The Dubai Expat Diaries

The 4 star hotel, located in The Old Town, has been revealed to be the most popular in Dubai by TripAdvisor out of 370 hotels in the city.
It comes as a surprise with the number luxury hotels here.

For all the shopaholics eagerly waiting for this year’s DSF – here are the dates. It is going to run from 28 January to 28 February 2010.
The details of this year’s events and shopping offers will be listed here as soon as they are available.
Watch this space!

It seems the 5 – 15% services charges, that we are often hit with while eating out, is illegal after all. Only restaurants and cafes operating in hotels are allowed to add these charges to the bill. Which is good news for those of us who dine out frequently, as we get to decide how [...]

Dubai has been in the limelight ever since the highly anticipated opening of the world’s tallest tower was announced. The unveiling of the tower was watched and admired by thousands around the globe.
The height was revealed on a counter in the opening ceremony – 828 meters. By no means a small feat, especially for a small [...]

Dubai is set to make history today, with the opening of its very own superscraper and the world’s tallest building Burj Dubai scheduled to open at 8pm.
Major General Mohammad Eid Al Mansouri, Director of the General Department of Protective Security and Emergency Department at Dubai Police told Gulf News: “His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid [...]

There has been a shift in the marketing strategy used by hotels in the region, with more and more hotels turning to the popular social networking sites such as twitter and facebook to attract more guests.
According to a recent survey, a third of twitter users from the Middle East and North Africa region had purchased a product or service based on [...]

With the Dubai Metro set to start operating from September 9, Mall of the Emirates and Deira City Centre  have announced plans to introduce paid parking from September 10. As they are both located close to Metro stations, the mall management stated they intend to deter Metro commuters from using the mall parking facilities.

According to Gulf News, expats who wish to bring their families here will now be required to earn minimum AED 10,000 and also rent an independent accomodation:
Major General Nasser Al Awadi Al Menhali, director general of the Naturalisation and Residency Department (NRD), said the decision was made after a study by the Ministry of Interior [...]

The latest shopping craze for credit-crunched Dubai expats – the Dubai Flea Market has become a big hit where people can buy and sell almost any used items. The last event in May witnessed crowds of upto 4,500 visitors. It is being held indoors for the summer at the Al Safa Hall in Jumeirah. The [...]

The Dubai Summer Surprises is back again with lots of fun family events and shopping offers to keep us entertained this long, hot summer. Starting from June 11, this popular festival is scheduled to go on till August 14, with a wide range of attractions all over Dubai.
If you are planning to book a hotel [...]