Useful travel information for those planning on going to Dubai:

Dubai Public Holidays, Dubai Holidays, Dubai Ramadan, Dubai New Year:

Dubai public holidays are in 2008:

1 Jan New Year’s Day.

10 Jan Al-Hijra (Islamic New Year).

20 Mar Mouloud (Birth of the Prophet).

30 Jul Leilat al-Meiraj (Ascension of the Prophet).

2 Oct Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan).

2 Dec National Day.

9 Dec Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice).

29 Dec Al-Hijra (Islamic New Year).

Dubai Currency, how much is your money in AED or Dirham?

The official abbreviation AED is often written as DH or Dhs in many shops but that is incorrect and unofficial. The dirham was introduced in 1973 And is sub devided into 100 fils. It has been pegged to the U.S. Dollar since November 1997: 1 U.S.Dollar = 3.67290 dirhams, Or 1 dirham = 0.272264 dollar (rate of may 10, 2008).

The banknotes are 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000 dirhams and the coins are in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 fils, and 1 dirham. The 1, 5 and 10 fils are struck in bronze, with the higher denominations in cupro-nickel.

Visa For Dubai:

A visa for Dubai is not always required. There are several types of visas for visitors. Citizens of the Arab Gulf Co-operation Council(AGCC) memberstates (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia) do not need one just like nationals of the following Countries: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany ,Greece, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America, Vatican City.

Weather in Dubai, the Climate of Dubai and Dubai Weather Forecast:

The weather in Dubai can be definitely described as hot. The Dubai weather is most pleasant between November and March.The temperatures in the winter

Varies around 23 degrees Celsius during the day. In the summer the temperature is between 40-50 degrees celsius.

Annual Weather Dubai with minimum and maximum average temperature ( in degrees C) per month:

January (14/24degrees C), February (15/25 degrees C), March (18/28 degrees C), April (21/33 degrees C), May (25/38 degrees C), June (27/40 degrees C),July (30/41 degrees C), August (30/41 degrees C), September (28/40 degrees C), October (24/35 degrees C), November (20/31 degrees C), December (16/26 degrees C).

The sea temperature during the year is between 21 and 33 degrees C. The number of hours that the sun shines varies from 8 to 11.5 hours per day while the Humidity is between 80 and 90%. So the humidity remains high during winter.In the summer both high humidity and high temperatures make the climate of Dubai a very uncomfortable one.

Electricity and Water of Dubai Rental Properties:

Electricity and Water are handled by DEWA, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, which was formed in 1992 as a merger of Dubai Electric Company And Dubai Water Department. Utility bills are settled directly on a monthly base with the DEWA when renting an apartment or other property.

Voltage: The voltage in Dubai is 220v. Most sockets are three pin (exactly the same as in the UK), although adapters for two pin plugs are available at most hotels. Those using US appliances will require an adapter to handle the difference in voltage. Appliances purchased in the UAE will generally have two-pin plugs attached.

Drinking water: Tap water is safe to use although bottled water, which is served in hotels and restaurants, is recommended for drinking. Water and electricity prices in Dubai. Residents pay 3 fils (1 UAE dirham=100 fils) per gallon and will continue to do so as long they do not use more Than 6,000 gallons, the price will then go up to 3.5 fils per gallon, and even 4 fils per gallon for consumers who sap more than 12,001 gallons from the tap.

Electricity fees will range from 20 fils to 33 fils per kilowatt hour depending if usage exceeds 2,000 or 10,001 kilowatt hours. There is no mains gas supply, so gas appliances must be fed by canisters connected via a tap outside your property. Address: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority Building, Al Karghout Street, P.O. Box 564, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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Dubai  has become well known as a playground for the rich and famous, with every conceivable luxury activity on offer. Shopping in the spectacular malls and souks, playing golf at championship level courses, and staying in the world’s first seven star luxury hotel are all popular attractions for people on a holiday to Dubai. But for anyone who is after a real sense of pampered luxury on their Dubai holiday, a stay at one of the country’s spa hotels or resorts is a must.

