Great expectations.

What do you want, or expect, from a holiday in Dubai? What ‘grabs you’ about spending your well-earned wages in the high-rise head-honcho of the UAE?

Dubai isn’t cheap, it’s surrounded by sand as far as the eye can see, it is one huge building site, it is sadly lacking in heritage, and the traffic jams - whilst being no worse than most major cities – would only be a positive feature on a perverse list of the ‘Top 10 things to do to waste your day.’ Sounds a bit grim doesn’t it?

I have had the benefit of having two trips to Dubai; the first time for a ten day holiday; myself and my husband said we would never go back. We thought it soulless, sterile and lacking in any kind of spark at all. A bit like having a cup of tea without a biscuit, it was missing something. So why did you go back? I hear you cry.

Expectation, is the answer. We knew we were going to a good hotel, with hopefully good service and excellent facilities. The sun was going to shine on us, we would be visiting the, obligatory spa, and also dining in style. After visiting the, also obligatory, shopping malls, our deep pockets would be empty, but we would feel refreshed and well taken care of. R & R (rest and recuperation) is what Dubai does best, but it’s not all plain sailing.

The Jumeirah Beach hotel (pictured) is certainly not plain sailing - in the architectural sense that is - she is a beautifully graceful hotel that, although dominated by her sister hotel, the mega-luxurious Burj Al Arab, takes first prize in my ‘best-looking hotel’ contest. We stayed there in 2001, and also, at the bland and graceless, Oasis Beach hotel, further along Jumeirah Beach. Neither hotel ‘grabbed us’, the former being overrun with screaming kids (even in the no-children areas) and we found the staff were kind enough to smile to your face, but not at any other time.

We did all the tourist stuff, visits to the gold souk and the creek, and the city tour. The undoubted high-light was the 4 x 4 desert safari, which by the looks of the tourist info sites is now THE most popular thing to do. Our Toyota Landcruiser was filled with 6 chirpy passengers. A nice Malaysian couple who were small enough to fit in the two small seats at the very back (if anyone has done this before, you know you don’t want to sit here), two 50+ ‘brummie’ ladies, with no husbands and a keen sense of adventure, a Geordie – my husband, who wisely sat up-front – me (totally non-descript accent, if you were wondering) with the ‘midlanders,’ in the middle and our mad, but very pleasant, Syrian driver.

You have probably heard it before, but the dunes are magnificent. Light and shade plays on the surface of the unbelievably fine sand, and enhances the curves and magnificent form of the peaks, so that you gasp at the wispy, warm colours in the sky as the sun sets behind them. The conversation is very complimentary as we all climb aboard the jeep for the last part of the trip, the ‘Bedouin-camp experience.’

After dune climbing – and falling – we all felt incredibly sick, our merry clan managed to keep the sick bags at bay, but passengers of the other jeeps in our convoy weren’t so fortunate. With gritted teeth, and prayers for a nice, smooth, tarmac road, we set off for camel rides, falcons, belly dancing, and the opportunity to queue patiently for ‘local’ food and to sit in the sand on a cushion to eat it. Well, it was an experience. 

Five years on both Dubai, and our requirements, have changed. Dubai’s urban (and sub-urban) generation plan is legendary; our reaction on first sight of these towering phallic-symbols of steel and concrete was akin to watching the sun set over the sand dunes, it makes you gasp, but for all the wrong reasons.

Eight of these massive overgrown giants now blight the front of the gracious 4-storey colonial building that houses the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

The only place the 24hr building work couldn’t be heard was inside the building, it was very irritating. However, the Ritz Carlton brand was true to form and the staff and service were excellent, all the restaurants and food were suburb, the hotel and grounds immaculate.

Apart from seeing a great flamenco show at the Madinat Theatre and, you guessed it, a shopping mall (or two) visit, we stayed cosseted in comfort in the hotel.

Dubai is a place to either love or hate, last year (2006) 2.54 million tourists decided to find out for themselves. We have hated it and loved it, with thanks to the Ritz-Carlton who far exceeded our expectations.

By web author