Holiday lettings & accommodation in Dubai

When deciding where to stay in Dubai, the first thing to consider is what kind of trip you are looking for. The city is easy to get around, so decide for yourself whether you’d like to be on the busy streets of the Downtown area or away from it all with a private beach on the Palm Jumeirah. The Palm Jumeirah was completed in 2014 and is one of the world’s most beautiful artificial islands. It contains many luxury villas and private white sand beaches. If you stay in the Palm, it’s a good idea to hire a car as many of the tourist attractions are around a 20-minute drive away. Dubai’s Downtown area includes iconic buildings such as the Burj Khalifa, which is the tallest skyscraper in the world. In this area you’ll find many attractions including the Dubai Mall (the world's largest shopping centre), the Dubai Fountain and the Souk Al Bahar commercial area.

Dubai offers a great selection of things to do and see. Worth particular note are its spectacular shopping malls. Although in terms of actual shopping they don’t offer much that you can’t buy in any major city, the attractions on show to lure shoppers in are what make the experience of shopping in Dubai worthwhile. The Mall of Emirates has an indoor ski slope with real snow, and the Mall of Arabia includes a real-life Jurassic Park-style dinopark with mechanical dinosaurs. Although many historic buildings have been demolished in order to make way for modern architectural splendor, the Bastakia Quarter still remains. Located next to the Dubai Creek, the buildings have been converted into museums and art galleries, including the XVA Gallery, the Coin Museum and the Majlis Gallery. The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world, so provided you’re not afraid of heights it’s well worth a trip to the top via the world’s fastest lift to enjoy the panoramic views on offer.

Being such a multicultural city, Dubai can be described as the gastronomic capital of the Emirates. The cuisines of over 200 nationalities are represented in the city, and each year the Dubai Food Festival showcases the very best of the city’s broad variety of flavours and cuisines. Arab cuisine is unsurprisingly one of the most popular, and it’s available all over the city with everything from small shawarma diners to glitzy Michelin-star restaurants. Biryani is another popular cuisine, thanks to the large Indian and Pakistani populations. Popular fast food choices available within the city include South Asian and Chinese cuisines. Dubai’s liquor laws are quite restrictive, and you can’t buy alcohol from shops without a liquor permit. However, bars and restaurants located within hotels are permitted to serve alcohol, and this is where Dubai’s nightlife really flourishes. The legal drinking age is 21, and nightclubs always stick to this rule.

Transport in Dubai is managed by the Roads and Transport Authority, a government agency that was formed in 2005. The RTA manages the metro system, buses, trams and taxis. Dubai’s Public Bus Transport system comprises 140 routes, with more than 2,500 buses in service across the city. Many bus shelters are air conditioned, as a measure to encourage people to use public transport. Private taxi services in Dubai are licensed by the RTA, and are identifiable by their cream bodywork and the colour of the roof. Metro Taxis have orange roofs, Network Taxis have yellow roofs, Cars Taxis have blue roofs, Arabia Taxis have green roofs and City Taxis have purple roofs. The RTA-owned Dubai Taxi Corporation is the largest taxi operator in Dubai and has taxis with red roofs, as well as a fleet called the Ladies Taxi service, which have pink roofs and cater exclusively for female passengers.