With top class facilities and an amazing range of health and beauty treatments, Dubai has some of the best spa resorts and hotels in the world, ranging from city centre luxury hotels to coastal resorts with their own private beaches. Here are five of the most luxurious places to stay on a spa holiday in Dubai…

One and Only Royal Mirage

Located near to the famous Palm Island, the One and Only Royal Mirage is an unforgettable place to stay on a Dubai spa holiday. It has a spectacular design, looking like an ancient Arabian fortress, and features 60 acres of landscaped gardens and its own private beach. The outstanding Givenchy Spa features a Hammam, massage centre, hair salon, temperature controlled swimming pools and private treatment rooms.

Habtoor Grand Resort and Spa

The massive Habtoor Grand Resort and Spa is in prime position on Jumeirah Beach. The onsite Elixir Spa has a private pedicure room, crystal steam fog room, Moroccan sauna, and a spectacular relaxation area with waterfalls, aromatherapy, music and herbal tea. The rest of the resort is just as luxurious, with a half dozen restaurants offering top class dining, numerous swimming pools and spacious rooms. If you are looking to take a spa holiday in Dubai, the Habtoor is hard to beat.

Grand Hyatt Dubai

While many of the leading resorts for Dubai spa holidays are located far outside Dubai city itself, the Grand Hyatt Dubai combines the best of both worlds – a resort style hotel that is located in the heart of the city. The Grand Spa is one of the best in the country, with an indoor swimming pool, spa bar, relaxation rooms, massage rooms and a sauna. The private treatments and overall ethos of the spa are inspired by the principles of Zen, offering a truly unique experience to those who stay here.

Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort

With its Roman themed Caracalla Spa, over a dozen restaurants and on call butler service, Le Royal Meridien is a great place to spend a luxury holiday in Dubai. It is also one of the most openly family friendly Dubai resorts; with a children’s club and babysitting facilities, you can keep the kids entertained as you while away the hours in the superb spa.

Burj al Arab

If you are interested in a luxury holiday to Dubai, the chances are that you’ve heard of the Burj al Arab. Standing on its own private island just off Jumeirah Beach, this hotel claims to be the first seven star hotel, and is certainly one of the most famous hotels in the world. It has a spa to match its prestigious reputation. The Assawan Spa and Health Club has a spectacular array of facilities; hydrotherapy baths, a solarium, oriental massage centre, 18 private treatment rooms and numerous swimming pools are just some of the facilities on offer.

This article was written by:

Peter Vasilou is a Dubai expert for key2holidays, an online tour operator specialising in luxury Dubai holidays, as well as holidays in Australia, Cuba, the Caribbean, Europe, the Far East, the Maldives, Mauritius and the Seychelles, Egypt and Southern Africa. Key2holidays has a dedicated team of experienced travel consultants to share their knowledge and help you to plan and book your ideal holiday.

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There are essentially two types of perfume, the oud and the bukhoor. Oud is basically wood that has a certain smell to it and in its simplist form is used as a kind of perfume for both men and women. Pure Oud will be burned to make the clothes smell from the smoke that it emanates. The issue that Arabs face is that they do not wish to stain their clothes, especially the whiter than white kanduras or dish dashes which would be ruined by oil. There are other types of oud which do contain. But Oud to the laymen eye looks like small pieces of wood, and originally comes from India. Bukhoor is a mixture of scents all together and for the most part looks like round pieces of coal about the size of your thumb. This sort of scent is used to burn in the home and perhaps you have smelt it burning in the malls.

To burn either of these, one would need an oud or bukhoor burner, commonly termed as a medhan, coal, and some sort of tongs to handle the coals. You will also need a fire burner or lighter of some sort. Oud burners can also be powered these days by electricity, but the purist will tell you that this doesn’t give the smell the justice it derserves. It does mean that you don’t need the coal though!

Bukhoor or oud could be a good present or a memory of your time here, and many people ask what they need to buy or how much they cost. As a general estimate, this is what you need to know when purchasing:

- Oud, itself is relatively expensive and could cost anything from AED5,000 to AED50,000 a pot
- For the same amount of bukhoor, you would pay between AED100 and AED500
- The Medhhan costs anything from AED50 to AED500, but you can get very expnsives ones which are made of pure gold or silver! Expect to pay about AED50 more if you want it powered by electicity. You can usually get the tongs thrown in.
- The coal is very cheap, and you may choose to buy these back home. The “magic coals” which are superior quality, last for longer and will not die cost about AED50 for a small box, and should last you a long time.
- A lighter will cost you AED30, but the expensive shops will try and sell this to you for about AED100.

