A little bit of luxury

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Whenever we had an icy cold shower or no shower at all, or got leg cramps from using squat toilets, James and I would say just one word: ‘Jumeirah’. The hotel was intended to be our little slice of luxury on this trip. It turned out to be a massive wedge of indulgence!

We left our hostel and headed for the airport (reason: free pickup by the hotel only available from the airport, and it was cheaper to get a taxi to the airport than to the hotel). Once there we met our driver who loaded our gear into our transfer car, a top of the line Mercedes van. We sat quite happily on our leather seats, adjusted our headrests and started reading the complimentary newspapers.

It took us about 30 minutes to get to our new accommodation, the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. Leaving our bags for the porters to deal with (so different already), we headed to the reception desk. After giving our names, we were asked to take a seat and wait to meet someone who would escort us to the Executive Lounge for check in. We had to wait a full 30 seconds before that person arrived. Smooth. Normally, guests check in at the front desk but because we booked an Executive package (which actually worked out cheaper, strangely) we were treated to an even fancier check in desk. Actually, we were seated at a window overlooking the beach. Oh, and the Burj al Arab. While our paperwork was being processed, we were served freshly squeezed watermelon juice and allowed access to the breakfast buffet. Smoked salmon, cheese, fresh fruit and muffins. Lovely. We also got to use the complimentary laptops while we waited, which we used to shoot off a quick email to our families.

Because we arrived at the hotel before the allotted check-in time (which we had planned), we were given a mobile phone so they could call us when the room was ready, and a beach pass which allowed us to visit the destination we (James) had been dreaming about ever since he had heard of it: Wild Wadi. We took the elevator to the 2nd floor, grabbed our swimmers (the porter gave us a fancy Jumeirah bag to put them in), and headed to the Basement. This gave us access to change rooms and lockers. We stored our gear, grabbed Jumeirah towels, then headed straight to the waterslide park.

Wild Wadi has about 20 waterslides or water based rides, including a massive wave pool. The rides we were most interested in, however, we the interconnecting uphill waterslides. Twelve waterslides, all linked to each other (i.e. go on one, land in a pool, then float to the next slide) which you use an inflatable tube to ride. Water is pumped through jets which then propel the tube and rider up the waterslide. So much fun.

We only went on a few slides on this particular visit as we planned to go to the Mall of the Emirates in the afternoon. We headed back into the change rooms to have a shower, but when I checked the phone there were a few missed calls from the Exec Lounge saying our room was ready. Yay!

We headed back up and were escorted to our room. Jeepers - it was huge. King size bed, lounge, desk, coffee table, armchairs. Our mouths were agape. The hotel staff member gave us a tour of the room facilities then left us. First thing we did (as we do in all fancy hotel rooms) was rip off our shoes and jump on the bed. Second thing we did was investigate every little corner of the room. Then the bathroom. The bathroom was twice the size of the one in our apartment (for those of you who have visited) and came complete with a bidet and rubber ducky. Oh, and those lovely complimentary things hotels like to give you: shampoo, conditioner, soap, bath gel, moisturiser, sunscreen, lip balm, mouthwash, emery board, loofah mitt and more. We opened the cupboard outside the bathroom and there were not only Jumeirah slippers and robes but also Jumeirah beach thongs and a Jumeirah canvas beach bag. Cool!

We didn’t spend long playing with our new toys though, as we had to catch the shuttle to Mall of the Emirates. Now don’t get confused. James was not willingly going to a shopping mall just to shop. He was there to go to Ski Dubai. I was a bit nervous (as the first and only time I had skied was nine years ago), but with James at my side and with the new gloves he bought as a bribe, we headed into our lesson. Our ski instructor was an unenthusiastic guy with a lack of teaching ability and or vocal chords. James and I spent most of our time listening to other instructors or just trying it ourselves. I am proud to say that neither of us fell over. At least on the ski runs. James fell over when trying to take his skis off.

