Eat Drink Stay Dubai Newsletter 97/w34

Hi Dubai friends,

Welcome to Week 34, Edition 97

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

💡 Gettable prices are the key to hotel deals

🛬 Aircrafted by Emirates

🏩 Dis-Loyalty: a membership program offering savings on cool hotels.

🧑‍✈️ Why direct flights may not always be the best option

💠 Dubai Police and that $25 Pink Diamond

PS. You can always email me here also.

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DUBAI NEWS

Dubai Police Solve $25 Million Diamond Theft in Hours

Whilst it’s true there is very little crime in Dubai, when something does happen, Dubai Police usually ‘crack the case’ within hours.

When a $25 million pink diamond was snatched recently, Dubai Police caught the culprits within eight hours.

Do check out the video in that article, as Dubai always make good content with these things, such as this video from a few years back when they took down ‘Hushpuppi’.

Joby Aviation, who in collaboration with RTA will launch Dubai’s ‘aerial taxis’, this week completed the first piloted test eVTOL (Vertical Take-off and Landing) flight between two commercial airports, namely Marina (OAR) and Monterey (MRY) in California.

The video below is pretty cool as it shows the vertical landing (note how the propellers change position).

Read more about the plans for air taxis in Dubai, including a video of the in-region test flight, here.

One for those who dare suggest the UAE has no history …

Archaeologists have discovered a 1,400 Christian cross on a plaque at an ancient monastery at Sir Bani Yas Island.

EMIRATES

Emirates Launch Second “Aircrafted by Emirates” Luggage Range

If you’re an Emirates fan, and in you’re in the market for new luggage or handbags, check out their “Aircrafted by Emirates” collection.

Following a previous launch in 2023, this second collection of upcycled materials from their retrofitted aircraft programmes, includes a handbag made with fur from the Captain Seat along with three different trolley bags.

🔗 Aircrafted by Emirates (official Store page)

Chase Cuts Emirates Skywards as a Transfer Partner

(For readers from the US)

As of 16 October, Chase Ultimate Rewards will end its transfer partnership with Emirates Skywards.

HOTEL NEWS

Middle East Hotel Pipeline Analysis Q2 2025

Have a guess which Middle East Country lead the hotel construction pipeline (i.e. hotel projects currently in development) for Q2 this year?

Okay, I’ll give you a clue - it’s either Egypt, Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates.

Would you believe UAE is only in third spot (with 100 projects), behind Egypt (127 projects) and Saudi Arabia with a whopping 324 projects? In other words, for every hotel project in the UAE, Saudi Arabia are building 3 times as many!

Whilst the UAE has some 25,470 rooms under development, Saudi Arabia has 92,187.

In terms of overall analysis, there is an all-time high of hotel construction projects under development in Q2 2025, with 161,574 planned rooms. The increase is up 7% year-on-year (YOY) in terms of projects, providing a 10% increase in rooms in-region.

🔗 Middle East Hotel Construction Q2 (c/o Lodging Econometrics)

ONE BIG DUBAI TIP

Why the ‘Gettable Price” Is the Key to a Hotel Deal

Just on the off-chance you’ve never heard or read me say this before, one thing about Dubai hotels is that there is always a lot of price volatility in the market.

The same hotel can vary wildly across different sales channels, and even fluctuate wildly on the same channel/app. It’s just a very competitive market with a lot of oversupply, and they still keep adding more rooms!

This is why I say, “focus on the gettable price” a lot, because there’s often always a cheaper price, deal or offer around.

For instance, whilst you may see a travel agent, post or advert suggesting a certain discount or reduction on a hotel, you should never ‘take it as read’ that it is either a) a deal or b) the best price around.

If you shop around, either to compare or research, you may be surprised how low a price you can find a hotel. Sometimes it’s a promotion, or a particular sales channel offering a tremendous price, or other times it could be factors like the hotel is struggling, or on an advertising push, or it just isn’t as popular as one may expect.

Here are just two examples of excellent hotels, at gettable prices that could be worth a pop. The Grand Mercure Dubai City for instance, not far from DXB airport and Le Meridien Dubai Hotel & Conference Centre, can go for around £150 in November, so these rates for August and September are a third of that.

