Eat Drink Stay Dubai Newsletter 75/w12

Hi Dubai friends,

Welcome to Week 12, Edition 75

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

🌙 Eid Al Fitr Public Holiday

💸 Luxury Escapes Deals Roundup

💰Up to 25% discount with Accor, 20% with Marriott Bonvoy

🏨 SIRO/One Za’abeel

🤑 Buy Hyatt Points with a bonus

👩‍🌾 Dubai Miracle Garden is on Entertainer.

🛬 Flights to UAE from €313?

If there is anything in this edition you’d like want to know more about, or there’s something else about Dubai/UAE I can help you with, please feel to email me 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

DUBAI

When Does Ramadan End, and Eid Al Fitr Start?

Eid Al Fitr break and public holidays will be until Tue 01 Apr or Wed 02 Apr 2025. The exact confirmation will depend on the crescent moon sighting, which in turn will determine if it’s a 29 or 30 day month according to the Islamic Calendar.

It’s expected to be confirmed soon, perhaps by Fri 28 March. So expect a lot of Eid content coming your way, such as these staycations or this offer for Banyan Tree Dubai.

Note - if you’re looking for staycation deals, be sure to check the terms/small print, as some offers are aimed at UAE/GCC residents and may need to show ID.

In addition to staycations, do check the Hotel Offers section below, as there are some tremendous offers and promotions around at present.

HOTEL NEWS

Uncomplicating One Za’abeel

Here’s a case of a hotel complex that’s also a little complicated, so let me see if I can clear things up - as One Za’abeel is certainly worth your attention. There are actually TWO hotels within One Za’abeel Tower - and both are awesome.

SIRO One Za’abeel is the “wellness'“ or “active lifestyle” property, situated between floors 30 and 36. SIRO is pitching itself as '“Dubai’s First Fitness Hotel”, and it’s around half the price of One&Only Za’abeel, the ‘main’ hotel and One&Only’s first “vertical resort” worldwide.

Here’s some smashing content bout SIRO and lifestyle hotels 👇

Where the confusion can arrive is SIRO is a new brand from Kerzner International, which also has One&Only under its wing. So whilst both hotels belong to the same brand portfolio, they are different brands. It’s certainly not the case they are two One&Only hotels, as the pricing indicates 🙂.

🔗 One&Only Za’abeel

🔗 SIRO Za’abeel

There so many hotels these days on Palm Jumeirah, it’s hard keeping tabs on them all. One example is NH Collection Dubai The Palm, and here’s a nice read from their People and Culture Manager, Shirly Dizon.

Did you know Radisson Blu Dubai Deira Creek is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year? To help mark the occasion, they’re holding a Special Anniversary Iftar.

DUBAI DEALS

Dubai Miracle Garden Is on the Entertainer

If Dubai Miracle Garden is on your hitlist to visit in Dubai, it could be worth checking the Entertainer for ‘buy one get one free’ tickets.

Dubai 2025 Entertainer has 3 x vouchers, two of which are General Admission and one additionally includes Miracle Golf. This means up to six people can use three vouchers, so 3 go free if 3 pay. Or, two people could use one voucher for three visits.

Also, Monthly Offers also has one at present, Kids Admission buy one get one free (which is also reusable). Dubai 2025 will have these vouchers year-round, but Monthly Offers is only a short-term promotion (although it does say until 30 Dec 25, though ‘Your Mileage May Vary’).

🔗 Dubai Miracle Garden

🔗 Entertainer Promo Code: EDSD25 for 10% Discount

HOTEL OFFERS

Luxury Escapes Deals Roundup

Luxury Escapes* continue to have some decent deals for Dubai hotels, such as:-

• W Dubai - Mina Seyahi 3 nights from £579

• Atlantis The Royal - 3 nights from £1,341

• 25hours Hotel Dubai One Central - 3 nights from £329

• Sofitel Dubai The Obelisk - 3 nights from £359

• W Dubai The Palm - 3 nights from £549

Luxury Escapes* is a ‘selling off’ site, that is they offer specific packages which often include extra benefits. Some of these deals may be ‘LuxPlus+’ which is their program where you pay an annual fee to get exclusive discounts and additional further benefits.

For instance, the deal for Atlantis The Royal includes breakfast along with daily Aquaventure waterpark and Atlantis Explorer’s Club access, whereas LuxPlus+ gives $100 resort credit, complimentary bottle of wine, room upgrade and early/late checkout (STA).

🔗 Luxury Escapes: Dubai*

Accor ALL Escape Sale 20-25%

Accor currently has a sale called “Escape”, which offers variable discounts starting from 15% at participating hotels in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.

• Stays of 2 nights or more between 06 Mar to 30 Sep 2025.

• Book by 31 Mar 2025.

• Standard discount is 15%.

• Accor ALL members get an additional 5% (so 20% in total)

• Accor Plus get a further 10% off (so 25% in total).

Participating properties in Dubai include:-

• Sofitel Dubai Downtown

• Pullman Dubai Downtown

• 25hours Hotel Dubai One Central

• Hyde Hotel Dubai

• Fairmont Dubai

• Mama Shelter Dubai

• SLS Dubai Hotel & Residences

• Sofitel Dubai The Obelisk

• Raffles Dubai

• Queen Elizabeth 2

🔗 Accor ALL Escape Sale

Comment

Eagle-eyed readers may spot a bit of overlap with those promotions (i.e. the same hotels cropping up), and it’s worth understanding something about this.

Any hotel at any given point in time may be subject to different promotions, rate conditions etc. across different sales channels and platforms, and these will appeal to different ‘buyers needs’. For instance, if you’re just looking for the cheapest direct room rate, you should look at the Accor sale. However, if you fancy more of a ‘value proposition’, such as added benefits or maybe a promotional package, you should look at the selling-off sites like Luxury Escapes*.

If you really want the most premium experience, particularly on service touches and benefits, you should look at the VIP partner programs such as Virtuoso through exclusive agents like Classic Travel*. Classic Travel will offer many more rate conditions than OTAs like HotelsCom, including the VIP partner program rates and many other exclusive rates you won’t find in the main. Perhaps the best benefit of the VIP partner programs is perception of the guest… chances are, on the right rate condition, you will be treated better than even direct or most loyalty program bookings, let alone indirect bookings via OTAs and aggregators.

This is why you will often see or hear me saying, before you look for a deal, you should consider what your drivers are … are they the lowest cost, loyalty entitlements or other benefits, added value, service touches etc. as then it’s simpler to know where to look.

For example, you may get a lower price via Expedia or HotelsCom, but you won’t get the service touches or preferences when it comes to things like room allocation that a direct booking may. Whilst selling-off sites may offer packages with add-in benefits, they will never be as good as the VIP partner programs.

LOYALTY PROGRAMS

How to Buy World of Hyatt Hotel Points With a 25% Discount

This offer ends on 14 April, and it’s a good way to get some extra value for the right redemption. Head For Points makes a few good examples to spend £497 to buy enough points for a stay at Park Hyatt Marrakech that would cost £709.

No reason to think the same can’t be done for Dubai hotels like Park Hyatt Dubai or Andaz Dubai The Palm. Of course, you could also look to book these hotels via Hyatt Prive (Hyatt’s VIP partner program) through somewhere like Classic Travel* if cash is king for you, along with elevated rate conditions and benefits.

20% Off Weekend Escapes With Marriott Bonvoy

Book by this Sunday, for 20% off weekend stays at participating hotels. Non-members will only save 15%, so it’s worth signing up to Marriott Bonvoy.

🔗 Marriott Bonvoy Weekend Escapes

FLIGHT DEALS

Following on from last week’s feature on cheap flights to UAE, here’s a terrific deal on Qatar Airways from Oslo to UAE for €313 roundtrip. Arrival to Sharjah, Dubai or Dubai.

For reference, whilst it will need ‘positioning flights’ to get to Oslo, the value potential is still likely cheaper than ex-UK. This is why it’s often worth considering other ex-Europe destinations rather than UK, as they are often cheaper both on the fare and the taxes/charges.