You can purchase your bukhoor from many different shops in the souks, depending on what you like. Well known stores that sell in the malls are Ajman, Al Rassassi or Arabian Oud. These will usually provide you with the best quality available. Be sure to smell a wide variety of the scents to decide on what you like.

In addition, you could purchase something called Al Misk, which is similar to a body lotion. It looks like a cream, and you can add water to it and spray it on your body.

For those of you who prefer the traditional scents, Dubai can provide some cut price after shaves and perfumes. If you don’t mind the tester bottles, a huge saving can be made on the retail price. Be wary though of purchasing from the markets, though, as you may be purchasing more toilet water than eau de toilette.

You can’t ignore the common scents that exist when visiting the UAE, whether you get a waft when someone walks past or you smell it as you walk past some of the stores. If you do decide to purchase any as a souvenir, make sure you shop around to find exactly the smell that you like. Taking some Arabic perfume back home with you means bringing some culture to your next dinner party that is sure to be a great talking point about your time in the sandlands.

By: Roberto Bell

Diane Claire writes useful guides about culture and history in the UAE and Dubai specifically. You can find other similar articles on www.dubaiclassifieds.com.

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For many years ‘location, location, location’ was the mantra of many estate agents, especially those in the more developed and traditional real estate markets. Over the past few years however, this ultimately sound ideology seemed to have lost its way amongst the increasing number of launches and construction sites of the increasingly frenetic Dubai real estate market. As the property investment bandwagon gathered pace, sound fundamentals seemed to have become secondary considerations as people chased the high yields and substantial returns on offer.

More recently however, following the global events that have occurred over the past couple of months, a more considered approach seems to be emerging amongst investors in Dubai. A more considered approach to property investment seems to be emerging, with investors performing a greater degree of due diligence on developments before choosing to invest. The result of this will be a ‘move to quality,’ with investors choosing to place their money where they see genuine long term potential for growth. Iconic developments such as Dubai Sports City will be amongst the key beneficiaries of this shift.

So what is Dubai Sports City, and why are so many investors now looking to invest in this iconic development?

Dubai Sports City is situated in the Dubailand project, and upon its completion is set to become the world’s first purpose built sports city. Covering a total of over 50 million square feet, Dubai Sports City will epitomise the very essence of sporting endeavour. Incomparable with any other destination, the development is to be home to some of the world’s finest sporting facilities. Four magnificent stadiums including a 60,000 seat multi-purpose outdoor stadium, a 25,000 capacity cricket stadium and a 10,000 seat multi-purpose indoor arena will play host to high profile events between the worlds sporting elite. For golf fans, Dubai Sports City will be home to Championship standard golf courses including the first Ernie Els designed golf course, The Dunes.

With one eye on the future, Dubai Sports City will play host to a number of elite sporting academies, where the sports stars of the future will have access to their state of the art training facilities. Manchester United Soccer Schools, the David Lloyd Tennis Academy and the Butch Harmon School of Golf are merely some of the elite sporting brands which have chosen to make Dubai Sports City their future home.

The property in Dubai Sports City epitomises a luxury and activity focused lifestyle. Residents have access to a wide variety of property types, ranging from spacious studios up to luxury villas, all within walking distance of some of the worlds leading sporting facilities and events. Being a part of the Sports City project, residents have access to a genuinely unique lifestyle, and as such the demand for property in Dubai Sports City is high. In particular, high quality and well situated developments such as the Cube and Canal Residence West have proven consistently desirable since their launches.

For people thinking of buying a property in the Emirate, Dubai Sports City offers a unique lifestyle and a superb long term investment opportunity.

By: Property Dubai: Mark Burns is a Partner at www.property-dubai.tv , a Dubai real estate specialist selling property in Dubai including the flagship new development at Emirates City.

The owner of this blog, the Wandering Scotsman is currently living in Barbados and can be found at The Barbados blog. His date of arrival in Dubai is some time in the furture!

