Tag: staycation

The UAE Tour

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It’s been a while, but I have had inspiration recently to come back to my blog and to write about my life.

I have lived in Dubai for seventeen years. Sometimes it feels like I just arrived and then other times it feels like forever, especially when stuck in traffic. During that time I have travelled around a lot of the UAE, especially in the last nine years due to my work with Decluttr Me. However, I know that I have not scratched the surface with visiting a lot of places in the seven emirates, which to be frank is shocking.

I went to Expo 2020 in Dubai every week for the last four months it was open (ok sometimes more often in one week) and I loved it. I would go when I had a day off early in the morning before the crowds and heat got too much and see the pavilions and eat a lot of great (over-priced) food. Once Expo closed, there was this void, which I know a lot of friends had as well, who had visited often like me.

This month, whilst sitting on the couch during my day off I realised that I could do the same exercise as I did with Expo but instead visit places in the UAE. However, I needed to know where to go.

After googling a lot of blogs and travel guides one evening, I came up with the following list of places to visit.

Dubai

Ethiad Museum

Union House

Mohammed Bin Rashid Library

Supper clubs

Museum of the Future

The View at the Palm

Hatta Dome Park

Inifinity des  Lumieres – Dubai Mall

IMG World of Adventures

Motiongate Dubai

La Perle

Roll Dxb

Museum of Illusions

Dubai Butterfly Garden

Snow Cinema at Vox

Love Lakes

Oh La Lab – Al Serkal Avenue

Topgulf

Mirzam Chocolate Workshop

Cinema Akil

Jameel Art Centre

Burj Al Arab – stay the night

Women’s Museum

Abu Dhabi

Ferrari World tickets

Yas Waterworld

Abu Dhbai Pearl Journey

Yas Marina driving experience

Heritage Village

Manarat Al Saadiyat

Qasr Al Hosn

Zayed Memorial

Qasr al Watan (been there but one for you – it is huge and amazing)

Al Ain

Al Ain Museum

Al Qattara Arts Centre

Hili Archeological Pak

Al Ain Oasis – take bike

Al Jahili Fort

Qasr Al Muwaiji

Al Ain Oasis

Sharjah

Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation – https://www.sharjahartmuseum.ae/

Sharjah Art Museum

Classic Cars Museum and Al Mahatta Museum

Sharjah Heritage Area – Heritage Museum, Calligraphy Museum, Bait Al Naboodah

Islamic World Garden

Mlehia Archaeological Site

Sharjah Fort

Aquarium and Maritime Museum

Archaeology Museum

Kalba – Al Hisn Museum, House of Sheikh Saeed, Conservation Reserve, Al Hefaiyah Mountain Conservation,

Khor Fakkan – waterfall and theatre,  Al Adwani Tower, Rafisa dam, craft museum. Al Suhub Rest House

Heart of Sharjah

Al Noor Mosque – 10am every Monday

Camel Racing

Dhaid Fort (8am-8pm) – https://glimpsesofuae.com/dhaid-fort/

Madam, Falaj al Mualla,

Al Madam – ghost village

The rain room

Sharjah Centre for Astronmy and Space Sciences

Barjeel Art Collection

Ajman – https://traveltriangle.com/blog/places-to-visit-in-ajman/

Ajman National Museum and Ajman Fort

Al Jarah Cultural Centre

Ajman Dhow Yard

Al Murabba Watchtower

Masfout – museum and fort, also hiking destination

Ajman heritage district

Umm Al Qwain

UAQ Fort and Museum – 7am-8pm

Falaj al mualla fort – 8AM–2PM, 3–8PM

UAQ Al Qwain Centre of antiquities

RAK

Dhayah Fort

Al Jazirah Al Hamra (ghost town)

Museum

Pearl Museum

1484 by Puro – Jebel Jais

Shimal – small village – heritage site

Suwaidi Pearl Farm

RAKs nature treasures

Flower Farm Asima – November to March

Khatt – hot springs

Fujairah

Madha – enclave of Oman

Al Bidyah Mosque and fort

Fujairah Fort

Museum

Bithnah Fort

Masafi (market)

Ain Al Madhab Hot Springs

Wahlah Fort

The Governors Palace, Masafi

Tayyibah Heritage Museum

(* all in italics have been completed)

When you look at the list you may see places that should be on there like Mussandam, F1 Abu Dhabi, some of the waterparks, and quite a few places in Fujairah (I visited there a few times to see close friends of mine who lived there, so visited a lot of the sites with them), etc – that is because I have already been to those places. However, I may have inadvertently missed places out, especially if they are obscure, so please let me know so I can update the list accordingly.

Today I started the list and went to Ethiad Museum and Union House. It seemed like the ideal place to start this list as it was where the Emirates were formally formed. I love finding out the history of places and especially my second home so I loved it. It is big in size, but quick to view. I took about an hour to see all the exhibits and videos, but I did speed through some of it. The current price to enter for Adults is AED 25 which is a bargain considering how beautifully made it is. Here are some pictures from the Museum and Union House to wet your appetite to visit there.

The table where the Sheikhs from six Emirates signed the union document.
Part of Ethiad Museum.

