Dubai Hotels

I’ve added a 1 day stopover in Dubai on the way to Thailand and need to find a good cheap hotel near the airport that wont bust my budget.

The travel agent said that there are loads of hotels in Dubai with good deals if you just turn up at the desk and it would be better to arrange something when I get there instead of booking in advance.

Any suggestions ?

I spent 3 nights in Dubai last week coming home from Bangkok. I knew I was arriving at 1.00am and so I had already booked my hotel in advance. There are many hotels in Dubai but most of them are high-end with astronomical rates. Furthermore Dubai is so spread out (as you will soon discover) that you need to take taxis virtually everywhere so if you need/want to compare prices between hotels you might end up spending/wasting a lot of time and money. I stayed in the Al-Sham hotel which is in the Deira area, north of the Creek and close to the airport (about 25dirhams will get you there). The Al-Sham cost about £35 per night and although it is billed as 2 star this is a bit flattering. There were cockroaches in the bedroom but the bed was fresh and clean and the ensuite was more than adequate. Breakfast was included, so it was cool. From the Al-Sham you can walk (not too interesting) to the Creek and get a water taxi for 1 dirham. This will bring you into the 'old' town where the Dubai Museum is located and the sanitised Bastakia area is next door. There is a cloth souk (the gold souk and spice souk are on the Al-Sham side of the creek) and some interesting shops where you will have to haggle like hell to get a bargain, all great fun. If you want to go to the Burj Dubai (not open yet) you will need to get a taxi, ditto for the Burj Al-Arab, the Palm Tree, the World, Wild Wadi and the Atlantis. There are two thing to do in Dubai, shop and eat. There are 28 malls with over 1,000 shops in each and these places are hell on earth. They are freezing cold, with hideously prices merchandise and then when you try to get out its a challenge to find an exit. Eat in the local joints were the foreign workers meet and dine. But if you want to spoil yourself then book into the Burj al-Arab for afternoon tea. It is expensive but the food (seven courses) is amazing and the staff are the nicest, most gracoious, most thoughtful and accommodating you will meet anywhere in the world. You can have afternoon tea on the 1st floor or the 27th, floor, but you must book a few days in advance. I could only get a table on the 1st floor but they allow you to go up to the top floor to photograph the views. I had booked in a slot for 5.00pm and I didn't leave until 7.45, it was an experience. Anyway I hope this helps.

Paulireland.