Your rating of this hotel:
9.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms:
8.0
Service:
10.0
Cleanliness:
10.0
Food:
10.0
Amenities:
10.0
I want to share my impressions about the rest in Dubai and the Gloria Hotel Media City 4*.
Airline
I’ll start my review with the fact that we flew with Flydubai (FlyDubai), which we, of course, really regretted, but there was no other choice, since other airlines temporarily stopped flights to the emirates due to the end of the season. The ticket was for 11 days and 10 nights, but we lost 2 days, because we arrived on May 15 at 21-00, and flew out on May 25 at 5-30. Who flies from Samara and other cities, I want to say that this airline does not provide food, which, as it turned out, is quite important if you are flying with a child, so you can make sandwiches at home, put them in your hand luggage and calmly go through customs. You will feel comfortable stay not only in the waiting room, but also on the plane. By the way, this also applies to water. The husband stated that the liquid should not exceed 100 ml, and we had small bottles of water with us 0.
5 liters and we went to the waiting room without any words from the customs officers. So feel free to take water and food. You need to take something with you, because you arrive at the airport in 3 hours, plus they can delay the flight (as in our case, a delay of 1 hour) plus 4.5 hours of flight and 1.5 hours of retinal scanning at customs in the UAE. And I also want to say about one thing: the weight of one suitcase should not exceed 32 kg if you are flying together with one suitcase. For those who do not want to bother with food, everything can be purchased on the plane. For example, a sandwich, cola and chips will cost 30 dirhams with our money a little less than 300 rubles.
Customs clearance in the UAE
We flew exactly 4.5 hours. After landing, we went to undergo a retinal scan. All this is done very slowly and took about 1.5 hours, because there were a lot of people who arrived at the same time.
Transfer
After many hours of torment on the plane and at customs, having taken our suitcases, we joyfully went out. And then our first adventure began. Our tour company was Natalie Tour. And, of course, at the exit, we began to look for signs, plates with the logo of our tour company. But, alas, nothing was found. Standing at the exit of the airport purely by chance, or maybe not, an Arab ran up to us. Asking for the name of our travel agency, he quickly ran inside the airport without saying anything. After that, after 2-3 minutes, a guy came out with a group of tourists and some kind of A4 piece of paper on the subject of Natalie Tour, led people to the bus. And then an Arab familiar to us jumped out. Having whistled to us, they say, follow this representative, and we are pleased that our tour operator was found and went for everyone. Sitting on the bus, they began to list the hotels where everyone would be taken. And what a surprise we were that our hotel is not on this list. Then it turned out that we got on the wrong bus.
Thank God that a Russian-speaking guide ran up and taxied out the situation. We were taken to another bus. We were the first in it. And as it turned out, many people were late for a retinal scan, and since we were the first, signs with the sign of Natalie Tour were not put up. So being the first and the last is not good enough. In our example, unnecessary experiences. And finally, we set off on our long-awaited vacation and the Gloria Hotel Media City 4*. The road took about 40 minutes, but it seemed to us very quickly, as we admired Dubai at night.
Language
Knowledge of languages in this country is very important, and if you do not speak it, be sure to take a dictionary with you. On the trip, it was very useful for us when placing, buying bags, jewelry, even with medical insurance which we used (I will also write about this). Or write prepared proposals on pieces of paper (for example, place us on a high floor - as we also did).
This makes communication easier. Very few staff speak Russian, more precisely, one Russian-speaking girl, Rita, who provided us with great help. She answered all the questions about the hotel, about shopping, about buying a fur coat and helped me in providing medical care, although this is not part of her duties.
Accommodation
At the reception we were greeted well, but there are some comments. Since we had a large group of 5 adults and one child (3 rooms), we asked to be placed on the same floor and preferably high. But, unfortunately, it was not possible to accommodate in this way (maybe, of course, there really weren’t 3 rooms on the same floor, maybe they didn’t want to). We were placed at 36.30, 29 floors, fulfilling our second wish. We were very pleased with this, as the road noise is not heard on the higher floors.
Rooms
The apartments are great, they have everything except the stove. We used the microwave and that was fine with us. The rooms differed only in view and furniture.
If you want a view of the hotel sail and the sea, then take numbers from 19 and descending (example: our room was 3619-36 floor room 19 or 3519 will also have a view of the sea, but only the floor will be 35) Everything is clean. They clean every day, change linen every day, bring water every day, in general, everything in the hotels is super. The only thing in two rooms was the furniture, a little older than in the third (almost new in it) and in the kitchen, where the trash can, when you open the set, there was an unpleasant smell, but when it is closed, you can’t feel it at all, otherwise there were no comments
Nutrition.
