General
Dubai: Why you won’t want to stop coming back to this amazing place
· Guest
Peering through the plane window, excited like a kid approaching Lego Land. It’s hard not to stare at the towering Burj Khalifa, which pierces the sky, dwarfing everything and anything.
Glistening like a gothic Emerald city, the tallest structure on Earth awaits us, and we can’t wait.
Checking into our 5 Star, Mövenpick Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel was faultless. No different to the service they continued to provide from the moment our taxi pulled up – there’s a reason it’s a Trip Advisor favourite.
Within an hour of arriving, we’d already made the most of our All Inclusive food, drink and internet.
Having tweeted, updated our Facebook’s and trialled most of the freebie cocktails – we’re now ready for Downtown Dubai.
The World’s LARGEST Fountain
The dancing lights perform every 30 minutes just like the Bellagio Fountain, only these water guns are on steroids. The newbie cost approx $218m, almost five times more than it’s world famous Casino rival..
It shoots water 40ft higher and has more than 2,000 lights – so yes, Dubai’s version kicks ass!
Unsurprisingly, we loved the show, which swayed to Li Andrea Bocelli’s, Por ti Volare – if you don’t know what that is, think Will Ferrell at the end of Step Brothers movie.
The World’s TALLEST building
It’s 2,722ft tall, aka the tallest man-made structure on the planet and more importantly, home of the AT.MOSPHERE bar, for which we had reservation.
So after a swanky walk through Giorgio Armani’s first and only hotel, it’s time to brave the lift – unfortunately it’s NOT made of glass – which was slightly disappointing.
The minimum spend per guest is 200 AED (£35), it’s an absolute must. Those skyscraper mixologists certainly know how to shake UP a cocktail.
The night ended around 2am and cost less than £50 each – the view alone was worth that, as were the freebie peanuts.
Didn’t take much persuading to try out our Super King beds, but it took a lot to get out of them the next morning.
Just as well we saved time getting ready with our his and her sinks, and if it wasn’t for a cheeky 10 minute distraction we’d have saved time doubling up in our huge shower too 😉
We’d skipped breakie as had to meet our pals Sam and Dave at the lobby entrance, where we hopped aboard the shuttle bus which left at 10am sharp.
A few minutes later, we arrive at The Oceana Beach Club, our hotel’s partner, where we’ll be spending most of our days sunbathing.
Out comes the Australian Gold
40 degrees is a tough temperature to tackle without any form of entertainment, but we managed to find paradise from rotating between the cocktail bar and infinity pool.
The sun clocked out around 5pm, which was our cue to head back, grab dinner, a couple of Cosmos before heading over to The Atlantis, where we got to chill-out with over 65,000 marine animals at the Lost Chambers Aquarium.
15 minutes later and it was time to trade the fish tanks for fish bowls, so we head on over to the Barasti Sports and Beach Bar, where we spent the rest of a very good night.
The next day didn’t go to plan, as we’d traded a water park for another day by the infinity pool – seems the girls couldn’t part with the Pina Coladas.
The bar snacks was no reflection on our hotel food, but it was good enough.
Next stop is Abu Dhabi’s Ferrari World, home of Formula Rossa – The fastest Roller Coaster on the planet.
Yep, that’s right, ANOTHER World Record..
0-240kph in 4.9 seconds to be exact – same sort of speed I leave the house when my Missus comes home in a bad mood, FAST!!
We didn’t hang around too long as our schedule was tight – but it’s the type of place car enthusiasts could spend all day.
From getting chucked around in 4d simulators to test driving a Ferrari California at super speeds, if you love motors, you’ll love it here.
It takes approx one hour to get back to the hotel from Abu Dhabi (30 mins in a Ferrari), giving the girls just enough time to discuss what to wear for our next visit to the world’s only 7 Star hotel, Burj Al Arab.
It’s the most luxurious hotel in the world. Men are expected to wear smart jeans/ trousers and ladies should dress respectively.
A Palm Tree patterned shirt made me victim to a few posh toffs who looked like they’d just auditioned for ‘Made in Chelsea’ – most guests that dined here had money, lots of it.
The staff was super friendly and treated very well. We were given moved to a window seat, which in return earned them a positive tweet.
As you’d expect, The SkyView bar was full off class. The views from the 27th floor rivalled that of the Burj Khalifa’s and we spent a good 30 minutes absorbing the impressive lobby.
Minimum spend AED 350 per person, which was easily the best £60 spent on the trip – just be sure to book in advance (oh and you need to be 21+).
Taxi ride back through the city reminded me of opening film titles. Super sized buildings, each one designed so differently and so well.
Was almost bedtime now. My final hour was spent standing outside on our huge balcony, still struggling to accept how massive the Burj Khalifa was – would have been there all night if my Vicky hadn’t had called me back into the room to test out our spa bath.
For many record breaking reasons, Dubai was nothing less than amazing.