On achieving Gold Status with Travel Counsellors I joined the rest of the Golden Girl's and Boys from across the globe and management team on a trip to Dubai on the 20th - 23rd May 2011.
We stayed at the 5 Star Westin Mina Seyahi Resort and Spa in the Jumeirah area of Dubai. Wow what a stunning hotel. It is located right at the Dubai Marina and it has its own private beach as well as a super swimming pool area. It is very child friendly with lifeguards on duty to look after the little one's.
The service at the hotel was superb, the rooms are very spacious and their beds are amazing, they even sell them online.
While in Dubai we were fortunate to visit some really interesting places, the Burj Kahlifa, the world's tallest building at approximately 828 meters high. We went up to the 124th floor to the viewing platform, it was spectacular. The lift takes 60 seconds to get from 1- 124th floor and you do not feel a thing, it is incredible. I got to shop in the world's largest shopping mall too, The Dubai Mall. All I can say is WOW! We only got to experience a small part of this amazing place but I did get all my shopping done in record breaking time (hee hee)! They have a Hamley's Toy Store (UK), Harvey Nichols, Jimmy Choo, Dior, Nando's, Louis Vuiton, the largest candy store that I have ever seen and so much more. We had drinks and canapes at the Armani Prive Lounge which is part of the Armani Hotel which is located inside the Burj Khalifa. It is a very chic hotel but quite masculine.
More shopping fun was had at The Mall of Emirates, this mall has its own ski-slope and the temperatures were - 2 degrees inside the ski-slope area and about 40 degrees outside. Dubai is hot during their spring and summer. If you like hot temperatures you will be fine ,but I recommend you visit in Autumn/Winter where the temperatures are around 30 degrees or so. Summer can reach up to 54 degrees, shoooo!!
We had an Authentic Arabian experience with dinner in the desert at Bab Al Shams.This incredible evening included a camel and an Arabian horses show, it was very special and the food was great.
I went on a Catamaran cruise along the coastline by the The Palm and I got to see the Burj Al Arab, the world's only 7 Star hotel but only from the outside, it is quite awesome! We also saw Atlantis, Sol Kerzner's hotel, wow, it is HUGE. We braaied onboard and swam in the sea while the Catamaran was anchored, the Persian Gulf water was like a bath and so clean too.
We had pre-dinner drinks at the One&Only Royal Mirage Hotel, it is a beautiful property and boast stunning rooms and is located next door to the Westin where we stayed. After that we had our Gala Dinner in one of the Atlantis Hotel ballrooms which was so very special, we enjoyed great food and entertainment and the decor was superb.
Overall Dubai covers such diversity from city to beach, desert and ski. It offers shopping at its best with amazing shopping malls and their own traditional Souks which we sadly did not have time to visit. I definitely recommend this as a destination to visit.