Our package only included breakfast. We had breakfast at the restaurant on the 8th floor. Breakfast is excellent, although a bit repetitive. Lots of fruits, various omelettes, yogurts, muffins, etc. Pay attention to the jars on top, where fruits and sausages are, there are various sweets that you can also take, however, we noticed them on the last day of our stay.
As for the food subscriptions that other tourists wrote about in the reviews, they have long been gone. Therefore, in the evening we went to the supermarket, picked up food and were satisfied and full. The pricing policy in supermarkets is affordable, but compared to Samara it is a little expensive. I would also advise you to take smoked or raw smoked sausage from home, 3 sticks (there are none there) and have a snack at lunch. It helped us a lot. After the sea, eat a boutique, drink fresh juice and run to the malls for shopping.
Persian Gulf.
The transfer goes to the sea 2 times a day. At 9-00 to the free beach of Jumeirah, back at 13-00. At 10-00 to the paid beach of Jumeirah, back at 14-00. You need to sign up for any beach at the reception (when viewed from the side of the elevator, then the registration is carried out at the leftmost counter, if viewed from the entrance to the hotel, then this is the counter on the rightmost side near the glass walls). If you have not signed up, then you will go to the beach by taxi.
There, in this regard, it is strict, the availability of seats on the bus is carried out according to the list of those who have signed up. Of course, you may be lucky and there will be places, but it's better not to risk it. I'll tell you first about the paid beach, the transfer of which leaves the hotel at 10-00. There is one nuance here. On Wednesdays and Sundays, access to this beach is closed for men, as Arab women swim there. Drive to the beach for about 30 minutes. The entrance to the beach is 5 dirhams, you can not take umbrellas, as there are palm trees on the beach, under which you can hide from the scorching sun. Be sure to take a sunscreen with a factor of 50, there it simply cannot be replaced. Here, unnoticed by you, it is very easy to burn out, especially for skin that is not prepared for tanning (if you have not gone to the solarium before). The entrance to the sea is good, but we liked the free beach better. Not because it is free, but because it is better for children to enter the sea there. But there are downsides here too.
There are very few fungi, we had to take the fungus faster than anyone, although most of us were by the sea, but still the fungus helped out a lot. If you are traveling with a child, be sure to take an umbrella with you, even if it is not very large (or buy it in the mall). Playing with the baby in the sand, we put an umbrella so that the child would not get burned. And I want to say, despite the fact that we put an umbrella, put on a T-shirt for the child, smeared with a cream with a factor of 50, the child still tanned.
Underground.
To comfortably move around Dubai, it is better to use the metro. Firstly, it is cheaper than by taxi, and secondly, it is much more interesting. You can get a metro map at a small counter next to the reception (as you enter the hotel, the counter is on the right side). Before the trip, you need to purchase a silver card (silver card) which costs 20 dirhams and these 20 dirhams are already credited to it.
If you are traveling with a man on the subway, make sure that it is mixed before getting into the carriage, as there are specially women's carriages, gold class carriages (only for rich Arabs) and mixed carriages for everyone. 90% of the people on the subway are men and don't expect a seat to be vacated as the men have a high status there. The fare varies depending on the distance of the trip, the further you go, the more expensive your fare. When the money on the card runs out, the card is replenished either through the machine, or where you purchased the card.
Buying a fur coat in the UAE
For our family, this is the first vacation in which it was necessary not only to melt in the sun, swim in the sea and relax, but also to purchase a good fur coat. Before the trip, I went around all the shops with fur coats and naturally began to distinguish between the Chinese quality of the skin from the Greek quality of the skin, the technology of sewing fur products.
Reading various reviews, I thought I was fully prepared to find and buy a fur coat. In fact, everything turned out not quite so. All trading floors with fur coats are located at the metro station BANIYAS SQUARE (former Nasser Square) green line. Coming out of the subway, a crowd of kamaks fell upon us, one might say, people who have a percentage of the purchase of a fur coat. That is, this person takes you to various outlets, offering you a variety of fur coats, and the sellers, seeing that you did not come alone, immediately put the cost of his services into the fur coat. Even if the camak himself tells you that all his running around and providing assistance in purchasing a fur coat is 20 dollars, DO NOT BELIEVE. The cost of his services varies almost 500-800 dollars, or even higher. And if suddenly you decide to return the fur coat, for some reason (most often these are holes), then naturally not the entire amount will be returned to you.
