Travelling To Dubai? Make Sure You Check Out These Amazing Places!

Dubai is a popular city that millions of people visit each year. People from the Middle East and beyond visit this stunning place and often come back for holidays. In fact, it's such a revered city that many visitors from abroad make it their home!

If you're thinking of going on a holiday this year, I recommend you put Dubai at the top of your shortlist. You might be wondering what there is to check out in the city. It's a good thing you stopped by this blog post! Keep reading and you'll learn of the best places to visit in this Emirate:

Burj Khalifa

Even if you're not too keen on tall buildings, you must visit the beautiful Burj Khalifa! It's an impressive skyscraper and the tallest manmade structure in the world. Measuring 828 metres high, this building took over five years to build. Today, it's home to a mixture of residential and commercial tenants and property owners.

Image Source: Flickr

If you want to see an imposing view around Dubai, I recommend going to the observation deck on the 148th floor.

Madinat Jumeirah

If you want somewhere luxurious to stay, there is only one option you need to know. The Madinat Jumeirah is the epitome of luxurious Islamic holidays! It's a recreation of what life was like in ancient Arabian times. And it captures the region's natural beauty.

The Madinat Jumeirah is a resort location that boasts two grand boutique hotels. There is also a selection of summer houses and villas. One can enjoy entertainment in the grand ballrooms or the 1,000 seat amphitheatre!

All facilities on the site have connections to 3 km of landscaped gardens and waterways.

Image Source: Flickr

Wild Wadi

Dubai's top entertainment complex aimed at families is Wild Wadi. It's a waterpark that can be found in front of the stunning Burj Al Arab. The park got themed around the tales of Juha, a popular character from Arabian folklore.

There are over thirty rides and attractions there, and it's a place that everyone will enjoy. Especially the children!

Mall of the Emirates

Want to do some shopping on your visit to Dubai? You need to make sure you spend a day visiting the Mall of the Emirates! Now, you might think this is just like any other shopping mall you've been to in the past. But, as their slogan states, shopping is just the beginning!

When you're at the mall, you can also go skiing. Yes - that's right; skiing in the Middle East! The Mall features an indoor ski slope, dubbed Ski Dubai. You can even get up close and personal with some penguins there too!

There aren't many shopping malls out there that boast such impressive reasons to visit!

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Desert Experiences

Last, but not least, you can also step outside of the city and head towards the desert for some outdoors fun! Many tour companies offer camel rides, "dune bashing" in a 4x4, and more!

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading today’s blog post. Thanks for checking it out!

Review - Beach Hotel by Bin Majid Hotels and Resorts in Ras Al Khaimah

Our trip to Ras Al Khaimah was an early celebration of Eid Al Fitr. It was also a nice moment to bond with my mom-in-law who had never set foot in RAK yet. The family had a great relaxing time in  Beach Hotel by Bin Majid Hotels & Resorts in Ras Al Khaimah. And who knew that a place like that existed if we haven't checked out Booking.com's offers? Good thing my husband saw the deal just in time so we booked few days before we went to RAK and we certainly enjoyed the weekend getaway.

Beach Hotel by Bin Majid Hotels & Resorts is a private beach-front hotel along the caramel-hued sandy coastline of Ras Al Khaimah. It's just few hours drive from Dubai. The property is a part of the Bin Majid Hotels' chain of properties. It has 4-stars rating with 136 rooms to boast.


What I like:

General and Service
It's a quiet hotel and gives me that very relaxing vibes.
The rate came with buffet breakfast.
The pool area is covered with plenty of covered seating areas where you can lounge and get covered. There were enough washing/shower areas so you don't drag the sand back to your hotel room.
There's a coffee shop and the restaurant also serves burgers + beers near the pool area! My husband certainly liked that!
The whole hotel has landscaped gardens and the lush greenery added a calming effect to the vacationers. Even the pool area is surrounded by trees and bushes.
The beach area is well-organized with elevated sun lounges so you really have a space to sunbathe or just sit back and enjoy the view of the sea.
The caramel-hue sand around the beach was so fine and we really enjoyed the beach area. It wasn't crowded in the afternoon towards sunset.
The Concierge agent named Susana was very friendly and accommodating. We were checked in in less than 5 minutes.
There's ample parking space for hotel guests and visitors.

Location
Just few hours drive from Dubai (approximately 45-60 minutes from Al Ghusais where we live to this hotel property on a Friday)
It's located just as you enter Ras Al Khaimah and it's easy to find. There is a signage before the flyover so you have to take the one at the bottom to turn to this property.
It's nestled in lush greenery in a quiet beach community. It's really ideal for a relaxing weekend away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

Rooms
Rooms are adequate even for a family of 3. We booked 2 rooms (3 adults in one standard bedroom and 2 adults in the other standard bedroom).
The beds and pillows were so comfortable. This is one of the best sleep I have ever had in an hotel.
There were enough cups and glasses in the room.
The bathroom was spacious with a bidet and separate tub-shower area.
The vanity table is long enough to accommodate mine and my daughter's laptops.
The bathroom amenities were well stocked with enough towels for all of us.
I also like the fact that it has a hair dryer.

Food
The buffet breakfast has a very wide selection and we all loved it. We certainly enjoyed our hearty meals! Of all the places I have had eaten French Toast for breakfast, this is the only hotel where I really ate yummy French Toasts that were not so soggy and oily or buttery.  We had more than 2 slices each. It was that delicious!
We also enjoyed making our pancakes with the pancake machine. So cool!