We were quite hungry by the time we were finished, so we headed up to the food court. It was like being back in Australia, specifically Parramatta Westfield. All the major food chains plus your generic Thai, Chinese, Indian and fish & chips shops. We chose Thai - it wasn’t too bad. Then the part that every girl loves: shopping. We started out with window shopping as the stores that we first walked past had names like Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, Gucci, Guess, Lacoste and Ralph Lauren.We actually got up the courage to walk into stores once we started recognising the words ‘Sale’ and ‘50% Off’. I discovered a store where all the clothes fit me and I loved all of them. Unfortunately, this is a European brand so I won’t be able to get any more once I get back to Oz. With this in mind, I made several carefully selected purchases. James was so patient. He did still have a snowboard session to go to so I guess he did see some light at the end of the tunnel.

With the skiing, snowboarding and shopping we managed to spend eight hours in the shopping centre. And we probably could have spent longer but the last shuttle to the hotel left at 9.15pm. Once back at the hotel, we discovered that our room had been tidied (James was very embarrassed that he had not tidied it before the housekeeping people got there), and that we had received a bottle of champagne, a Christmas card, a bowl of fresh fruit and three boxes of chocolates. Could get used to this. we spent a while on the phone to my family (it was 5am Christmas morning) catching up and sharing stories- it made me just a little bit homesick. After speaking to them for just under an hour, we showered and changed into our fanciest clothes (some of which were purchased that afternoon - I mean, we could go out in our safari gear could we?!) and headed downstairs. The Jumeirah Beach Hotel is part of the hotel chain that owns the Burj al Arab so while the plebs (I’m so going to get hate mail for that one) have to pay to visit the world’s only 7 star hotel, we got to go for free.

From our hotel we caught a golf buggy to the entrance of the Burj (which said with an Australian accent does not make it sound fancy at all). The place is extravagant. Big clue: Ferraris, Rolls Royce’s and Bentleys parked out front. We walked in and James said this massive 'Wow!'. In the foyer was a big fountain, with lots of gold leaf all over it. Actually, there was gold and gold leaf on pretty much everything we saw. And no, it didn’t look too tacky. When you stand in the goyer and look up you can see all the way up the centre of the Burj. The suites (no rooms in this hotel, just two story suites complete with library and your own butler) are built around the outside. So very fancy. So very not us!

We went to the very top floor for cocktails - I had a Dubai Star (Christmas mulled wine) and Blue Cheese (Roquefort cheese, vodka and lavender) while James had a Kiwi and Mint Collins (like a Tom Collins but with Kiwi and Mint) and a Kosak (vodka and lime shaken with raspberry and topped up with ginger beer). I would just like to point out now that spelling mistakes are not just the domain of tiny little shops in Africa and Egypt. The menu at this seven star hotel's cocktail bar actually had a spelling mistake! I'm such a librarian! It may have actually been the highlight of my evening...well, almost. We drank our cocktails, spending the time swiveling our heads between watching the view of Dubai at night and watching the people who were also spending their Christmas Eve at the Skyview Lounge. Before we left the lounge, we both used the bathroom. Again, very fancy but the standout thing worth mentioning was that they had complimentary (love that word) Hermes perfume for patrons. Pretty.

By the time we headed back to our hotel it was about 1.30am. We were still on a bit of a buzz so we headed to the Uptown Bar for another drink and Christmas tapas. No Mum, we were not on a bar crawl. We only went to two. You need to go to three to make it a crawl (does the free champagne in our room count?). Finally we caught the lift down to our floor and discovered a Christmas bag filled goodies hanging on our door (all containing sugar). Back in our room we ordered room service and watched a terrible movie until 4am, then decided that we had made the most of our day and it was time to sleep.

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Photos

Check out our fancy bathroom!
Hot shower, flushing toilet and a rubber ducky! What more could anyone want? How about a bidet? Yes, there was one of those too.

James checking our emails on the television
Novelty!!

Little bit of Christmas
Our Christmas card from the hotel and our Mini Nativity Scene from Bolivia

Looking up - Foyer of Burj al Arab
The centre of the Burj al Arab is hollow with the suites on the sides of the hotel

Comments

[John W]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!
Hey guys ive just caught up to date with all your posts, its like some cool fantasy movie, with mount sanai and the gorillas and the pyramids! Jinkies I hope your both well, and am looking forward to your slide night when you return!! see you later God Bless