Leaving one kamak, we were surrounded by another and it was simply unbearable, it gave the impression that you were in the market with gypsies. One kamak even said such a phrase to the address that how is it so a Russian tourist without a fur coat, so such excuses as: they came to see, take a walk, that fur coats do not interest us, no longer works. But, despite this, the first thing we did was visit the EGO salon, which is located right behind the metro. The quality of the fur coats in this salon is very pleasing, but the pricing policy and the availability of the size and style that I really wanted were not there. And we wanted to buy two fur coats, a light mink for my sister-in-law, and I would like to buy a fur coat 110 cm long, with a hood, fitted, and of course an interesting model. And in EGO there was neither my size nor the desired length, in general, one frustration. Then we went to ABRAGE CENTER.
And after walking through the first 3 floors, I realized that 90% of China is hanging, I can’t understand why they call it a Scandinavian mink, without recognizing the obvious Chinese quality. Opening the hems of fur coats, the presence of obvious holes in the skin of 2 ml is striking, this indicates that the skins are stretched. I understand that there are technologies: First, traces of labeling of raw materials. Buyers of raw fur, before handing over the goods for dressing, mark it with a special brand, consisting of many needles. This is done in order to avoid possible substitution of skins and to mark one batch of goods. Secondly, when processing raw materials, the skins are put on special rules, and in the rump part they are clogged with carnations for stretching. Thirdly, holes that have arisen during the technological operation are very common - 'editing the fur cut'. At different industries, dressing is done either manually with pegs or with the help of an air gun.
After straightening the product, holes remain along the entire vertical seam of the product. The presence of holes does not lead to a decrease in the wear of the product and is not a marriage. But I've never seen holes like that. On this day, we looked at very few fur coats, because, entering any section, he ran after us, but it was that CAMAC was watching. And we decided to return to the hotel. The next day, we decided to consult the Russian-speaking girl Rita in the hotels about buying a fur coat, and she signed us up for a transfer to the FUR PLANET. My personal opinion about this salon is that there is nothing to do there. But for a change, or if you know little about fur, you may need to go there to see and understand the quality of fur, tailoring technology. Since it is very easy to distinguish China from Greece there. On the second floor, fur coats are not expensive and, accordingly, Chinese with a very long axis, although the sellers assured that this was a Scandinavian mink.
On the ground floor, fur coats are more expensive, you can find good quality, but from the models I saw on the skins there were a lot of small, and sometimes not quite small holes. As for the light mink, looking at it visually, it cast some kind of blue. After looking through the skin, the owner of this salon even approached me, began to find out with a claim why I was looking at the skins of fur coats. It also says something. Most of the fur coats are sewn with a dissolution, I didn’t want a fur coat with such technology, because if the fur coat is sewn poorly, it will spread. To the holes I saw, to light mink with dissolution technology, the sellers replied that they sewed fur coats by machine. But if the fur coats are new and the holes are 1 cm each, what will happen next? The sellers were silent. And we again disappointed went to the hotel. After 3 days we again decided to go to Nasser Square, but already prepared.
Sitting in the subway, a fellow traveler talked to my husband's sister, called himself Jumbo, from Uzbekistan. Not knowing the purpose of our trip, he kindly told us where and what we could buy. My sister-in-law, after asking about everything that interests us, switched to the topic of buying a fur coat, and then he took out a small mink skin, and I immediately realized that it was a kamak. He began to ask how much money they were talking about, but then she was not at a loss and said that she had only 50 thousand rubles, that the money was close, that we were leaving soon, and that she wanted a light mink coat for this money (and about my coveted fur coat, we didn't say a word. ) Jumbo replied that all this is real, that for this money we will even buy a real Greek fur coat, although we understood that this was simply not possible on such a budget. But, despite this, we followed him, deciding to just look at his “Greek fur coats”. He took us for two hours in different sections, China was everywhere, in principle, this is not surprising.
And then we turned to him, and where are the fur coats of good quality, to compare the fur, to know for the future when we save up and return again, since with our sum of 50 thousand you can’t buy anything, and then he reluctantly took us to TWIN TOWER. Arriving at the 1st section, we were delighted, but, having made an emphasis on our 50 thousand, they soon left, saying goodbye to the kamak and promising to come back in six months. Well, finally we are alone, which we have been waiting for. We did not go along the TWIN TOWER with him, so no one knew us, and we went into the sections alone. Of course, China also came across here, but in the bulk of the skins were good, stuffed. After going through 2 floors, I started to get nervous, since there were no small sizes. And then, having lost hope, I went into the FOKOS section on the 2nd floor (bags, suits and other nonsense were on the 1st floor, fur coats were on the 2nd floor). We were met by 2 pleasant sociable girls. They began to offer various options and here is a miracle !!! ! I saw my dream.
