In the pre-booked hotel, the TIME Grand Plaza Hotel in DeiraWe weren't supposed to check in until 2 p.m., but the receptionist offered us the room at 11 a.m. So we only had two hours to wait. We dropped off our luggage at the concierge and drove to a small park. We had planned to find our first geocache in Dubai there, but couldn't find it.
After roughly unpacking our suitcases, we took a dip in the hotel pool. It was on the roof, and the water was bath-warm. But after our long journey, it was very relaxing.
To stock up on some groceries, we went to the first large mall we saw – City Centre Deira. Inside the mall, we found a Carrefour, which we had already seen in our Côte d'Azur holidays We lingered a while in the huge, air-conditioned hall and then finally found our first cache in Dubai on the parking deck.
Dubai Creek
We continued toward Jumeirah Beach. Along the way, we passed Dubai Creek. The creek is a natural inlet of the Persian Gulf that divides the city of Dubai into the districts of Bur Dubai and Deira. It is 14 kilometers long and has a width of 115 meters at its mouth to 1,400 meters at its end. We quickly found a parking space on the western bank of the river.
Burj Al Arab – five-star hotel in Dubai
After a few laps along the creek's banks, we got back in the car and drove along the beach road toward Burj Al Arab. This is one of the most luxurious and expensive hotels in the world and a landmark of Dubai. Unfortunately, the access road is closed, and only hotel guests are allowed on the grounds. But we still found time for a quick stop by the side of the road. This allowed us to take a few more photos. A little north of the luxury hotel is the public Umm Suqeim Beach. Here, we went for our first dip in the Persian Gulf, at least with our feet.
Mall of the Emirates
Our last destination for today was the Mall of the Emirates. The huge mall is home to many expensive boutiques. We were actually here for the famous indoor ski resort, "Ski Dubai." With temperatures as low as -3 degrees Celsius inside, many locals spend the entire day skiing, snowboarding, tobogganing, and participating in other winter sports. For us, just watching through the large windows was enough.
The day concluded with a delicious dinner at Shake Shack. We already knew this burger joint from NYC and were surprised to find it here. It was simply an incredibly delicious burger.
Are you still looking for a suitable hotel in Dubai?
You can find a hotel to suit your budget via various online travel agencies such as Agoda, Booking.com, ebookers.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, lastminute.com, opodo, otel.com or Venere.com.
