Damson

There, that got your attention!

God I feel such an imposter as I'm moving to Oz, but I wandered across in the hope that someone can help.

We (me, OH, 4year old and 8 year old) are flying to Oz in July and are having a stopover in Dubai. We are arriving at 0015 11/7 aand leaving at 0230 on 13/7. Now, because of the arrival and departure times being pretty rubbish our priority was not to have to travel too far from the airport. We also must have 2 bedrooms as there is noooooo way we are sharing with the kids - nightmare! We also understand that it is going to be incredibly hot, so air con and swimming pool are essential.

After much trawling of the net, we finally booked Dunes Hotel Apartments
Al Muhaisnah 4,Amman Street, Before Lulu Village
PO Box 119955 Dubai. There were only a couple of reviews on Trip Adviser, but they said how much they liked the apartment and especially how accomodating the staff were, which was a big plus for us.

However, don't ask me why but I have since Google Earthed the address and it looks like it's in the middle of an industrial estate and close to an cattle abattoir! Now it will be on a weekend, so will it be shut? So my question is, does anyone know of these apartments and are they OK. We aren't looking for posh and we are getting a good deal I think (£150 per night for a two bed apartment) but not in the middle of an industrial estate would be good! Or is there so much construction that an industrial estate would be fine?

Any comments welcome
Lorraine

Cry haddock

Not 100% sure of where this is, but the abatoire I am thinking of is near Amman St so I'll go with that. I have a mate living out there and the abatoir is not much of an issue, but it is not really a touristy part of town (at all). Without transport you are at the mercy of cabs - there is not much around there in walking distance. You're also in the Sharjah traffic zone which can make life hard. Having said that, Amman st is quite long and i think that once you cross Beirut St and head into Muhaisnah it gets more residential and a bit nicer.
Anyways, holiday inn express in Jumeirah is 450 Dhs a night that week - a bit more expensive but a walk to a lot more stuff!
CH

Blue Cat

try www.arabianparkhoteldubai.com, ten mins from Airport and not pricey

Hello.Kitty

if it's the same Dunes Hotel apartments as I think it is, in Al Barsha, it's fine. You can see it from Mall of the Emirates and although it does have a building site next to it (where doesn't?!), it's not in the middle of a desert. If it's any consolation, it does look quite nice.

Google earth seems to be about 6 months/year behind development here... and that, in pre-crunch Dubai, was an age.

If it's not the one in Al Barsha... er, have a look at the one in Al Barsha!

Damson

Many thanks for your replies - I've emailed the Arabian Park Hotel to check availability. We are on a budget as I messed up our booking with Emirates. Becuase I clicked on 30 August instead of 30 July for our return flights from Singapore I incurred a £300 penalty and because it was at a more expensive time of year, the flight was £800 more expensive. So all together, pressing the wrong button cost us an extra £1100! I've cried, begged and pleaded with Emirates to at least waive the £300 penalty, and they have just told us to naff off. Needless to say that I won't be booking flights online again.
Thanks again
Lorraine