Back after a break - Dubai

I'm preggie now and I didn't quite like the thought of writing about food. But that still didn't stop me from going out for lunch / dinner. Due to my restricted liking (blaming it on my child), we used to go to the same place over and over again. Honestly, I was getting bored and we were thinking of making a trip somewhere close by, to make sure I get a break from my monotonous doctor visits and of course, thinking only about the baby.

We (me and hubby) were thinking of various options like Ooty, Kodaikanal, Kabini, etc., But I felt I could go to these places once the kid is born for a easy family holiday. Then we realised, we'v not made a single trip with my mil and we could go some where with her. She immediately said Dubai and the date was also fixed on the same day. Now it was all up to me to plan it all out. 

We were planning to go along with my sis-in-law's family and we decided we'll go for 3 days. I knew 2 night-3 days would be difficult, since there are so many things to see there. I was given complete freedom to plan what ever I wanted but with a budget in hand. I  first listed the things to see, keeping in mind the crowd that is going. Then I started searching for hotels to stay. 

We were 7 of us travelling in total. So I was looking out for 1 suite and a triple occupancy room or 2 double rooms and 1 triple occupancy room. I was very close to booking Grand Hyatt, as it seemed okay for the price they were charging. For the kind of hotels I was looking out for, it looked like I had to shell out minimum 12 - 13k per night per room. That would mean approximately Rs. 36k - 40k per night for our family. That's when I started searching for apartments. I wanted a 3 bedroom apartment and my first choice was Somerset / Ascott. The reason being, I had seen the rooms at Somerset in Chennai and quite liked it.

I searched the website for any of their [properties in Dubai and I narrowed it down to Ascott Park Place. I saw the layout of their 3 bedroom apartment and liked it. It felt like a spacious apartment, which measured approx 2300 sq ft. When I contacted them for details, they informed me that they would charge AED 1440 per night for the 7 of us, which included the breakfast as well. This seemed like a great deal (when compared to the hotels I was checking out) and also thrilled about the fact that we would all be staying together. I made my confirmation through online and booked it for 3 night stay.

While I was doing my booking, I had enquired about transportation from airport to the apartment. They gave me a costing of AED 230 per car. Since we were 7 of us, we would require 2 cars. While I was browsing through tripadvisor and checking through Google maps, I found that it would take AED 50 per car when I take the taxi from airport. So, I cancelled my transport option and just booked the room with breakfast option.


In the meanwhile, I had made a list of things to do at Dubai. We had narrowed it down to dining at Burj Al Arab, Ferrari World, Desert Safari, Dhow cruise and of course shopping :)


We wanted to stay at Atlantis after seeing the pictures online. So our 3 day trip was being extended to 5 days :D


I'll continue this post as to what I did at Dubai and my experience out there.