• Grand Mercure Dubai City from €46

• Fairmont Bab al Bahr (Abu Dhabi) from €157

How to Know the Gettable Price of Hotels

This is another reason why I would always advocate shopping around and researching, especially over time, as prices do fluctuate tremendously.

You can do this in two general ways.

1. Go on Google Maps or Google Travel, and search for your preferred hotel, input dates, number of guests etc. and it will show prices from a range of sales channels. Just be a bit wary when the prices may seem too good to be true, as often there is a reason - e.g. they may not be ‘live pricing’, or the taxes/charges may not be calculated correctly or they may just be shonky providers. Try to stick to the reputable sales channels, but also check the ‘Price History’ section (see screenshots below).

2. Use a price drop service, something along the lines of Pruvo*, which will compare a hotel booking against all other online sales channels, and tell you when and where the price is available cheaper.

   You simply make a cancellable booking on your preferred site or app, email it to them and they will continue to monitor your booking on a ‘like for like’ basis with all online sales channels, then email you when they find a lower price - for FREE. They don’t charge you, because they make a commission if you rebook at the cheaper price, at no cost to you.

   Pruvo* works for a few use cases, such as :-

   • seeing if/how prices drop over time

   • if there’s a cheaper price at time of booking you’re not aware of

   • to help coordinate with a Price Match/Best Rate Guarantee.

Conclusion

If you only do one thing when you’re looking to book a hotel, let it be this :-

Ensure you know what the ‘Gettable Price’ is.

Jumeirah, for instance, are tinkers for this. They will often announce ‘flash sales’ and claim savings of 40% off, whilst often uplifting the prices beforehand. So in real terms, it’s 40% off the uplifted price, not the gettable price.

Another benefit to knowing the gettable price, and monitoring prices with Google Travel/Maps and Pruvo, is that you track the price over time and over different sales channels, so you get a better feel whether to ‘pull the trigger’ on a booking or wait.

Even if you’re looking to book with a travel agent or package travel provider, it’s well worth your time either checking your preferred hotel/room/dates beforehand, or before confirming your booking, just to prove whether it’s a good deal or not.

Don’t let an agent tell you what the hotel price is ‘worth’, rather validate it yourself.

Also, direct negotiation can be helped with data from searches on gettable prices. If you see a price on an OTA, as they will likely be including a commission, in theory - if you speak to the right people, the right way - it should be possible to negotiate either a lower-rate, or some sort of added-value deal to book direct.

Last but not least, be sure to understand the rate conditions - as this often one of the big reasons prices may vary :-

• Non-refundable rates may be 20% or more cheaper than cancellable

• if you price up for Room Only or Bed & Breakfast, you have fare more ‘comparability’ (i.e. it’s available over far more sales channels, so far more potential for price variance/drops)

• If you include packages with add-ons from an agent, such as Half Board or other dining packages, you reduce ‘comparability’ so have less potential for price variance/drops but also, it’s harder to compare ‘like for like’ as not all dining packages are comparable. Agents often add these packages for this very reason - so you can’t compare for better deals!

KNOW MORE ABOUT DUBAI

Direct Flights Sometimes Aren’t the Only, or Even Best, Option

This answer from Simon Calder in the Independent, to the question “What is the best way to get to Dubai from Birmingham” makes some excellent points.

Direct flights are often the default option for many people, mainly for convenience. But not all departure points are equal, as Simon indicates, suggesting for Emirates London departures are generally preferable as they seem higher priority for Emirates with respect to plane types.

As cost is almost always a factor for many people, it’s worth considering indirect flights, alternative airports, or even ‘positioning’ flights (taking a short, cheaper flight to build a return flight from a cheaper departure point due to lower prices, less charges, less APD etc.).

Note - see the ‘Flight Deals’ section below for an example of ‘positioning flights’.

Other factors, such as an airline introducing a new route, can also be appealing - in this example, Royal Jordanian from Stansted as they are significantly cheaper. Many airlines - Emirates included - build up their business as ‘hubs’ and transfers are not as inconvenient as one may imagine, especially at airports such as Amman (AMM) in this case.

