Geordie George

Afternoon, all.

I'm just popping in from the Aus forum to see if I can pick a few local brains about Dubai. My in-laws have offered to fly me, my husband and our two children (currently 4 and nearly 2) back to the UK for a couple of weeks next year. We're thinking we'll head over at some point between September-November, but are flexible on dates. We're thinking Dubai as we want to go somewhere new, but need to stick to the bus-route flights to keep costs low as we're not footing the bill. (We've done the usual stopover places before - Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Los Angeles.)

My questions are:

- is Dubai at all child-friendly? (I get the impression it's more for singles/couples, rather than families, based on no good reason!)
- any recommendations on what to do/where to go to entertain the brats?
- weather wise, when's a good time to visit? We're in Sydney, so kinda used to a bit of heat, but not real scorchers (mid-30s is normally the maximum for summer here).
- flights would probably be with Emirates - are they recommended or not?
- when we flew with my daughter last, she received lots of attention from the locals in Singapore; I think because of her being blonde haired and blue eyed (and only 2 at the time!). There was no menace in it, but she didn't particularly enjoy it. Will the children (my son's also blonde) be left in peace or should we expect to be pestered?
- where to stay? (Or not stay ...!)

Any input on whether this is a good plan or utterly stoopid would be appreciated.

Thanks

scrubbedexpat141

Do it.

Comments above.

Geordie George

You jest about the local taking photos - that's basically what happened in Singapore.

Budget for hotels is not massive - around $230 (so Google tells me 875-ish AED) per night.

Thanks for your reply.

scrubbedexpat141

You're not going to be lording up massively, remember that Oct - March is peak season here.

Booking.com is the best bet, put some random dates in and see what comes back at that price, copy a list of them down and I / others will tell you what's what...

Meow

Locals in Dubai only make up some 10% of the population. A pretty blond child will get some attention but nothing awful.

As young Scamp says, there is masses to families and children to do. After all, the city is full of families.

It's mid November now and it was under 30c at 2pm yesterday. It's warm but hot humid so very pleasant, breezes by the sea too. With children make it later so they aren't bothered by the heatm although there is loads to do indoors. Not many other places have so much entertainment inside big shopping malls.

AED 870 isn't much for a hotel. Ibis type places will be in budget but nothing by the beach.

lostinthedust

Dubai is a good short stay visit with kids, we pop over regularly from Saudi. I agree that November or later is best weather wise. Dubai is very humid as well as hot in summer, not comparable to Sydney at all.

Blond kids don't attract much attention here as there are many western expat families as well as hordes of Russian tourists.

We often stay in aparthotels in the Al Barsha area as good value and reasonable location.

Emirates is fine and probably my favoured airline for the torture that is Aus->UK with little ones. A stop in Dubai will save your sanity.

flares

Also consider Etihad and Abu Dhabi as a stopover. Only 50 minutes from Abu Dhabi airport to Dubai Marina.

Geordie George

Thanks for your input everyone. You've reassured me that we should at least consider Dubai and that it will be OK with the children in tow. No idea why I've got this preconceived notion that it's some kind of Vegas.

I'll start doing some proper research into it now and, probably, be back at some point in future with more questions.

scrubbedexpat141

It is...

Meow

In part. For some people. Without the organised gambling.

Inselaffen

try to get on the A380. Emirates economy on 777's is pretty cramped compared to other airlines (3-4-3 compared to 3-3-3 on most airlines)

mikewot

And if using Emirates you can reserve your seats once you have a booking reference, use http://www.seatguru.com/ to help choose.

Blue Cat

Nice to see you here George, you will have no problems whatsoever as the other guys have said. If you are flying with Emirates you can get a package deal which will include the hotel stay, it's cheaper to do it that way so I would speak to them and arrange it that way. What part of Geordie land are you from?

The Dean

Emirates always very expensive at that time of year, in my view....... mind you, if the in-laws are paying - job done!

Tom Cruise (I think, from memory and without Google) said Dubai was "like Las Vegas on steroids....". If he didn't say it, someone else did.