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Published: October 16th 2016
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Day two for the Big bus trip, and as George is feeling better, we make a very early start today.
When we checked into the hotel they gave us details of a free bus service that they offer. We asked at the time if we needed to book to use this service and they advised No, just turn up five minutes before departure time. You would think this should be very straightforward in a four star hotel.
So the information sheet the hotel gave us listed a bus to Dubai Mall leaving at 9am each morning. At 8.45am we arrive at reception. As the concierge is busy we approached the reception desk to ask where to go for this bus. We were asked if we had booked, but we advised that they had told us no need to book. And so from this point, the saga reveals it’s ugly self. So far this week, we have encountered some rather shoddy customer service in our hotel. This will be added to an appropriate online review.
Over the next 20 minutes 5 or 6 people approached us to ask what we actually wanted, and each time we showed them the
schedule for the buses. It seems that we should have booked, but we were wrongly informed. They all seem really interested in our room number too, so we are going to check our bill carefully to make sure they do not charge us for this supposed free trip.
Eventually, at about 9.15 a minibus arrives and we head out to Dubai Mall to start our day.
Firstly today, we take the green beach route bus which takes us along the Jumeriah Beach Road and up the Palm. There is lots of construction around in all of these areas, so it is difficult to see what is already there and what the new buildings will actually look like. Another few years and we are sure it will look really great.
We change at Mall of the Emirates onto the blue Marina bus which takes us around the Dubai Marina. Although we have already been around here on the Tram, the bus takes us to some of the more hidden areas. Again, there is a lot of construction still going on, but at least here, it looks like they are very nearly finished.
Back at Mall of the
Emirates, we head to Shamiana again for lunch. We both like the simplistic tasty Indian food they provide here. Even better that we can use an Entertainer voucher here with yet another buy one main meal, get one free.
We had planned to get back onto the green bus back to Dubai Mall, but figured that we would be better getting the metro back from here. We have shopping to get, and the walk to the metro from here is a lot shorter than it is in Dubai Mall.
We could not decide where to go for dinner tonight. Then we remembered seeing a Soho Grill just down the road from the hotel and found that we had an Entertainer voucher for it. It is a little more expensive than some the restaurants that we have been going to. BBQ chicken for Theresa and a hearty ribeye steak for George 115 AED (about £25) is a really good price. One of the best meals we have had during the holiday.
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Kath
non-member comment
Day 9
Shame you were misinformed re the bus but you made the most of your day as usual. Food looked nice both made a good choice BUT Georges steak looked sooooo good and that would have been my choice.