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Dubai is one of the seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in the eastern Arab Peninsula. Also known as Dubai city, it is the most populous and second largest emirate of UAE. Dubai is a bustling city that has been in the limelight for quite a while, for its magnanimous real estate projects, 7 star hotel, underwater hotel, palm islands, sports events, conferences, surreal beaches, golf courses and soaring skyscrapers. Dubai Travel guide takes you though all the intriguing aspects of Dubai.

Dubai flights

Often nicknamed the “Vegas of the Middle East”, Dubai always succeeds in generating the curiosity amongst the keen travelers and grabs their attention, with its flashing nightlife, extravagant shopping avenues and ostentatious building. Travelers from every continent board on Dubai flights to make their leisure and business trips come true. The main airport of Dubai for travelers is Dubai International airport. The airport is 4km away from Dubai city centre and 170km from Abu Dhabi. The development of Dubai World central International Airport in Jebel Ali, currently under-construction, once get operational, will host foreign airlines and make Dubai Tour smoother. There are various online booking sites, which provide info on a list of air fares, flights take-off and arrival time, rates of Dubai flights and cheap flights to Dubai.

Dubai golf clubs

Dubai is a golfer’s paradise. Dubai’s warm climate makes it a suitable place for outdoor sports activities. Golf is a very popular game in Dubai and there are some big state-of-the-art Dubai golf courses that are beautifully designed. Dubai golf clubs spread on lush greenery and sand offers great scope to golfers of all levels to enjoy the distinct and different challenges. Dubai classic golf tournament attracts sports star from around the world with its premium golf related services. Dubai Creek Gold and Yacht club is a golfer’s paradise spread in 6,857 yards. It has also been voted one of the world’s ‘Top 100 Must-Play Golf Courses’. Some other famous Dubai gold clubs are Emirates Golf Club, The Nad Al Sheeba Golf and Racing Club, Montgomerie Golf Club, Al Badia Golf Resort, Tower Links Golf Course and Arabian Ranches Golf Club.

Dubai 7 star hotel

If the grandeur of a five star hotel blow your mind away, then Dubai 7 star hotel will be an out of this world experience, for those who believe in luxury and the Burj Al Arab Hotel- Dubai 7 star hotel- epitomizes it. It is a sheer opulence, coupled with its outrageously attentive service. Burj is the world’s tallest and only seven-star hotel. It offers the highest levels of personalized service in the most luxurious surroundings. Burj Al Arab Hotel has spacious 202 suites decorated with lavish textures and enticing colors. Each suite features a sumptuous living and dining area, state-of-the-art entertainment system, Hermes bathroom amenities, the 42 inch Plasma screen TV, maximum comfort, unique levels of services and above all, breathtaking views of Arabian Gulf.

Dubai currency

In 1973, Dubai along with other six emirates decided to join a uniform currency: UAE dirham. Dhiram is the currency of Dubai. When you are on a Dubai tour, don’t forget to carry a credit card. There are also major banks and financial institutions in Dubai where currency can be converted. Stay in Dubai, can be quiet a costly affair, so it’s better to known, the value of your national currency with respect to Dubai currency.

Dubai hotels

Accommodation is the most important aspect of a travel itinerary and when we talk of Dubai one has a plenty of accommodation options. Dubai hotels exemplify luxury and grandeur. With five star and Premium luxury hotel offering classic luxury- Dubai hotels can never go wrong. Some of the best Dubai Hotels like Raffles, Jemeirah Beach Hotel, Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Dar Al Masyaf at Madinat Jumeirah, Al Murooj Rotana Hotel and Suites are an oasis comfort, first-rate facilities, fascinating hospitality, cutting amenities, round-the-clock services, great wining and dining, recreation facilities and deliciously decorated rooms, which are apt for uber-rich and high class dignitaries.

Not overlooking the lodging demands of its economic travelers, Dubai hotels offers basic amenities in cheap Dubai hotels and discount Dubai hotels at lowest rates.

This article was written by

About the Author:

This article resources are www.middleeasthub.com and www.dubaiaboutdhabi.com . These are the major resource of MiddleEast , Dubai Travels and Abu Dhabi Travels. Also gives us the suggestions and reviews on Dubai Hotels.

The owner of this blog, the Wandering Scotsman is currently living in Barbados and at some point in the future Dubai shall become part of his adventures, you can find him at The Barbados Blog and Barbados Photo Blog.

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