Disgrace, laughter, tears and two steps to resuscitation: a review of a sightseeing tour of Dubai

The reader of “Subtleties” Natalia Pereverzeva heard enough of the hotel guide and decided that a sightseeing tour of the emirate would be very interesting. It turned out a little differently:

The tour starts from the “Sheikh's Residence”

Why in quotes? Yes, because this is not a residence. And the parking lot is far away from it. And you can walk a little closer on foot about 200 meters, but apart from plants along the road to the residence, sculptures of horses and fountains visible in the distance, you will not see anything. I remember the words of the guide: “Interesting. Peacocks go there.” What kind of peacocks? :) Maybe they are on the territory, but definitely not in the parking lot and not at the entrance to the gate.

In fact, this is not a “point of view”, but a place where you will be transferred to a shared bus. The Sheikh's residence can just as well be viewed from the road.1/1

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When they tell you that your tour includes the Sheikh's Residence, you think that some part of the park is allocated for excursions. Well, at least approximately it was possible to create an impression. I understand Muslim culture is very private. And there can be no openness at the residence of the royal family. But why announce it as a place of inspection?

Second location: a restaurant and a shop are just tears

Well, really. They say that the toilet of the establishment is its face. Well, the toilet here is worse than the toilets at gas stations in Russia. Even the poor ones.

According to the filling of the institution. The only thought after visiting this place: “And this is what they can and want to show us in Dubai? Really? Is there really nothing to see here? What a pity, I was right that apart from the buildings there is nothing to see here. These are my personal thoughts. But all the people on the bus were unhappy. And there are 40 of them.

Shabby dirty place (really dirty, stairs floors haven't been mopped in days). Carpets painted with gold thread, stacked and hanging on the walls. Statuettes with strasses. Everybody. The tour guide did not even tell us anything about this place. And personally, I got the impression that she herself did not have a particularly pleasant impression of this place. As if they are obligated to go there, so that suddenly someone buys something. Which seems to be extremely rare.

But they still carry, spoil people's mood and waste time. This is really very unpleasant.1/1

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Next Old Market and Dubai Venice

Place for three. The scale of Venice is tiny. Market – it was interesting to hear about how buildings were built before and about the format of the market in antiquity. Thanks to the tour guide. Yes, I agree that this place should not be excluded from the program. But I think it might be a good place to start. And the two previous places are really excluded. Well, shame.

The next place is a waste of time again

Again, unrealistic expectations. Hotel Parus? Well, you can see part of it from the road. Yes, I have a better view from the window of the room. Hotel “Atlantis” across a piece of the sea? Yes, you can see it from the road. The guide's story about the internal contents of these hotels is much more interesting. They would organize excursions there, by helicopter, as they do in New York. Was personally on a helicopter tour, it is worth the money. From there, at least the views would be really beautiful. And so – the crowd on the coastline, across the river from the sea – the hotel. Well, it's like that.

The next place is finally beautiful!

And we didn't wait. All by bus. Really. There is also a sunset on the coastline next to a bunch of skyscrapers and a Ferris wheel. And the boat ride is amazing! The views are amazing. I would go on such a separate excursion and advise others. But dinner there is darkness. Stale, spoiled vegetables, reusable oil batter (for me, a clear indicator of poor quality), almost everything is tasteless, except that it cannot be spoiled. For example, pasta :)

The only tasty thing – chicken – is divided into small pieces, in which there are more bones than meat. I buy these sets for my dog. Soup type :) Well, laughter. And tears.

I don't know how much this dinner costs separately, but the quality is much worse than what they offer in my 4 star hotel. Not at five, mind you! But people on excursions from different hotels. Shame on you gentlemen. Dinner needs to be upgraded.

And one more surprise after mooring: our bus got lost. For 20 minutes, the guide tried to explain to him on the phone where to come, although this is a standard gathering place. As a result, we walked for another 15 minutes to the place where our bus was lost. Lost 35 minutes.1/1

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Burj Khalifa, waterfall, Dubai Mall

This is where the organization needs to be rethought. Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall are really interesting places. But for everything together – two hours: for those who climb the tower, and for those who just walk along the mall. But those who rise – in fact, do not have time for anything other than this. Do you separate threads. Well, or give three hours to everyone. There won't be much. And then it will be easier to go. Because there will be a little less traffic jams. All the same, people spend this hour in traffic jams on the way back!

What happened to me personally here: I managed to see the fountain once, climb the tower, admire the views and fountains from above. Get down. And just get to the collection point. I did not even have time to the waterfall and stand to look at the aquarium.

As a decent person who values ​​her time and the time of other people, she came 5 minutes before the announced time of the meeting. Without stopping at the same time, buy some kind of snack so as not to be late. And seeing that it was half an hour to go to my hotel, well, I think, with the delivery of all the rest, well, an hour. Nothing, I think, I’ll come, either I’ll have time for dinner, or I’ll buy a snack at the bar. And in the end … I drove for almost two hours. Since my hotel was the last one on the list, and the path to other hotels lay through traffic jams (and there were no traffic jams in mine). If I had this information in advance, I would have taken a taxi myself. No matter how much a taxi costs.

What else to read on the topic

• The staff is lazy, but for the dollar they will adore and respect: a review of a budget Egyptian hotel
• The desert is all around, garbage is lying on the side of the road: a review about a very budget vacation in the UAE
• Everyone scolds, but we liked it, this is real Thailand: a review of Pattaya

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More surprise

Due to all the circumstances, on the way out of the minibus, I had a hypoglycemic shock. This is the second time in my life, the first time ended in intensive care. It’s good that this didn’t happen on the minibus, but already at the hotel, where, knowing how to deal with it, I quickly did it. And if in a minibus, it would have ended again in the hospital. Yes, it's a coincidence. But it arose due to a lack of information and due to poor organization – poor dinner, insufficient time in the mall (which was not enough for a snack) and poor organization of transportation!

And first of all, because of such transportation, I will not go on any more general excursion. Well, you know where which hotels are located. Know the standard routes for picking up people and taking them back. Well, warn those who live on Palma (especially in its final part, like me) that they have to drive almost two hours home. Or arrange a private transfer for them. I am ready to pay for it. And the tour guide is awesome. She spoke very interestingly. Especially since visiting Atlantis. She is grateful!