How many people get to say they wake up to this. It’s literally a dream come true.
I started my last morning in Dubai at one of my favourite places in any hotel - the spa. The B/Attitude Spa was open to all GH guests and had all the usual facilities – sauna, jacuzzi, steam room, experience showers, and heated relaxation chairs. There was also a Turkish Hanmam area which was open but I couldn’t figure out how to operate it. Perhaps it was only used for treatments. The ambience had an Asian Buddha theme and the dim lights made it very relaxing.
After the spa, we went for breakfast down at the main restaurant. I know I could have went to the lounge but I still wanted to see. The spread was pretty good, much better than the Conrad Dubai, and it even had a station for custom Eggs Benedict. The choices were mostly Western and Arabic. I later realized this reflected the demographic of the hotel, which was mostly British families on holiday. Unlike Al Maha, there were not a lot of Chinese people here.
I had a pretty light breakfast because we were heading over to the beach right after. It had been cloudy for most of the trip in Dubai, so we were delighted to see it finally clear up.
The temperature was perfect, just barely itching past 30 degrees. This was one of those days where we could just lie down, relax, and enjoy the slow pace of life on vacation. I did end up taking a dip in one of the 3 pools on the beach. Very refreshing.
This place is truly amazing.
After a really nice morning on the beach, we went back to the executive lounge for lunch.
The lunch spread was quite good, with the eggplant pasta being the highlight. I went back for seconds and thirds. After lunch, we went on a short walking tour of the Dubai Marina, with a guide from the hotel. She told us about the development of the area and some highlights of the architecture. The beautiful Cayan building is an icon here and the second tallest twisted building in the world (behind the Shanghai tower).
After the tour, we were greeted with cold towels and bottles of water. By now we had already checked out; however, since our flight was at 1am, we could stay for dinner and use the spa facilities before leaving. This meant we basically had two days (and five meals) at the hotel for the price of one. Before dinner, we took a walk down the nearby JBR area (Jeremiah Beach Residence). This area is kind of like the Beverly Hills of Dubai, lined with exotic cars, high end hotels, and luxury shopping. There was also a public beach area which had a big focus on fitness.
Walking along JBR, I could see people from all different cultures – Caucasian, Indian, East Asian, and Arabic. It was a microcosm of Dubai and made me realize this is what society could be like when everyone just gets along. 90% of Dubai is made up of foreigners from all of the world – yet they are still able to respect the culture and tradition of the Emirati people while welcoming in and taking influence from everywhere else. While there are definitely issues that are kept hidden from tourists, it was still a pleasant environment to be in and appreciate.
Once the sun had set, we went back to our favourite place, the executive lounge, for dinner.
We enjoyed some mocktails with our dinner, which the staff graciously refilled several times. I also printed out our European boarding passes for later in the trip. 5K iMacs were a nice touch for the business centre.
We went to the spa to take a shower and freshen up before we finally said goodbye to GH.
Normally suites guests get a private BMW 7 Series transfer to Dubai Airport, but since we were upgraded and didn’t pay for it, we would have to go the old fashioned way – by metro. This wasn't a big deal since it was a short walk to the station and a direct link to the Airport. The marina at night was very beautiful. What a fantastic five days in Dubai. This place definitely left an impression on me and I’ll certainly be back.
