Lodging in Bur Dubai
This item appears on page 30 of the June 2014 issue.
During our 4-day stay in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in April 2013 prior to a cruise, my husband, Ed, and I chose the Bur Dubai area for lodging, rather than the other historic area of Deira, because of its access to many of the attractions we wanted to visit.
We found three interesting hotels in the Bur Dubai area: Arabian Courtyard Hotel & Spa (Al Fahidi Street, Bur Dubai, P.O. Box 46500, Dubai, UAE; phone +971 4 3519111, fax 3517744), Orient Guest House and XVA Art Hotel. All three were located in the heart of the Bastakiya heritage area.
We chose the Arabian Courtyard Hotel & Spa, which charged the very reasonable price of AED596 (near $162) per night for our room on the concierge floor. Included were airport/hotel transfers, free WiFi, breakfast, nonalcoholic beverages throughout the day, and evening happy hour with alcoholic beverages and hors d’oeuvres.
The staff was fluent in English and extremely helpful. There was a moderately equipped exercise room with a swimming pool and hot tub (showing signs of wear and tear) on the upper floor. There was also a nice selection of restaurants inside the hotel.
The hotel’s location was superb, directly across from the Dubai Museum and the Grand Mosque. Dubai Creek, one block from the front of the hotel, was filled with dhows giving rides to visitors. Slightly bigger water taxis called abras ferried locals and tourists across the creek.
We checked out the other two hotels and found them to be charming. The Orient Guest House has a wonderfully exotic spot for dinner, while the XVA Art Hotel is nice for lunch. We learned that guests at the Orient have access to the pool and facilities at the Arabian Courtyard, a sister hotel.
NANCY J. NORBERG
Charleston, SC