Dubai Festival City

8 December 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Dubai Reading Time:  5 minutes

Festival Bay at Dubai Festival City Mall © Teeraza88/cc-by-sa-4.0

Festival Bay at Dubai Festival City Mall © Teeraza88/cc-by-sa-4.0

Dubai Festival City is a large residential, business and entertainment development in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, owned by Al-Futtaim Group. Dubai Festival City is the Middle East‘s largest mixed-use development: all elements for work, living, and leisure will be contained within the project. Once completed Festival City will comprise a series of residential communities, numerous hotels, malls, a golf course and other entertainment sites, and a full suite of public services, including schools.   read more…

Dubai Gold Souk

19 April 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Dubai, Shopping Reading Time:  4 minutes

© flickr.com - Joi/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – Joi/cc-by-2.0

Dubai Gold Souk or Gold Souk, is a traditional market (or souk) in Dubai, UAE. The souk is located in Dubai’s commercial business district in Deira, in the locality of Al Dhagaya. The souk consists of over 380 retailers, most of whom are jewelry traders. Some of the shops are as old as four decades, while some are as new as a year. The major items of mall includes Gold, Platinum, Diamonds and sometimes also deals in silver.   read more…

Address Downtown in Dubai

23 June 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Dubai, Hotels Reading Time:  8 minutes

© flickr.com - Marcus/cc-by-sa-2.0

© flickr.com – Marcus/cc-by-sa-2.0

The Address Downtown, formerly The Address Downtown Dubai, is a 63-story, 302.2 m (991 ft) supertall hotel and residential skyscraper in the Burj Dubai Development Area of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was built by Emaar Properties Group. The tower is the twenty-second tallest building in Dubai. It is a tall structure within the massive development named Downtown Dubai, which includes the centerpiece super-tall building, the Burj Khalifa. The tower was topped out in April 2008, and was then the sixth tallest building in Dubai. The AED845 million tower was completed in September 2008. The five-star hotel and residential compound features 196 rooms and 626 serviced apartments.   read more…

The hotel ship Queen Elizabeth 2

1 February 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Dubai, Hotels, Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  8 minutes

near the Cunard Building in Liverpool © flickr.com - Eric The Fish/cc-by-2.0

near the Cunard Building in Liverpool © flickr.com – Eric The Fish/cc-by-2.0

Queen Elizabeth 2, often referred to simply as QE2, is a floating hotel and retired ocean liner originally built for the Cunard Line, which operated by Cunard as both a transatlantic liner and a cruise ship from 1969 to 2008. Since 18 April 2018, she has been operating as a floating hotel in Dubai.  read more…

Expo 2020 Dubai

24 January 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Dubai, Energy, Building Automation, Intelligent Buildings, Museums, Exhibitions, Sustainability, Environment Reading Time:  20 minutes

© expo2020dubai.com

© expo2020dubai.com

Expo 2020 is a World Expo to be hosted by Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, opening on October 20, 2020. The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) general assembly in Paris awarded Dubai as the host on November 27, 2013. In November 2019, the UAE permitted Israeli passport holders to enter the country during Expo 2020. Israelis are allowed to have their own pavilion at the event and to even visit the country afterwards.   read more…

Hatta in Dubai

4 December 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Dubai, Environment Reading Time:  4 minutes

Hatta Fort Hotel © Alexandermcnabb/cc-by-sa-3.0

Hatta Fort Hotel © Alexandermcnabb/cc-by-sa-3.0

Hatta is the inland exclave of the emirate of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. It lies to the south-east of Dubai’s main territory and is about 134 km (83 mi) east of Dubai. It is located relatively high in the Hajar Mountains. It borders Oman to the east and the south, the Ajmani exclave of Masfout to the west, and Ras al-Khaimah to the north.   read more…

Dubai Opera

30 September 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Dubai, Opera Houses, Theaters, Libraries Reading Time:  6 minutes

© flickr.com - Greger Ravik/cc-by-sa-3.0

© flickr.com – Greger Ravik/cc-by-sa-3.0

Dubai Opera is a 2,000-seat, multi-format, performing arts centre, which is located within The Opera District in Downtown Dubai. It was developed by Emaar Properties to host a variety of performances and events including theatre, opera, ballet, concerts, conferences and exhibitions. Its plans were announced by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in March 2012 and it was completed in 2016. It opened on 31 August 2016 with a performance by Plácido Domingo. Dubai Opera have flat floor capacity of 1800 square meters. This floor can be hired for weddings, gala dinners, fashion shows and exhibitions.   read more…

Jumeirah Beach Residence in Dubai

8 March 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Dubai Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Imre Solt/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Imre Solt/cc-by-sa-3.0

Jumeirah Beach Residence (also known as JBR) is a 1.7 kilometres (1.1mi) long, 2 square kilometres (0.77 sq mi) gross floor area waterfront community located against the Arabian Gulf in Dubai Marina in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is a residential development and contains 40 towers (35 are residential and 5 are hotels). JBR can accommodate about 15,000 people, living in its apartments and hotel rooms. The Project has 6,917 apartments, from 900sqft (84 m²) studios to 5,500 sq ft (510 m²) penthouses. JBR has a total of six residential blocks, Shams, Amwaj, Rimal, Bahar, Sadaf and Murjan (in order from east to west). The developer, Dubai Properties (a subsidiary of Dubai Holding), launched JBR in August 2002. This 6 billion dirham project was completed in 2010.   read more…

The Gulf States: Bon voyage!

9 February 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Dubai, Editorial, Bon voyage, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  134 minutes

© Hégésippe Cormier/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Hégésippe Cormier/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Arabian Gulf (the Arab states call the west side of the Persian Gulf Arabian Gulf) is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Indian Ocean (Gulf of Oman) through the Strait of Hormuz and lies between Iran to the northeast and the Arabian Peninsula to the southwest. The Shatt al-Arab river delta forms the northwest shoreline. The gulf has many fishing grounds, extensive reefs (mostly rocky, but also coral), and abundant pearl oysters. The body of water is historically and internationally known as the Persian Gulf. Some Arab governments refer to it as the Arabian Gulf. About 200 million people are living in the Gulf States, with Iran being the most populous country with 80 million inhabitants, followed by Iraq (38.7 million), Saudi Arabia (32 million), Yemen (38 million), United Arab Emirates (9.4 million), Oman (4.4 million), Kuwait (4.1 million), Qatar (2.6 million) and Bahrain (1.5 million). Tourism is an increasingly important factor for the smaller countries of the region, but Iran and Saudi Arabia are developing this sector more and more either. While the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain are suitable for less experienced travelers, traveling to other countries in the region requires quite a few preparations. Relevant links to the U.S. Department of State can be found at the end of each country portrait. With the exception of Yemen and Iraq because of travel warnings for EU citizens (there are additional travel warnings for other Gulf States for US citizens), all Gulf States can be visited without difficulties, as far as the rules, way of living and habits of the respective host country are respected.   read more…

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