The hotel also had selections for Arab and Far East Asian guests. You can choose some Indian food staple for breakfast if you prefer that.

What I don't like:
Considering the features in the room, I can tell it's an old one. The thermostat knob of the AC was antiquated that when I turned the knob to a low setting, it fell! I certainly don't know if I returned it properly that the room remained cold throughout even when the setting was high temp. It's because the knob was not properly aligned as I don't know which is which.

There was no rubber stopper in the bathtub so I was unable to soak.

The small mini-bar fridge leaked.

The cabinet sliding doors were hard to slide. They kept jamming at a certain point and they were a bit heavy for a cabinet door.

The rooms given to us were 231 & 232. 232 had a city/mountain view while Room 231 had a very small view of the beach from the side.  We requested for a beach view but since there was a group booking, we didn't get the adjacent rooms with the beach view.

No free wi-fi, not even in the lobby. Wi-fi connection for 24 hours is AED 80.




Facilities:
Olympic-sized swimming pool
Leisure activities such as jetski, windsurfing, scuba diving, beach volleyball, sun-bathing lounges Sports/Fitness centre
Business centre
Restaurants, coffee shop and clubs for entertainment
Landscaped garden around the hotel area


Nearby attractions:
2 kms away is the Iceland Water park
RAK Mall
City centre
beach area


Price: AED 300 per Standard Room per night, buffet breakfast included in the rate from Booking.com

Some snaps in the beach area:

My recommendation: 4 out of 5 (5 being the highest)

I recommend this property to families, groups and business travelers who are looking for a quick weekend getaway away from the city life. This property, albeit an old one, has clean facilities, friendly staff, spacious and clean rooms and a breath-taking view of the beautiful beach area of Ras Al Khaimah. I don't mind booking again as long as they give me a beach view next time!

To know more about the property, please visit the hotel's official website.

Address: Coast Road | P.O. Box 1946, Ras Al Khaimah 1946, United Arab Emirates
Website: http://www.binmajid.com

If you want to book the same hotel or want to search for hotels, please book here using the search field below:

Booking.com

Disclaimer:
I was not compensated to do this review.  This booking was personally paid for by my family for our getaway.  My opinion is 100% mine and may vary from yours.

New Article Featured in Attraction Tix Blog

I'm so glad to share that my 2nd article is up in the famous Attraction Tix site's blog. It's about going around Dubai on a budget.

Attraction Tix is a famous online ticket specialist in the UK.  If you need tickets on attractions, tours, theme parks and experience holidays, then look no more and check out Attraction Tix's services and offers!

Read my post in Attraction Tix so next time you plan to include Dubai in your itinerary, you know what to do.

Click here for my post.

Review - Centro Yas Island in Abu Dhabi

I haven't stayed in any Rotana chains of hotels. Some of the properties of Rotana are expensive and some reasonable. Centro Yas Island Rotana Hotel is an exception. It is a 3-star hotel with a feel and look of a 5-star property.

The moment I stepped inside the mod-looking lobby of the hotel, I wondered if it was really a 3-star property because it didn't give that vibe. I felt I was inside a 5-star hotel and nothing less than that. My perception about how this contemporary hotel could be a 5-star rather than 3 was further validated with the remarkable customer service. I think, in all our travels, this was the first time we checked in for less than 5 minutes. And we have our rooms keys after that, no fuss at all.

Here are my findings on the hotel to help you decide to book your stay accordingly when you are in Abu Dhabi based on the room type we booked.

Room type: 2 Double Bedrooms last 3-4 May, 2013
Rate per night per room: AED 200 using our company's discount code
Breakfast was not included but we booked ours for AED 45/person as opposed to AED 60 if you dine directly to the restaurant/bistro.

What I like:

The very spacious rooms with floor to ceiling window which makes the room bright and provides a great vista of the surrounding community.

The beds are so comfortable.

The rooms are very clean and organized.

The bathroom is spacious and a wide vanity area.

The linens smell so good; not those typical industrial-scented fabrics.

The wifi is FREE! What can I ask for?

The free use of gym/pool/parking facilities for all guest.

The very efficient, effective and cordial staff (everywhere in the hotel premise!).

The location is in Yas Island, just in front of the DU Arena and near the beach front. And a mere 5 mins. drive to the Ferrari World.

A very quiet community with clean surrounding and well maintained road.

Fast check-in and check-out.

Other amenities:
Mini-bar
Complimentary coffee/tea/water
Hair dryer
Flat TV
A/C rooms with thermostat control
Free covered guest parking (basement)
Free access to the pool/gym
24 hours deli-shop
Extra pillow
Safety deposit box
Wake-up call/alarm
Restaurant/Bar


What I don't like:

Very expensive commodities in the deli-shop.  I bought a soda can for Dhs 11! It was like 650% mark up on the normal selling price of a small soda can which is Dhs 1.50 if bought outside.

There is a small chip on the night stand's marble top in our room (Room 480)

The broken sliding door in Room 483 (where my mom-in-law stayed)

The peeled wall paper near Room 483 (see photo below)

My recommendation:

A big yes! The little nuisances can be overlooked compared to the great service, affordable price and wonderful location the hotel has to offer.

The whole experience in this hotel is nothing but very satisfying. This is one property I will not shy from recommending to family and friends. I am seldom impressed in most properties but Centro Yas Island Hotel in Abu Dhabi definitely left a positive mark. So, if you're in the UAE and will visit Abu Dhabi, consider this hotel.