on area, and that would be my first suggestion - pick somewhere close, and easy to get to by public transport (Metro or taxi).

Next, think about ambient noise, as whilst meeting in a Mall’s coffee shop such as the lovely Armani Caffe Dubai Mall is nice, at certain times of day they can get busy and have background noise that could be a distraction.

The Sum of Us (SZR - behind Sheraton Grand) and Common Grounds (Mall of Emirates) are two great outlets from Eat X, as is Tom & Serg at Al Quoz, though the latter isn’t as easy to get to.

Be wary some of the chain coffee shops may host events during the day, or just get frequented by groups hanging about (eg ‘Jumeirah Janes’ or the dog/child-walking brigade 🙂), so they can be a bit ‘hit and miss’ if you’re looking for a sedate environment.

Hotel lobbies are worth considering, as often they are not as busy so are quieter, plus you can often find plugs etc. if you need to ‘fire up your tech’, charge phones etc. Plus if you find you need a bigger, better or quieter space, you could always move to a dedicated meeting room.

For this reason alone, I’d generally tip to think about hotels close to malls (e.g. Marina Mall, Mall of the Emirates or Dubai Mall), depending on your location.

Restaurants can also be an option, but then they’re a bit of a commitment in terms of time and eating, if all you really want to do is chat or debate something. If you’d prefer to dine al fresco away from the rush, consider Reform Social & Grill or The Farm at Al Barari. Not as convenient as malls or hotels, but if it’s likely to be a longer meeting, the extra space and calm could be more productive.