5 Things That Surprised Me About Dubai

Dubai is an exciting, fascinating Middle Eastern city-state that has gained a worldwide reputation as a luxury travel destination. I had an amazing adventure there but there were a few things that surprised me about Dubai. 

The first thing that surprised me about Dubai was that it’s a beach resort. It’s kind of the Hawaii of Europe and Russia, as far as a tropical beach destination. Not just a beach resort, Dubai offers miles of powdery white sand beach with shallow, warm aquamarine water just inviting you to swim. Many of Dubai’s hotels are beachfront resorts with their own private beach areas, cabanas and waiter service.

With virtually no crime, Dubai is great because you can feel safe, everywhere, anytime. You can wear jewelry or a fancy watch with no fear of theft. You can leave the keys in your Lamborghini when you visit a store and the car will be there when you come out. You will see families out walking at 3 am (sometimes the only cool part of the day) without fear of anything. Something that really shocked me was as I walked out to the beach at my hotel, I walked past all the sun loungers. As I walked, I began to see purses, wallets, phones, left on the towels of most of those sun loungers. First I saw it as an oddity, then I saw the majority of people leave their valuables in plain sight on their towel as they swim or go in the sea. Petty theft just doesn’t happen.

Like Las Vegas, Dubai has a branch of pretty much every famous restaurant in the world and also has restaurants helmed by every one of the world’s top Michelin-starred chefs. Ramsay, Robuchon, Savoy, Ducasse, Puck, etc., they all have restaurants in Dubai.

My favorite Dubai foodie restaurant is Social by Heinz Beck, located inside the Waldorf Astoria Palm Jumeirah. Chef Beck is most famous for his restaurant in Rome, La Pergola, which holds three Michelin stars. Social provides a modern and playful take on authentic Italian cuisine and is a delicious experience.

Then of course you have the delicious, local Arabic cuisine, available at many locations, both inside the resort hotels and just out on the streets. Dubai has embraced the food truck scene with several locations hosting trucks. There are even four food truck parks with a selection of the city’s best street food on a semi-permanent basis.

Of course Dubai has world-class shopping from every top luxury brand, but there are so many fun things to do. No visit would be complete without a trip to the top of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. After that, how about feeding some sharks at the Dubai Aquarium or doing some indoor snowboarding at Ski Dubai. Next try parasailing or take a jeep safari out onto the desert sands.

As someone from the Jewish faith, I was welcomed warmly and really enjoyed my visit. Our group included people from all faiths and we all felt very welcome. To learn more about Islam and how people in Dubai worship, I visited the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding, which offers visitors and locals a destination that showcases and educates about local culture, customs and religion.

Dubai is not a country, it’s city-state within the country of the United Arab Emirates. Emirates has direct flights into DXB from most major US cities and the Dubai airport is also served by most major international carriers. You can also fly Etihad (or other carriers) into AUH in Abu Dhabi, it’s about an hour from downtown Dubai.

The DoubleTree Dubai Jumeirah Beach is right on the sand and was originally built as a luxury apartment building. The rooms and suites are huge and feel very residential. It faces the Dubai Eye and is right at the end of Dubai Walk making it easy to walk to all the attractions in the area.

For a more luxurious experience, I like the Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah, located at the tip of one of the “fronds” of the amazing Palm Jumeirah development. For an exclusive, ultra-luxury experience in Downtown Dubai, with great views of the Burj Khalifa, I like the Shangri-La Dubai. It’s a haven of Asian hospitality in this Arabic metropolis.

Check out Freddy Sherman’s YouTube channel and follow him on Instagram @luxuryfred.