Barrhead Travel Heads to The Middle East

It’s been at least 10 years since we were last in Dubai, Middle East. What a lot has changed in this city in the desert since then! We’re staying in the JW Marriott Marquis, which is the world’s tallest hotel, and our room’s on the 57th floor.

The view is stunning from the room, though sadly, despite having a balcony, we’re not able to access it, for guest safety reasons! The tallest hotel in the world isn’t far from the tallest building in the world, either – the Burj Khalifa rises like a brilliantly shining needle in this sandy Middle East metropolis

Skyscrapers are everywhere your eye can see, all amazing products of their architects’ imagination. Our memories of Dubai years ago have been overtaken by the changes which are evident everywhere.

We spent our morning the Dubai Mall, a huge shrine to retail therapy. I defy anyone to leave empty-handed (though the jewellery and watch section may not be for anyone without a million in the bank..) The food court couldn’t have more variety and we sat outside enjoying the sunshine while we had lunch.

Back to the hotel for a lounge by the pool for an hour or so. Bliss.

Later we headed down to a friend’s apartment at the Dubai Marina, a lovely area complete with yacht harbour, loads of places to eat and close to the beach – where Dubai is building another superlative attraction – the world’s biggest ferris wheel.

We watched the sun go down from Pure, the outdoor bar at the Hilton. Friday is brunch and happy hour day in Dubai, so we enjoyed buy one, get one free cocktails before strolling The Walk. Later, we headed to the Movenpick Hotel, to West Beach Sports Lounge, which claims to have the longest happy hour in Dubai – from 12 – 9pm! We enjoyed a casual dinner here, before calling it a night and getting a cab back to the Marquis. We’re loving the new Dubai, and well have more time here later in the week but now we’re off to pack for our cruise – we can’t wait to enjoy a different port almost every day on MSC Orchestra…