Новый год в Дубае New Year in Dubai

I lived at the Eurika Hotel from 12/27/2011 to 01/02/2012. I was aware that this is a modest hotel after reading all the reviews, so there were no disappointments. I have been traveling to the UAE for a long time, because of the beach holidays I always took Sharjah 4 *, but I wanted to live in Dubai, see everything newly built: Burj Khalifa, metro, fountains.
Cost of the trip: Transaero business class flight there, economy return, visa, tour - 21000, a good price, taking into account the New Year holidays.
Hotel: modest, but everything for life is there: clean, tidy, cleaning, change of linen every day. By the time I arrived from the beach, my room was always cleaned (with or without a tip, no difference). I didn't see any horror. In the room: electronic safe, TV, hair dryer. There is no tea set, take kettles.

Food: I liked it: healthy food, nothing harmful, always fresh, hot, replenished on time. For breakfast, very good coffee is brewed, oatmeal or rice porridge with milk, a second course, jam, honey, toast. At lunch, amazingly delicious cream soups, different every day, one salad (there was even a vinaigrette), meat or fish, tea and coffee at lunch, for a fee. Rice is very tasty in the UAE: crumbly, rice grains are long, snow-white, in our stores they sell some kind of everything broken.
Beach: the bus at 8-30 starts landing, takes away only a full bus to the city beach in Al Mamzar Park. Therefore, the exact time of departure varies. Usually makes 2 flights. The entrance to the park is 5 dirhams. The park is huge and well maintained. Clean toilets, clean, no smells. There are no changing rooms. On weekends, many local people come to relax with their families, they bring meat, coal, places for barbecues and barbecues are equipped in the park. The beach is huge, you can choose the lagoon to your liking. About the sea: as elsewhere in the UAE: clean, warm, salty, gradual setting, there were small waves, I love the Arabian Sea.
The staff at the hotel: quite friendly, did not see anything bad. Do not walk with stone faces, smile, say hello, you are resting, a few words in English will never hurt.
Excursions: most of the excursions I took before more than once. This time - a safari to the desert, everything went fine according to the usual scheme: arrival, riding on the dunes, a photo against the backdrop of sunset, did not ride quad bikes, then tea, coffee, sweets, I liked the Falafel sandwich - these were snacks . The people are dark. Tourists from everywhere - Korea, Italy, India, Britain, Georgia, there are plenty of locals (they also need to rest somewhere). Arabic dances, of course, performed by girls from the post-Soviet space, I really liked how the spinning men danced in skirts, in a variety of ways, with objects, with illuminated clothes - a bewitching sight. Well, the buffet also pleased - delicious and women, as before, without a queue.

Dubai: I liked everything: a modern, clean metro, we went to the Dubai Mall to see the Burj Khalifa and the fountain show. The ticket was taken from the cashier in the gold class, the first carriage with leather seats. The car is divided by a door into 2 halves - the second half is for women, if you do not want to ride with men. We drove back in a simple class - the seats were occupied, one was free and the Indian standing next to me pointed to him and said to sit down. In general, the attitude towards a woman is pleasing, often in supermarkets at the checkout the cashier invited the men standing closer to come forward. A lot has been written about Burj Khalifa and fountains, I won’t repeat it - it’s gorgeous, worthy of respect. They went to the Al Karama market, from fake brands of very good quality Louis Vueton bags, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, etc. Prices are 5-10 thousand, probably it will be less when bargaining, I don’t know, because didn't buy them. Car parking - under houses, houses on columns. There are several parking lots inside the quarter, signs are with the distance to them. Pedestrian crossings are paved with tiles and raised above the level of the road and are a continuation of the level of the sidewalk. Thus, a kind of speed bump is formed and cars do not run into a red light on a zebra, and a pedestrian does not step down onto the road (as we do in the rain in an ankle-deep puddle). Everything is for people, a lot has already been written about air-conditioned stops. Otherwise, we walked around the city, ate and drank in cafes, the atmosphere is idle, warm, there are a lot of people on the streets until 2 am, shops, cafes, restaurants are open. From the restaurants we chose the Golden Fork, Avtomatik, Safadi. I really liked the restaurant "Damascus", a little further than Al Riggi, prices are lower, delicious, amazing hot hollow buns inside, which a special person added to the basket as they were eaten.
New Year: celebrated at the Marco Polo Hotel, cost $150. DJ, dancing, drinks, alcohol, show program (girls danced), several competitions. The buffet was very plentiful, tasty, varied, a lot of meat, hot and cold snacks, seafood, the most delicate desserts, watermelon, melon, fruit, strawberry smoothies in thin cups, everything was beautifully served. The waiters, young Indians, made me laugh: next to me, a couple ordered two white wines: they brought two shots of vodka, they told him it was not right, they repeated: two wines, leaves, brings... two glasses of vodka. They brought our waitress girl, she fixed everything. Stereotypes.
Much has been written about shopping malls, I will not repeat it. not far from Al-Rigga metro station there is a good Indian supermarket, I bought obligatory dates there. In the City Center I bought a kilogram of arugula and mint for only 80 r, they sell not on frail yellow substrates like ours, but in tied bundles - a penny, it doesn’t grow there either, why is it so expensive here? Another Australian mango - overeat, I also like their pistachios, not salty, but poured with lemon juice.
There were no questions to the host side of the Royal Park - they brought it, they took it away on time.