Last but not least, don’t overlook the option of a stopover programme - where airlines develop a programme to allow time to explore the city for a short time, or even a night or two, such as Turkish Airlines from Gatwick.

As Dubai is a year-round destination, here’s a quick guide from What’s On about when ‘the best time to visit Dubai for every kind of trip’, along with typical temperatures.

HOTEL OFFERS

Dis-Loyalty Turns Two

I’m a big fan of Ennismore, especially what they’re doing in Dubai, with launching some superb lifestyle hotels.

Ennismore also run a paid membership program called Dis-Loyalty, which recently celebrated its second birthday (read the official press release here detailing their second birthday “Terrible Twos” campaign).

Part of the Terrible Twos promotion (look for the “Birthday Drops” section) appears to be 35% discount for stays 01 August through to 30 September, including local hotels such as :-

• Rixos Marina Abu Dhabi

• SLS Dubai

• 25hours Hotel Dubai One Central

• SO/ Uptown Dubai

• Mama Shelter Dubai

There is a promo code YEARLY10 which will give 10% discount on a yearly membership.

According to that press release, members have saved an average of £342 on their first booking, which considering the discounted annual price is £129.60 seems a decent opportunity.

Benefits of the programme include :-

• 50% off new hotels (within first three months of opening)

• 10% off return visits

• 20% off your first time at every one of their 100+ hotels

• 10% discount on food and drink at their 200+ restaurants

• free daily barista drink

• unique experiences & offers

🔗 Dis-Loyalty

FLIGHT DEALS

Turkish Airlines Business Class to Dubai From €1,131

A good thing to know to help find flight deals is to understand that it’s not just the distance of a flight and the fare basis that sets a price.

Even in the UK, some airports are more expensive to fly from - i.e. similar-distance flights on the same carrier (such as Singapore Airlines or Virgin Atlantic) can be cheaper going from London Heathrow (LHR) than Manchester (MAN).

Additionally, different countries have different add-ons to flights, such as Air Passenger Duty (APD), carrier-imposed surcharges (YQ), arrival/departure fees to name but three.

Here is a one-way flight from LHR to DXB, where the fare is £284 and the add-ons are £90.00, £51.71, £79.00 and £1.00.

So on a full cost of £505.71, approx. 43% of that cost is add-ons!

This is why I regularly mention about deals from ‘cheaper’ destinations than the UK, and to encourage ‘positioning’ flights.

All it takes is to find a deal from cheaper destinations - such as these Business Class return deals on Turkish Airlines from 10 European cities - and it’s likely you can book a ‘positioning’ flight ex-UK, the return flight from a cheaper departure point and still save money.

With Low Cost Carriers (LCCs), you can easily get to somewhere like Dublin or mainland Europe, even including their add-on charges, and still have money left over. You may even be able to afford a night in a local hotel too.

In the case above, you’re paying more than £230 in add-ons. It may be a wild comparison, but if you can fly to Dubai in Business Class for around €1,300, even if you paid €500 in positioning flights or other expenses, is that a better deal than going Economy ex-UK in Emirates for say, £800?

On one hand, there’s more disruption with connections/changing flights and possibly more risk of delays or other incidents, but on the other hand, it could either save money or potentially be worth it for the added benefit of ‘cheaper’ flights in premium cabins.

FOOD AND DRINK

Check out this great interview with Emma Banks, VP of Food & Drink Strategy and Development for EMEA at Hilton.

Emma’s a mainstay of the hospitality scene in-region, always gives great interviews and is well worth a follow. Check out her Linktree below - there’s always heaps of interesting articles on food and drink and all things Hilton, such as how Hilton cut food waste by 62% in the UAE.

Upgraded Al Sama Pool Bar Reopens With a Pool Day Pass Offer

Al Sama Pool Bar at Al Habtoor Grand Resort, Autograph Collection has been upgraded and is available on a pool day pass that costs 200 AED weekday, 300 AED at weekends, fully redeemable against food and drink.

Children aged 5-15 get complimentary access with adults.

🔗 Al Sama Pool Bar at Al Habtoor Grand Resort, Autograph Collection.