BA First to Dubai: A Few Days at Al Qasr Madinat Jumeirah

[Guest]

Thanx for a fantastic report. Your photos are fantastic. I can't wait for our trip now.

[foodie]

Thanks so much for your wonderful report, I am currently in the process of trying to book a trip for my husbands 50th birthday in November. This report and everyones comments are very helpful.
I am thinking of staying at the new Atlantis resort on the palm, I have managed to get the price to £1726. This is for a deluxe room on a b+b basis with direct flights from manchester with emirates for 3 nights.
Is this a good deal ?
Also do you think Atlantis will be too far from the action ? Is there enough stuff completed on the palm to want to stay there yet ?
Sorry for all the questions !

[truesdpr]

Looks fabulous Hal and love the great photos. Thanks for sharing - it looks lovely.

Pam.

[Hal]

Originally Posted by foodie

I am thinking of staying at the new Atlantis resort on the palm, I have managed to get the price to £1726. This is for a deluxe room on a b+b basis with direct flights from manchester with emirates for 3 nights.
Is this a good deal ?
Also do you think Atlantis will be too far from the action ? Is there enough stuff completed on the palm to want to stay there yet ?
Sorry for all the questions !

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TBH I don't know - we were a fair way off from the Palm but it appeared to still be a building site with nothing finished yet. Although Atlantis looks stunning from the website I think the area around it will be a building site for the foreseeable future. If you want certainty I would recommend the Madinat Jumeirah resort if its possible to switch. Pricewise see Aspire Holidays for comparable prices - although it looks like you got a good deal. I hope this helps - others might be able to help more.

[gill38]

Originally Posted by Hal

The next day we slept in until 10:30am so we missed breakfast in the main restaurant, the Arboretum, but it was served until mid-day in the pool side restaurant, so we made our way there. The breakfast was a superb international buffet and was excellent. After breakfast we changed and headed down to beach where we just lazed for a few hours reading books and swimming in the hotel pool. Service from the Beach boy was again excellent.


We were due to be picked up for our Sundowner Desert Safari at 3:15pm so we went and changed for this. Advice was to take warm clothes as the desert gets cold at night.

There were 6 of us plus the driver in our 7-seater so it is wise to book these things ahead if you want to do it.

We drove about an hour out to a Desert Reserve. During this drive we passed the site of Dubailand where the proposed Universal Studios is under construction. I think that Dubai will overtake Florida as a tourist destination – given that the largest Disneyland Paris Resort investor is a Saudi Prince, I think it will only be a matter of time before there’s a Disney theme park here too.

The Desert Safari was fun. There were about 20 4x4’s in the party, but our was the lead vehicle. We drove for a bit. Visited a Bedouin oasis and had our photos taken with camels, and hawks.



Then we drove into the desert to watch the sun set.



Then we went to a site where we were served a meal and there was belly dancing, shishas, henna painting etc. It was OK but I wouldn’t want to do it again. Soon we were heading back to the hotel which we reached at 9:30 or so. We headed straight back to the Souk and bought some more gifts and had another (deliberately) long ride on the Abras, then called it a night.

Back in the room we found that the towel sculptor had been busy again - opinion is divided over whether it is an elephant without a trunk or a dog with big ears, but it was really nice.


The following morning we got up and packed then had breakfast in the Aboretum restaurant – whilst this was great I preferred the poolside restaurant of the previous day, just for the surroundings.

Back to our room we got ready for the journey home and summoned a porter for our bags. Checkout was painless, and I was walked out to a waiting Mercedes where our bags had alreasdy been loaded in the boot for us. At the airport a porter carried our bags to the BA desk. The airport itself seemed empty. We went through security and windowshopped a little before making our way to the BA Lounge. This was a small lounge for First, Club and Exec Club members so was heaving and had a poor choice of drinks (no champagne only sparkling), so we didn’t dawdle long and instead went to the gate. At the Gate there was a long line caused by further security checks but eventually we passed through and made our way on to the plane.

The Return Flight
This time we were greeted by name and shown to our seats - still no dialogue with the CSD though. The Lanson Noble Cuvee was again served, followed by the usual hot towels and arabic coffee and dates. I changed into the First pyjamas again for the flight. The IFE on this aircraft was older than on the flight out – the TV screens were tiny little 5” or so efforts but DW settled down to watching Nanny Diaries. I opted for one of the DVDs (Spiderman 3, and after that Transformers) which was actually a DVD, and I was given a DVD player to watch it on which was a good alternative.

The return flight was an hour longer than the outward flight.

Lunch on the return flight was...



Afternoon Tea was served before we landed.


Back in the real world of Heathrow we had to wait over an hour for our luggage at the baggage carousels. It was then back on the underground to tube and train our way home.

Opinions: Dubai is a fantastic holiday destination. It does everything well. It is more convenient to get to than Florida and offers more luxury albeit at a price. The Madinat Jumeirah was an excellent resort and is thoroughly recommended. That isn’t to say however that you might not find 90% of the benefits at 50% of the price elsewhere. Dubai is booming. We had a great time. Was flying BA First worth it? I think it was – I just hope it hasn’t spoilt Club for us for the future.

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Great trip report and pcitures. What is it like in Club?

[Hal]

Originally Posted by gill38

Great trip report and pcitures. What is it like in Club?

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See this previous trip report for the New Club World.

[Florida4]

Thank you posting your fab trip report - really enjoyed reading it. We stayed at the Dar Al Masyaf last year and had a wonderful time. Pure luxury from start to finish .

ClaireD x

[Hal]

Originally Posted by ClaireD

Thank you posting your fab trip report - really enjoyed reading it. We stayed at the Dar Al Masyaf last year and had a wonderful time. Pure luxury from start to finish .

ClaireD x

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Thank you. Got any photos you could post of the inside of the villas?

[Florida4]

Sorry Hal, I am really bad and have to say I didn't take any photos of the room . We stayed in an Arabian Summerhouse. The room was lovely just like yours, the bathroom was huge and we had a lovely terrace/balcony area overlooking the waterways. I really liked the private pool area some days it was just us and the lifeguard so very relaxing. It was great to have the personal service of the Butlers - just to book restaurants, spa, etc. DD6 loved the Childrens Club she never normally goes anywhere like that but we could not get her out - the staff were amazing. I have told DH this evening about your trippie and I can feel another trip to Dubai on the cards - this time I said I want flowers like your DW.

Would you go back?

ClaireD x

[TrueBlue]

I am so lucky to have a brother who lives and works over in Dubai. I went over 2 years ago with my mum and I totally fell in love with the place. I was so gob smacked at the things they are building. My brother lives on the 19th floor of a tower block on Sheikh Zayed Road, just next to the twin towers. His complex has a swimming pool on the roof and the 29th floor (top floor) is a gym and squash courts etc.
Reading your report Hal has brought it all back to me. We went for a visit to madinat but just went round the shops and things like that. Your hotel looks out of this world, only in Dubai eh?

I do dream of going back again some day but like you I find it really awkward with the kids. If my brother had a villa I would take them along but unfortunately he only has a 1 bedroom flat.

I would love to take my DH so that he can experience the magic and wonder of Dubai too. It truly is a place that you can't really describe, you just have to see if for yourself.

I glad you had a great time over there.