Eat Drink Stay Dubai Newsletter 69/w6

Hi Dubai friends,

Welcome to Week 6, Edition 69

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

• Entertainer Promo Code EDSD25* for 10% Discount

• 3 Golden Rules for visiting Dubai

• Bad News ref Dubai Fountain

• Emaar new rules for holiday homes

• Barasti is no longer free

• Earn Marriot Bonvoy Points without a Stay

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

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

ENTERTAINER

Entertainer Promo Code: 10% Discount On All Products

Entertainer Promo Code EDSD25* has gone live, and will offer 10% discount on all Entertainer products from 01 Feb 25 to 31 Oct 25.

Entertainer is a ‘two for one’/Buy One Get One Free/BOGOF app that covers UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Singapore and Bahrain. For UAE, the app has three products:-

• Dubai 2025 (cost 625 AED)

• Abu Dhabi 2025 (cost 625 AED)

• GCC 2025 (cost 795 AED) - this includes both Abu Dhabi and Dubai 2025

Each product covers several categories, such as:-

• Premium Dining (including brunches)

• Casual Dining & Cafes

• Pubs & Bars

• Informal Dining & Takeaway

• Attractions & Leisure

• Beauty & Fitness

• Hotels

• Delivery

The ‘value proposition’ is very simple - an outlet (or ‘merchant’) will offer vouchers for certain products, such as Main Course, drinks packages such as wine/’grape’ or beer/’hops’, brunches or attractions packages eg Wild Wadi waterpark (general admission) on the basis of one free per voucher. So if an outlet offers 3 vouchers, up to 6 people can use to get 3 x freebies, or two people use one voucher three times (ie over 3 visits).

It is valid for the calendar year in which it is purchased, and (IMO) it’s the primary discount/deals app or product you should consider for the UAE. This is because it’s aimed at tourists as well as residents, the rules are relatively consistent, it’s the market leader and it’s the simplest to use. Of course, there are other platforms, apps, services offering discounts but often they are either less reputable, more complex and/or restrictive.

Whilst the discount code EDSD25* should be valid for use through to end of October 2025, last year there was a temporary reduction on Entertainer promo code use to buy Dubai 2025 during Ramadan. As Ramadan is expected to run from end of Feb 25 through to end of March 25, IF you’re looking to purchase to use during these dates I’d recommend purchasing now to ensure the Entertainer discount code will work for the discount.

Disclosure: I’m an Affiliate for Entertainer, so if you purchase using Entertainer Promo Code EDSD25* I may receive a commission at no further cost to you (so it’s a good way to support me/my work/this newsletter!).

If you’d like to know more about Entertainer, please contribute to the poll below and check out the links below.

🔗 How to use Entertainer Promo Code

🔗 Entertainer UAE (main site)

🔗 Ask Me Anything (AMA) thread on Trip Advisor for Entertainer 2025

KNOW MORE ABOUT DUBAI

SPOILER ALERT - Dubai Fountain

Reach for that brown paper bag now, as there’s a shock coming.

Dubai Fountain is closing down … for the off-season 😜

Emaar have announced Dubai Fountain will close from May for a “comprehensive upgrade and routine upkeep’, and the renovation works are expected to take five months.

Whilst we’re on the subject of bad news, Barasti beach days are no longer free - but they are fully redeemable. It’s not surprising given how competive the day/beach pass industry is at present in Dubai, and it’s had a revamp so perhaps 150 AED (weekdays) or 200 AED isn’t that bad after all. Especially as you get your spend back in drink or food.

If Barasti isn’t your thing, how about Bla Bla Beach Club or an infinity pool?

New Rules for Holiday Home Operators at Emaar Properties

Airbnb, Sonder and other short term residential or ‘holiday home’

platforms/agencies are rife in Dubai, and it’s essential you do extensive research before committing. Not only are there regulations to be aware of, but there are plenty of pitfalls - lockouts, gazumping and unregistered properties to name but three.

A few years back, Emaar tried to bring in a contentious rule regarding ‘holiday homes’ operations on their properties, and they’ve added another one that’s well worth a read, as it should help protect the customer and make for a better process.

My 3 Golden Rules To Remember When Visiting Dubai

Talking of rules, here’s one of those ‘laws in Dubai you should know about’ articles that’s worth a look. It’s not as alarmist as some, and is a bit more reasonable and sensible than most.

The 3 golden rules I would say are:-

1. Be situationally aware, respectful and polite at all times.

2. Remember you’re in a guest in another culture, and it pays to research and educate yourself beforehand from objective sources.

3. All it can take in Dubai for it to become a bad day out is for someone to make a formal complaint, no matter how spurious it may seem, so don’t give anyone the opportunity.

Because when you read those rubbishy articles in the media about Dubai, it’s nearly always someone who hasn’t abided by the 3 golden rules.

LOYALTY PROGRAMS

Marriott Bonvoy: Earn & Redeem Points Without a Stay

Dubai has one of the biggest ‘footprints’ in terms of Marriott properties in a city outside of the USA, which is a great reason in itself to be a Marriott Bonvoy member.

What some may not realise is you don’t have to be a guest at a Marriott hotel to earn and redeem points or avail of discounts or promotions. There is a current promotion called “Earn Without a Stay” to highlight you can link a cobranded credit card for automatic points earning, but just to point out - you don’t need to have a card linked to earn points.

If you drink or dine at a Marriott restaurant, providing the outlet isn’t independent of the hotel, you should be able to request they credit the points earned on spend to your Bonvoy account. Clearly, if it’s easier if this is done with a credit card and a registered promotion, but even if not, it’s always worth trying.

I’ve done it at Toro Toro, Grosvenor House Dubai, just by giving the heads up at time of reservation that I wanted to credit the spend to my Bonvoy account. On arrival, I checked that this was still okay and then at time of paying the bill, double-checked it would be allocated to my account. And it was.

Top tip - it’s always better to arrange these things beforehand, as should you face a challenge when it comes to paying it’s always more hectic to deal with then.

Comment

It’s easy to overlook this as one of those ‘meh’ things that may not be worth bothering about, but it is - and let me show you why it could be worth any perceived hassle in trying for it.

Base Member status with Bonvoy earns 10 points per $1 spend (depending on brand). I get 75% Bonus due to my Status, so 17.5 points per $1.

So if I spend 500 AED on a brunch, that’s approx. $136 so somewhere in the region of 136 × 17.5 points. Let’s call it 2,380 points. Where the magic can happen is if you’re in a group, pay everyone’s bill so you get all the points, so if there are five of you that could be 11,900 points.

To put that into perspective, whilst Bonvoy has ‘dynamic pricing’ on their hotels for redemption stays, picking a random date of 15 Apr you would need 29,000 points for a night at Marriott Marquis Dubai, 31,000 for Aloft Palm Jumeirah or 66,000 for Grosvenor House.

Also, one of the most lucractive use of Marriott Bonvoy points is their transferability to airline partners, generally at 3 Bonvoy to 1 airline point/mile or even for cruises via Virgin Atlantic/Virgin Red/VIrgin Voyages. So if you did have 60,000 sat in your Bonvoy account, for each 60k transferred you would receive 20k airline points/miles PLUS a 5k bonus, so 25,000 in total airline miles/points.

Granted, not everyone has high status so maybe have lower earning rates, and that linked promotion is only for 5 points per USD, but we all have to start somewhere.

🔗 Earn Without a Stay

🔗 More Cravings “Earn & Redeem Points” Venues in Dubai