Dubai Noob Guide
Hey guys, I will be writing this guide as someone living in Dubai since the beginning of the year and owns some real estate there.
This noob guide should help you prepare for your trip to Dubai for the October Crypto Event or whenever you want to go there.
I will keep it simple, small, and easy to understand. It won’t be THE SUPER EXTENSIVE GUIDE where every corner is listed, just the main stuff you need to know.
Main areas you need to know
- Marina
- Downtown
- The Palm (but it’s little trash to reach and get to if u wanna go anywhere but the palm itself, so I won’t be going deeper on this one)
These two areas are the main areas in Dubai where I have spent the most time. They are about a 20–30 minute drive away with an UBER, which is very cheap in Dubai, yet a little inconvenient if you live Downtown and most stuff will be happening in Marina.
Marina Area
As you can see, there it is right next to the sea. It has a HUGE beachfront and, as you can already think, much beach-related stuff, such as party places, cabanas, places to chill, a super nice pier, and LOADS of restaurants.
In my personal experience, Marina is where most of the “cool” stuff happens, the most lively place, and EVERYTHING is within walking distance.
As you can see, in the middle of the “Marina Area,” there is the ACTUAL Marina which has been dug out for boats and water taxis or small yachts to pass by. That also divides the “Marina Area” into 2 parts. As generally, the “right part,” which is “away” from the beach, is cheaper to live in, you will find yourself having to walk more and further to all the parties and restaurants, which are mostly on the “left part” of Marina.
Places to stay in Marina
Here I will show you some cool places you can stay in Marina, which is good location-wise and quality-wise.
Let’s start with Hotels
Rixos is an absolute banger of a hotel, modern, fancy, has many young people coming, have a great private area with cabanas, private beach access, and loads of more stuff. It is pricy though, but you do get super high quality and experience for it. You have to experience it if you like “the best of the best”.
Intercontinental, as I know it from many friends who have stayed there, is a super nice and luxurious hotel in the Marina Area. As it is still on the “left side” of Marina, you will find it at a very advantageous spot. It is right across the Marina Mall (a short walk over the bridge required), it is still easy to access the beach (by crossing one intersection), and it is quiet in the middle of the Marina Area, which makes it easy to reach anything by foot.
Prices there are definitely lower than at Rixos and make it more affordable to stay at.
Barcelo Residences is an apartment hotel where you really get a good bang for your buck. It is rather cheap, has big rooms and is especially nice if you are traveling with a bigger group of people of family and do not want to spend 25k for a week. The downside is that you might have to walk a little more (3–5min walk to Intercontinental), and you have a Mosque right in front of you, which you might hear a few times a day if you are staying in your room, but I guess that will be less the case. The views of the marina from there are amazing as well.
Ok, now let’s go over to where you can AirBNB and what to look for.
First, look for “upgraded” apartments, not the standard ones. Sometimes the standard ones have nice pictures but are trash inside.
The area you should be looking at is “Marina JBR,” there on the map, as close as possible to the sea. Marina JBR buildings are the light creme/yellow ones you see on most pictures in the background.
As you can see in the picture, buildings in RIMAL and BAHAR are quite central and have the best connection to anything in Marina, so I would look for apartments to stay in there. SADAF is fine, but you don’t have direct beach access and need to go through a small access slip next to Rixos.
Downtown Area
The Dubai Downtown area is an absolute banger; for anyone coming there for the first time, you will have to watch out to keep your mouth closed. It is many everything and anything next to the Burj Khalifa (to keep it simple, sorry locals).
It has the Dubai Mall, endless restaurants, endless buildings, skyscrapers, and anything you can imagine from a becoming Megapolis. Yet the main purpose of you going there will be mostly that. It is not near the beach, I have not seen masses of people partying there, and in general, it is quite “hard” to reach, as you need a car/UBER to go there and leave, as the places you can reach by foot are rather limited in comparison to Marina.
Let’s take a look at what cool places you can stay in Downtown:
The Armani Hotel is super luxurious and nice, but wait… why is it a picture of the Burj Khalifa?