It was pretty empty for a weekday morning and the staff advised it was much quieter due to the summer months. There is a massive lake with the flag poles which would have been nice to sit by, but that was not happening in the 40 degree heat, so maybe nice to visit when cooler.

Ethiad Museum & Union House

Adult Ticket – AED 25 (July 2022)

Underground Parking – Free

Map to location

I have started my tour and I am aiming to not lose momentum with this endeavour and will complete the list within the next year.

Please send me your suggestions of places to visit in the comment box and even ones you suggest are really not worth venturing which are on my list.

Thanks for reading!

© 2022 Shelina Jokhiya | All rights reserved – This post is provided for the convenience of Shelo’s Cheeky Rantings readers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited.
©  Photo by Shelina Jokhiya.

Staycation at Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi

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Park Hyatt Bathroom Sink Area
Park Hyatt Bathroom Sink Area
151009 Park hyatt bathroom
151009 Park hyatt sunset
151009 Park hyatt king prawns
151009 Park hyatt lobster and prawn cannelloni
151009 Park hyatt pineapple tarte tartin
151010 Park hyatt

This weekend, I got to spend a weekend relaxing, for once, at the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi on Saadiyat Island. The decision was very last minute, but we felt like getting out of Dubai and seeing one of the other Emirates.

I have never been to the Park Hyatt in Abu Dhabi, but have been several times to the Dubai branch to use their dining and spa facilities (and also to attend a wedding there). The Park Hyatt Dubai is beautiful from the moment you get to the entrance and valet. I expected the same when we got to the Abu Dhabi Park Hyatt, but unfortunately it doesn’t have the same authentic arabic charm as its Dubai counterpart.

When checking in, we encountered the strange demand of giving AED300 as a “deposit”. We are used to being asked to give our credit card details, so they can use it to deduct all expenses when we check out, but this was something new and slightly annoying. We gave a credit card to pay the deposit and to also settle the room bill and went on our merry way to the room. The room was lovely. Everything I have expected from Hyatt properties on my travels. We took a ground room floor which had a balcony overlooking the garden and pool.

Dinner choices are limited at the hotel so we choose the Park Bar and Grill. Fortunately I had an Entertainer Voucher to buy 1 get 1 free main course so we could splurge a bit on the meal :). The food was delicious and the service fantastic; one waitress from South Africa was especially kind and helpful.

The night should have been joyous in the comfortable bed, but there was this bizarre dripping noise above us for the whole night. It was intermittent so couldn’t tell if it was due to pipes, a leaky bath in the room above or if it was between the ceiling and floor of the two rooms. It was truly irritating.

The next morning we spent chilling out at the beach and in the room. It would have been better if we had not received text messages from the bank at stupid o’clock (more of that soon).

Also we didn’t receive our complimentary newspaper. We couldn’t understand how they could forget a simple thing that they offer as a service!

At midday exactly, we started getting calls and knocks on the door that we had to check out..NOW! The hotel had obviously ignored the requests we had made in the booking which included “Late Check Out”. The hotel was not busy at all so they could have let us stay an hour or two, but nooppppe we had to leave pronto.

Now back to the text message we got. Remember we gave the AED300 at the start? Well after that we had a meal and a few drinks as obviously we were staying at the hotel. Well that deposit was used up so the hotel decided that rather than waiting for us to check out and check the total bill, that they would charge us immediately for any expenses we made during the stay. Plus they were deducting at silly o’clock so we were being awoken by the phone beeping. We were so angry.  At the hotel desk, we complained about the method of taking money off us without us check the final bill.

The reasoning by Park Hyatt (the Manager decided to join in to defend their position – quite condescendingly if I say so myself), was that they had a new policy that they would block the amount on our credit card as and when we used their facilities. The actual amount would not be deducted until we had checked out they assured us. The reality was that they weren’t blocking the amount, they were automatically deducting from our card as and when they felt like it. I have been to Hyatt hotels globally and other hotel chains, but never heard of this nonsense.

They were treating us like potential thieves who were planning to do a runner out of the hotel without clearing the bill and also they were deducting us for amounts we were unable to verify first. They may have deducted amounts which were not related to our room. If you have dealt with banks in the UAE, you know how much of an ordeal it is to get refunds for amounts that are falsely taken from your account or credit card.

The attitude and behaviour left a very bad taste in our mouth. The apologies were insincere. In the end, we viewed the bill, signed and left very angry. Because of the behaviour at this Hyatt, I have no desire to go to another one unless there are assurances that we will not be be treated like this and will receive better service from a 5* hotel.

What has been your experience with the Park Hyatt’s you have visited? Would love to hear your good or bad stories.

Update 12 October 2015 – I have received an apology from the hotel with regards to the complaints above. The policy on getting a deposit and then deducting as and when is supposedly an citywide policy in Abu Dhabi. I find it hard to believe this can only happen in one city in the country. It was good of the hotel to acknowledge my blog post and feedback from their survey.  

Would be interested to know if others have had to deal with the same payment/deposit policy in Abu Dhabi. 

Shelina

© 2015 Shelina Jokhiya | All rights reserved – This post is provided for the convenience of Shelo’s Cheeky Rantings readers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited.