After a hot 8 days in Uganda we were sad to leave but really excited to meet my little brother and sister in Dubai! The flight was smooth and we were ready to explore Dubai for the next couple days. So here are the highlights;
Hotel
When the taxi rocked up to this plush hotel La Verda Dubai marina Suites and Villas, a water fountain outside and neon purple lights we were so excited. We were greeted by a lovely concierge guy who took our luggage up to the room whilst we completed the paper work.
This was our first time staying in an apartment and it was so modern and spacious. It was really nice to be in one place and not have to leave a hotel room to go and knock on someone else’s door.
We had a balcony with a gorgeous marina view and being on the 10th floor meant the view was just perfect.
I cannot sing the praises of the hotel enough absolutely every member of staff was helpful and welcoming. Shout out to Mo! the helpful concierge and the tall door man that I didn’t get the name of
You will not regret staying here
Food/ Restaurants
Breakfast was dope! Fresh smoothies a choice of orange, pineapple, mango, guava, and apple. Cute little cereal pockets of natural granola to coco pops.
A range of the bits and bobs that complete the English fry up and even cultural foods such as fried rice were served complete with natural yogurts, coconut flavored yogurts and fresh fruits.
Dubai and America deffo have something in common when it comes to food portions. We we’re loving everything we ate at ;
We rolled out of there full but made sure we took away the cheesecake and it did not disappoint
OMD move over GBK this burger is as healhty and wholkseome as it gets
Our breakfast Spot
Convenient dinner
A great pizza and Pasta binge in the Mall get the Carbonara
Excursions
As we only had three days out there we agreed to do the following;
OMD the tour guide warned us not to eat a heavy breakfast but did we listen?
Great experience. You may feel a bit sick because the ride is a bit bumpy but its deffo worth doing because the desert is beautiful and the sand. Oh my days. It’s so soft and not dusty like the sand on some beaches.
This sand is golden (kind of like Michael Jackson Remember the Time” with the beautiful Iman as the queen. Yer that GOLD!
You then get offered a sprite which is great and helps settle your stomach. And you get to ride a camel. But you literally have to hold on tight when the camel stands and bends down to let you off. The jerk is intense. Its 100%like riding a rodeo for 2 seconds.
I stupidly fell off because I didn’t open my legs wide enough (cautious of my cute trousers. When I did what did my sister say “quick take a picture lol
Then we also got to try our sandboarding. i fell a few times but it was so much fun. You have to balance and be fearless and stay away from anything you might bump into lol
All together the excursion is about 4 hours and the driver will pick you up and drop you back to your hotel.
Atlantis Water Park and Aquarium
Ok so my brother is 15 so obvi his priority in Dubai is to pay the water park a visit. I could easily pretend that’s the only reason I went but I’m blatantly admitting that was mine too.
I’m totally a scardy cat but what I loved about this park is they have like over 8 rides which you can sit in a float with someone else, ( my sister), which means your’re not gonna get any of them slide scratches and it’s not scary because the other person is like comfort.
I have to applaud my mum who went on everything we did apart from one. She literally had the best time! We did both of our adrenaline fueled activities on her birthday bless her and she was so much fun!
You can also zip line or swim with dolphins but I’ve done both of those before so it was FULLY water park focused lol We took on Aquaconda, Shark Attack, Water Coasters to name a few. They were all so good!
To be absolutely honest if your not really into fish I wouldn’t recommend going to the aquarium. Ofcorse the fishes are stunning but the most mesmerizing tanks are the really big ones. There are about two in the aquarium and you can see them outside the aquarium as they are also in the hotel. So if your not with kids, on a budget or not a fish lover I’d skip that one. we did see Nemo though a few times…
Ps. The cheapest way to buy tickets is online or at the airport in Dubai they have a stand that has really good rates!
Also you get in free in your birthday!! ( mummy did)
You cannot visit Dubai and not come here, the beach is gorgeous. Even on a day where it was a bit chilly for a beach we were glad we went. Make sure you do!
Massage
Us girls cannot sing the praises of the massages enough. We had our treatments in the first week the spa was open and we all said it was the best treatments we had all ever had including my sister who is a beautician ( big boy complement).
Two of us had a sweetish message and my mum had a Lymphatic massage, which is great for draining lymphatic system, toxins waste, excess fluids and water retention, ( copied exactly from my sisters whats app message lol)
I’m sure I don’t event need to convince anyone to have a massage but just in case. It’s deffo a highlight
Shopping
We were a 7 minute walk away from the Marina Mall, It had all the high street shops from Pandora to Khiel’s and we bought Mummy her lively birthday watch from there too
Transport
The easiest way to travel for us was by registered taxi. It was nice to ride in a pink one as they were driven by women. The driving there is very fast so be sure to wear your seat belts but generally the drivers were safe.
You can ofcorse also use the metro we didn’t this time bit most things are within walkable distance. Jumeirah beach / strip is a 10 minute walk form the hotel and you have every restaurant dream over there you are so spoilt for choice
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