4. HALLAZGOS
4.2. Desarrollo de las Coyunturas críticas en Casanare
T H E R E R E A L LY I S S O M E T H I N G F O R E V E RY TA S T E, pocket and lifestyle in Dubai – but we would characterise the below as the prin-cipal types of accommodation. In this chapter, we have only included hotels in which we would actually want to stay – believe us, we have seen some bedbug-infested, prostitute-ridden fleapits. None of those appears here – if you do decide to go off-piste, we would strongly sug-gest that you take the hotel’s own descriptions with a pinch (or maybe even an entire cellar) of salt.
D U B A I I C O N S
B I G , B R A S H A N D B L O O DY E X P E N S I V E are probably the four words that best describe Dubai’s superhotels. Dubai doesn’t do museums, opera houses, art galleries or theatres – the drive to attract tourism is, perhaps sensibly, focused around the places that a visitor sees the most: their lodgings. Of course, any hotel that takes pride of place on a city’s car number plates, as the Burj Al Arab used to, is in a class of its own. This ‘seven-star’ (the classification was self-awarded) sail-shaped hotel is still the most expensive across the board (although suites elsewhere in the city top its highest room rate) and functions as a tourist attraction in its own right. But since it opened, there has been an arms race to go one better. Hence the Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates is attached to a real-snow indoor ski slope; the Atlantis has its own shark-filled mega-aquarium and more celebrity chefs than you could shake a Michelin star at; the Jumeirah Beach Hotel offers free access to Wild Wadi waterpark; and the hotels of the Madinat Jumeirah have their own souk and complex of waterways. And, of course, we can’t forget the Armani Hotel & Residences, which opened on the bottom floors of the Burj Khalifa in April 2010. If you want a true Dubai experience, and you are willing to pay for it, then these should be your first choice.
T H E B E A C H H O T E L
Y E A R - RO U N D S U N A N D WA R M WAT E R mean that the beaches here are a massive draw, and if that’s what you are after, then proxim-ity to them should be top of your list. These places have private stretches of sand, umbrellas, loungers, towels and waiters on hand to serve you drinks, food and chilled hand towels. They also offer a kids’ club, a water sports centre and a diving centre. Of course, the raft of new hotels opening on the Palm Jumeirah in 2010–2012 will almost double the number of beach hotels in Dubai, but currently the only ones accepting guests there are the Atlantis, Kempinski and One&Only. The rest are situated along Jumeirah, starting with Dubai Marine Resort, then running to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Madinat Jumeirah, One&Only Royal Mirage, The Westin, Grosvenor House, Le Royal Méridien Beach Resort & Spa, Ritz-Carlton and Mövenpick.
If you are unwilling or unable to pay the premium for the seaside location, many of these hotels offer a day rate to use their facilities.
Others that don’t have their own beach access make their swimming pools and outdoor areas as appealing as possible – from The Address Downtown’s three-tier infinity pool to the Park Hyatt’s palm-shaded, whirlpool-filled dream.
T H E N O U V E A U F I V E - S T A R
B R I G H T C O L O U R S A N D B L I N G are overused in accommodations here, but a new breed of low-key luxury hotels has sprung up in Dubai in the past few years. Instead of the gold, chandeliers and marble, you can now find leather walls, modern art and muted soft furnishings. Spearheading this trend is The Address Hotels + Resorts group, with its 63-floor hotel in Downtown, attached to the Dubai Mall,and The Palace, designed in a new-Arabia style. The Address Dubai Marina has a similarly chic aesthetic. The low-rise, whitewashed Park Hyatt is a very feminine version of minimalist.
T H E B U S I N E S S H O T E L
T H I S I S R E A L LY D E P E N D E N T on what sort of business you will be doing in Dubai. For some, proximity to the airport is a major bonus, in which case many hotels are nearby, including the Park Hyatt, Hilton Dubai Creek, Novotel Deira City Centre, InterContinental and Crowne Plaza Festival City. If your business is media-related, plenty of hotels are situated in Media City – our favourite is the Media One, which is as close as Dubai gets to trendy London Soho styling. But as Dubai Marina is also very close by, you have your pick of places to lay your head too. Other than that, the biggest concentration of hotels aimed at business travellers is at the Dubai Creek end of the Sheikh Zayed Road, predictably near the Dubai International Financial Centre.
These are the Dusit Thani, The Fairmont, The Monarch, The Shangri-La and the Jumeirah Emirates Towers. In addition to these, most of
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the larger hotels, especially the five- and four-stars, have extensive conference facilities – ranging from the Atlantis’s epic ballrooms to the Armani Hotel & Residences’ stand-alone structure. These ameni-ties are listed under each individual hotel. A business centre is also standard in most hotels three-star and above, offering mobile phone rental, fax and scanning facilities, secretarial services, small librar-ies and offices and meeting rooms. These are usually charged for by usage. In addition, many also have executive clubs (where this is available, we have listed it under the individual hotel) that offer larger rooms on designated floors, and many have a communal lounge with a quiet space to work, as well as free food, soft drinks and cocktails and free local calls. If you are planning on holding meetings in your suite, do check that it is possible to block off the living room from the bedroom – the Park Hyatt and Jumeirah Emirates Towers are both particularly good for this. One last thing to check is whether free Internet or Wi-Fi is offered. Although we are of the opinion that every hotel should provide this free of charge, many hotels in Dubai don’t (especially the more tourist-oriented places), levying a fairly hefty rate for 24 hours of Internet.
T H R E E - A N D F O U R - S T A R
T H E S TA N DA R D W E F O U N D in four-star hotels is good across the board – sometimes even indistinguishable from five-stars. If there is a difference, it is that the locations tend not to be quite as good – for example, to get to the Dubai Mall or the Burj Khalifa from Al Manzil and the Qamardeen Hotel, both of which are brand-new, beautiful and have great facilities, you have to cross the road. Rooms may also be slightly smaller. There are often swimming pools, spas, kids’ clubs and business centres, and staff are often well trained. In terms of three-stars, there is a much bigger variance – the best tend to be the international chains such as Traders and the Golden Tulip.
B O U T I Q U E H O T E L S A N D B E D - A N D - B R E A K F A S T S
S M A L L D O E S N O T O F T E N M E A N B E A U T I F U L when talking about Dubai bolt-holes, but a very few do boutique well. The most luxuri-ous of these is the Desert Palm, with its individual pool villas and rooms with views over the neighbouring private polo field. This is the only licensed boutique hotel. Bastakiya, the art and culture district, is home to the two most characterful bed-and-breakfasts of the lot – the Orient Guest House and the XVA Art Hotel.
T H E ( V E R Y ) B U D G E T H O T E L
C H O O S I N G S U P E R - C H E A P A C C O M M O DAT I O N S in Dubai is a very different ball game to doing the same thing in Europe. Indeed, you’ll find a wide selection of places at the lower end of the price range, but very few that are charming, quirky or authentic. The truth is that if you want to pay lower prices, you will have to settle for a much, much
lower quality. And by that we don’t just mean the neighbourhood is less salubrious. You risk dirty rooms stinking of cigarettes, the presence of prostitutes, music playing until the wee hours in nearby nightclubs and drunk and disorderly guests. We’ve explored the two-star hotels around Dubai and found that if you are going low, it’s much better to stick with chains such as Ibis than independents.