Dubai – 4 days of desert, beaches and boho vibes
Our actual destination this summer was Indonesia. However, in order to break up the long flight time a little and slowly get used to the time difference, we planned a stopover in the United Arab Emirates. 4 days in Dubai with a varied program of contrasts between beach and desert. And we’re always on the lookout for some good boho vibes.
Arrival on the Palm of Dubai
After a late arrival in Dubai, we spent the first night, which was admittedly very short, on the famousPalm Jumeirah. The hotel of our choice was the Sofitel Dubai The Palm Resort and Spa*. The room was spacious, the bed was super comfortable and we had a bathtub with a view. Yey. Just a perfect start to our vacation. After a hearty, delicious breakfast, we explored the extensive pool area. At the end of June it is low season in Dubai because of the heat so the hotel was pleasantly empty and we had the pools almost to ourselves. We coped well with the heat.
Boho vibes on the beach in Dubai
One of the main reasons for choosing the Sofitel Dubai The Palm was definitely the beautifully designed boho beach club with the adjoining Laguna Beach Taverna and Lounge* restaurant. The lovingly designed beach club in the hotel complex could have been beamed directly from Mykonos to the white beaches of Dubai. Mediterranean flair and boho vibes at its best! The perfect ambience to spend carefree hours, sip cocktails and swim in the sea.
Mandarin Oriental Dubai
For the second night, I fulfilled a little dream of my vision board at home. Among other things, there are pictures of dream travel destinations that we would like to tick off one by one and make come true in the future. One of these pictures shows the Mandarin Oriental Dubai*. Even if it is a rather atypical favorite hotel for us, because you won’t find any boho vibes here, it was one of the best stays of our lives.
The room was huge and each of our beds was big enough for two. We had everything we needed and more. There were so many loving and generous details, everything in the room had its justification and was well thought out. Rarely have I experienced such courteous service and such a feeling of luxury. Nevertheless, the vibe was relaxed throughout and not pretentious, otherwise we wouldn’t have felt so comfortable. Even tough this experence wasn’t exactly cheap, we felt like it was worth every penny and we will always look back with joy and gratidude for the wonderful stay.
The Sonara Camp in the Dubai desert
We were able to tick off another Visionboard goal the very next day. About 2 years earlier I had seen a TV program about the camp and since then I knew that one day I would go with Noah to the Sonara Camp in the desert of Dubai.
After changing hotels once again, we were picked up at our new accommodation by a driver from Sonara Camp. The trip took a good hour, but was interesting and informative. Our driver Mohammed told us a lot about Dubai and took a little sightseeing detour to the camel racetrack.
Sunset Experience
When we arrived at the camp, we were overwhelmed by the beauty of the scenery. The lovingly designed camp was set up in the middle of golden sand dunes in the Boho style . The Sunset Experience offers sofa lounge corners, a bar and lots of activities before the change of location to the dinner show. Until then, you can pass the time with camel rides, soft archery, a sunset photo shoot, sandboarding and volleyball. Or you can lounge around with cool drinks on cozy sofas in the breathtaking ambience while enjoying the sunset.
Dinner Experience
As soon as night falls over the Arabian desert, the evening program at Sonara Camp is opened in an atmospheric setting. We were led down into a huge open tent decorated with fairy lights. The tables for dinner were set up around the centrally located, round stage. A little off to the side was a corner for the children, with a movie theater under the stars, a craft corner and a campfire for roasting marshmallows. We enjoyed the peace and quiet of the low season. There were only eight other tables occupied and the setting was manageable, almost informal. I can’t estimate what the atmosphere is like when there are up to 200 guests in the camp each evening.
The icing on the cake was the little party in the end of the night. We danced barefoot in the desert sand to some great tunes whilst watching a little pyro show in the background. It simply was a magical and out of this world experience! We will never forget our evening at Sonara Camp and will always look back with joy and gratitude. Thank you Sonara team for the amazing evening!
Palm West Beach
After returning from the desert camp, we spent the night on the Dubai Jumeirah Palm again. The first night in Dubai we stayed on a palm leaf, this time we were based on the trunk. More precisely, on the promenade and entertainment mile along Palm West Beach. There are numerous restaurants and beach clubs around the area with plenty of night life. If you’re in the mood for partying, socializing and a good atmosphere, this is the place for you. The party goes until the early morning hours. However, if you don’t feel like joining the party, you’d better bring some earplugs and get on with the noise in the background. At least if you stay at the Radisson Beach Resort Palm Jumeirah* on a weekend. Apart from that the view from the corner rooms of the Dubai Marina skyline is truly spectacular. Also the hotel has got a great boho beach club right opposite on the white sandy beach along the promenade. However, the hotel and the whole area was a little too busy for us, so we moved again to a more quiet place for our last night in Dubai.
Park Hyatt on Dubai Creek
For our last night in Dubai before our onward journey, we moved on towards the airport. From the Park Hyatt on Dubai Creek, it’s just a short cab ride from the airport (we always booked our rides through the Careem app, worked great. Yalla!) . We chose the Park Hyatt because of its two great infinity pools with a fine sandy beach. One of them is quietly located at the end of the resort and is intended for families with children. The other pool is for adults only, with chilled lounge music and attentive pool service. One Pina Colada, please! Thank you very much. After all, what are good kids clubs for, right? Noah at least had a blast and didn’t want to leave the club when I picked him up after some relexed 2 hours at the adults only pool. Noah certainly enjoyed the afternoon at the kids’ club, while I treated myself to 2 child-free hours at the adult pool.
The Park Hyatt* is also beautifully designed away from the pools. White, Mediterranean houses with pink blooming burgainvilleas are reminiscent of Mykonos, while in other parts of the complex the style reminds you of Morocco. Even though the Park Hyatt is a bis hotel it spreads out nicely, is designed beautifully and feels homely. It was a fantastic place to spend your last night in Dubai and enjoy some pool time.
Burj Kahlifa, the Dubai Mall and the fountain show
Of course, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to go up to the viewing platform of highest building in the world. We booked the tickets* for the Burj Khalifa a few weeks before the trip, as we wanted the sunset slot, which is the most popular. This is why it is often no longer available on the day itself. In the huge and impressive Dubai Mall, we were able to collect our tickets from the ticket office and were directed straight to the elevators from there. In no time at all we were up on the 125th floor. 125. Floor to the visitor platform. If you’re prepared to dig a little deeper into your pockets, you can also buy tickets* for a visit to the 148th edition. floor. The view is great and the experience of standing so high up in a building is really impressive. We totally think the visit was worthwhile.
If you are already at the Burj and the Dubai Mall, you should not miss the evening fountain show directly in front of the Dubai Mall. The spectacle takes place every half hour from 6 pm in the evenings. You can watch the show either from the shore or on the lagoon during a leisurely boat trip*. However, we didn’t have the time or leisure for shopping in the mall, so after a walk along the Dubai Fountain we went back to the hotel.
We spent our last morning lazing around the beautiful infinity pool at the Park Hyatt Hotel before heading off to the airport.
Dubai was interesting, culturally diverse, completely over the top, breathtaking, ecologically questionable, authentic, artificial, loud, quiet, beautiful, impressive, modern, traditional and simply a lot, sometimes too much. We did enjoy and appreciate the time and the experience.
Nevertheless, Dubai will only remain a stopover for us in the future and will probably never become our actual final destination to spend our holidays there, You can read how our trip continued from Dubai in my posts about Nusa Lembongan, Bali and Singapore.