Well, the hotel is LITERALLY inside of the Burj Khalifa, which is a super nice flex for itself already. The quality is top-notch and as superior as it gets.
But the view…
Well, you will definitely not have a “Burj View,” you will either see the Fountains in the “Fountains Rooms,” or you will be looking at other buildings or the top of the Dubai Mall.
Also, as you can imagine, you can’t “just” walk from the mall into the tallest building in the world; you will have to go around the building and then along the driveway through security to get into the main entrance, which is quite inconvenient sometimes.
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For someone coming the first time to Dubai, I would rather suggest the following hotels:
Address Sky View Hotel is a breathtaking hotel with breathtaking views from an infinity pool on top of the building. Once again, the luxury and style are just as high as its predecessor, just with the little perk of having one of the most amazing views in the Dubai Downtown area. Reaching it is a little further than the Burj Khalifa itself, but it is easy to do so by foot via a bridge that leads directly into the Dubai Mall. Definitely, a more suggestible Hotel to stay at when coming to Dubai the first time.
Address Dubai Mall this hotel is literally rights inside/on top of the Dubai Mall, which makes it perfect for a shopping trip or a shopping weekend you want to do, right before leaving Dubai. You have a direct entry from the inside of the mall, which makes it the most convenient hotel in that area, being able to put your 20 shopping bags directly in your room, without having ever to leave the Dubai mall.
We loved it when we stayed there, but we really recommend it for just a few days max—1 week.
Other cool hotels you can stay at, but I didn’t mention extensively
- Burj Al Arab (7 start hotel), location is a little difficult and expensive AF
- The Mandarin Oriental
- Versace Hotel
- BVLGARI Hotel
- Anantara Resort (On the Palm)
- The Ritz Carlton Resort (Next to Rixos, but rather for families and elder peeps, and expensive AF)
Malls
Dubai has a ton of Malls, but the main ones I’ve spent 95% of my time in were:
- Dubai Mall (biggest mall)
- Emirates Mall (second-biggest mall, also has a ski slope)
- Marina Mall (in marina area)
They are worth a visit and great for shopping anything you can think of—plan in some time, though.
Activities
Some cool activities you can do in Dubai that are fun and worth doing:
- Jetski Safari
- Top Golf Dubai
- Escape Rooms
- Arcades (Dubai has insanely big arcades)
- Cinemas (Luxurious, big, and insane)
- Rent a Yacht
- Desert Safari with Quads or Buggies
- Skydiving
- Rent most luxurious cars
- Shopping
- Gold Souk
Restaurants
Dubai has quite a few nice restaurants, and I will mention to you the most Iconic and best ones you should simply go to and experience if you are into “fine dining” and luxurious food.
Most of them I’ve been to myself and had at least a pleasant experience. Obviously, it’s a personal list, not including all restaurants in Dubai and following a little of my personal taste. No particular order.
- At.Mosphere Restaurant (Book only window seats)
- At.Mosphere Lounge (Different from the restaurant, nice to chill)
- 99 Sushi
- Galliard Downtown
- 3FILS
- Nathan Outlaw at Al Mahara
- La Perle
- Nusr-Et Steakhouse Dubai (Salt Bae Restaurant)
- Netsu by Ross Shonhan (Inside Mandarin Oriental, best Wagyu)
Flights
Flights are a big one and mostly not as cheap, especially when considering flying business class or first class. Therefore, I have booked multiple times and now partnered with Ralph Louis Junio from Ionlyflyfirstclass.
You can send him a DM saying you come from Kong or book your desired flights over his website.
When booking through him, you mostly pay just a fraction of the price and can pay with crypto.
How it works and how he can do that can explain to you in DMs, but I thought it would be nice to mention something you can save a few $ $$$ on.
Thank You!
Thank you guys for reading everything, and I hope this has and will help you plan your trip to Dubai.
I am always open for suggestions and will edit in the most useful and requested stuff :)
Please let me know in the comments if you like this format and if I should do more “Noob Guides” like setting up a company or buying real estate in Dubai.
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