Dubai question

glenderg

My darling wife (if she can conquer her terrible fear of flying) and i are off to Dubai on March 12th for a week. She will be 60 on the 16th.

For anyone who has a similar problem this may be of interest.

She went on Virgins all day "Fear Of Flying course" at Heathrow. They end the
day with a short flight to Bournemouth and back. I think it might have done the trick.

Anyway that's that, my question is, has anybody experienced dining at the Burj Al Arab hotel in the evening as a non resident and if so what was your opinion,which restaurant would you recommend, if you were to go back would you choose a different one and most important would you go back?
It's a birthday treat and even though i don't have much money it's a one off so i don't care. "Mind you if it's an absolute rip off i could have different thoughts." B.T.W. What size mortgage would i need?

Lets face it after putting up with me for the last 38 years she's worth every penny.

Any other suggestions would be very welcome.

budgetflyer

If seen the Burj, only from The Jumeirah Beach Hotel, but never been in it. Its about £40 for afternoon tea, never mind a meal and you need to pay just to get in to see the place.
I would say,the One and Only Mirage is a very romantic hotel for a special meal.

Factor25

We did the burj drinks package last year £40 (3 cocktails and canapes) OTT but worth it just to see the place. Afterwards you are free to look around for as long as you please. We got a buggy down the the 360 bar at Jumeirah Beach Hotel first for drinks (great view of Burj). As far as dining there, you would need a second mortgate. You will get more for your money by going elsewhere. Pisces in the Madinet complex is meant to be excellent. Although we stayed in the city there are some very nice places to eat at the Madinet where you could sit and gaze at the view of the Burj in all its glory.

jammydj

glenderg wrote:

Anyway that's that, my question is, has anybody experienced dining at the Burj Al Arab hotel in the evening as a non resident and if so what was your opinion,which restaurant would you recommend, if you were to go back would you choose a different one and most important would you go back?
It's a birthday treat and even though i don't have much money it's a one off so i don't care. "Mind you if it's an absolute rip off i could have different thoughts." B.T.W. What size mortgage would i need?

Hello

I stayed there for 2 nights in July last year for my honeymoon. I'm sure I don't need to tell you the place is amazing - have plenty of photos if you're interested...
Anyway - one of the nights we ate at the Al Mahara restaurant, which is the one 'under the sea' - you take a 'submarine ride' to get to it! It's a seafood restaurant and we got a starter each then a platter to share, with 1 glass of champagne while we were waiting, and a jug of water and a bottle of wine with the main meal.
All in, it came to about £400! Yes, it's very expensive (the wine was just less than £100, the 1 glass of champagne was £25) but it's a 1-off experience that can't be beaten! (I got the un-supped wine re-corked and sent to my room, much to the waiter's surprise at that request!)

All the tables are laid out around a massive aquarium full of exotic fish and a couple of sharks.

After having done it I can thoroughly recommend it - the food's amazing, the service is amazing, the whole place is amazing.

As for the rest of the hotel - the sky bar at the top is nice for a drink - it's around £8-9 for a bottle of beer, a couple of quid more for a cocktail, you get loads of 'free' little snacks whilst you're drinking too...

Can tell you loads more if necessary....

Enjoy :beer:

IoweIoweitsofftoworkIgo

Hi, we stayed in Dubai last May & wanted to have afternoon tea at the Burj, when we enquired, we were advised that you had to pre-book at least a couple of weeks in advance!

So, if you are thinking of visiting, I would contact the hotel first to avoid disappointment!

HTH

fatboyonadiet

Plenty of info on this thread;

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=56042

tummy_tank

If you could comprimise to a lunch the restaurant at the top of the Burj (fab views) has a friday brunch. Friday brunch is the 'in' thing (it's the weekend equivalent for Dubai). We ate there a few years ago and was £40 in 2003, it was the biggest ever buffett ever but they did also cooking stations and the range of food was tremendous. We found the wine to be very expensive (Buy your champagne at the duty free on the way in at the airport) and have it in your hotel room to keep the cost down.
We stay at Le Meridien (the one near the airport) they do 2 inclusive champagne food packages at around £40 eat as much and drink premium named champagne which are very popular and you need to pre-book, let me know and i can give you more details if you want.