This is how much of a rip off the Burj Al Arab is - my brother in law was over and we decided to treat him at the Burj, so I arranged for a Rolls Royce transfer from our apartment (4 miles away). The quote for the new Phantom was 1700 Dirhams (240 Pounds) for a one way trip!
You can see nice cars pretty much everywhere. The best places to go are outside any hotel during the evening or the valet parking of Mall of the Emirates. The other night my little Golf nearly held it's own when it was valet parked next to a Veyron, an R8 and assorted Lambos - typical, didn't have the camera with me!) Another good place to go is outside the Financial centre (behind Emirates Towers) where i once saw 5 Merc SLRs parallel parked together!
Agree with the comment about Al Maha Resort - luckily my wife works for Emirates Airline so we get a good discount there! You tend to be a bit of a 5* hotel snob when you live here, as your social life revolves around them!
Jumeirah Beach Hotel is good value if you have kids and can get a 5 night deal from the UK, but is looking tired now and is in need of a bit of renovation - the other Jumeirah Group hotels are nearby and can also get you transfers to Wild Wadi and other places - try their website at
www.jumeirah.com/portfolio and have a look at the Madinat hotels...
My biggest bit of advice whenever anyone visits is:
Don't just stay in the hotel you're staying at. Get out and about to all the other 5* hotels for drinks or dinner. We don't have standalone pubs and bars over here and to have an alcohol license the bars have to be in or connected to a hotel. If you're staying in the Jumeirah area, you've got to visit the hotels around Madinat (Mina 'a Salam and Al Qasr, with their great bars called Bahri Bar and Quobba Bar) and the Burj al Arab, but also go for happy hour drinks in places like The Rooftop bar in the Royal Mirage (half price cocktails for 2 hours in one of the nicest bars ever!)
If you're staying on a Friday, write that day off and go for a Brunch - everywhere has one, but the best are in Al Qasr, Mina 'a Salam, The Fairmont or the Meridien Airport Hotel. They generally start at midday and go on for at least 3-4 hours. You can eat all you want and drink all you want for around 40 Pounds for the most expensive (which includes champagne, and they're not shy topping you up!)