It was a fur coat 120 cm long (although I wanted 110 cm, but when I put on this one, I immediately changed my mind), with a chic lynx hood, fitted as I wanted, slits on the sides, with good quality fur. But then I was in for a shock, the price! The price of this fur coat was about 8 thousand dollars, I had eyes on my forehead, a complete frustration, in general, I did not have that kind of money for a fur coat. Looking at my husband, I realized that the dream of a quality fur coat was slipping through my fingers. Responsive sellers, saying that the owner would definitely drop in price, called the director of this salon. The name of this wonderful person is PANAYOTIS. After talking with the sellers, Mr. Panaetis gave me a good discount of 5.8 thousand dollars, but I still didn’t have the necessary amount in my pocket, and I asked to talk to the director myself. I was ready for anything, even to work as a kamak in his salon, if only he would sell me this fur coat for the amount I needed.
Of course, they gave us a discount, but not for the amount that the sister-in-law had in her wallet. And she frustrated went to the room. But the next day, she went to this salon by the already familiar path, as if to her home, and acquired a white coat of excellent quality for the amount of $ 4.000 instead of the previously declared $ 7.000. Thanks again to Mr. PANAYOTIS for the opportunity to purchase not expensive, but high-quality fur products. Naturally, I don’t want it to look like an advertisement, I’m just writing this review for tourists like me, realizing that not every family can afford to purchase a high-quality fur product, and if such an opportunity arises and every penny counts, I don’t want to be deceived kamak and instead of the long-awaited Greek fur coat, get a Chinese replacement. And one more piece of advice, be sure to personally talk with the director of the salon, this greatly increases the chance of a good discount.
Even if the sellers resist this, insist on your own. Here, in our case, the sellers did not think that Panagiotis would be so inferior in price, but as it turned out, the director reduced the initial cost and sold these fur coats to us. For those who are interested, I will try to explain where the TWIN TOWER is located. As you exit the subway, immediately follow the subway, cross the road, seeing the inscription of the EGO salon on the right side, then you are going in the right direction. Pass EGO, pass BRASHI and go further along the sidewalk 400-500 meters along AL Maktoum Road, and opposite there will be a building with glass doors, (i. e. you need to cross the road) go there and go up to the second floor. In extreme cases, ask passers-by, just be careful not to get caught by a kamaku. Better yet, look at the Google map.
TWIN TOWER: 2nd floor, shop no. : 210-V Mob. : +97.50 6521777
Abrazh Center: b-floor, shop no. 604 Tel. fax: +97.4 2220434, mob. : +9715.6521777
Sheikh Latifa Building G-floor, shop no. : 6 Tel. : +97.
4 2280184 Nasser Square, Deira, Dubai-UAE
Factory: 33 km Kozani-Kastoria Agia Kyriaki Kaloneriou 50.00 Siatista. Greece Tel. 003.24650 71033 Fax. 003.24650 71301 Web: www. fokosfurs. com E-mail: fokos@eim. ae
If you decide to come in, say hello and many thanks to him from Yulia from Samara, I think he remembered me well with my persuasion and requests, tell me about my fur coat with a lynx hood, and a white fur coat with a sable hood, he will remember, and an additional discount will be provided.
Shopping for bags, watches, glasses and various souvenirs.
If you want to buy not expensive souvenirs, a high-quality branded bag or a fake fashion watch, then feel free to go to the AL KARAMA souk fake market. Coming out of the metro, go straight across the road, take a little to the left and, without turning, walk 200-300 meters, in front of you there will be a narrow street between houses and you need to go straight along it. Here you will see another, poor Dubai with its gray colors. Get to the road. After crossing it, you will see many different sections, this is the market.
Souvenirs here are 3 or even 4 times cheaper than in the Dubai Mall, but of course you need to bargain here too. The more you take, the bigger your discount. Here we bought various Dubai-themed T-shirts, magnets, a glass Burj Khalifa and other knick-knacks. Also in this market, my sister-in-law bought a copy of the Stella McCartney branded bag for $ 90, we saw the same one in the Dubai Mall for 40 thousand rubles, though the original. Initially, the seller asked for 130 dollars or 140, I don’t remember exactly, as a result I gave it for 90. I also liked the handbag, but I decided not to take it, thinking that I would buy it cheaper through joint purchases. I very much regretted this decision. Firstly, there is no such bag in Samara, and secondly, it costs 5 thousand rubles through the online store, instead of 2.5 in Dubai. So if you like something feel free to bargain to a minimum and take it. When shopping, we were often called to a secret store. We couldn't understand what was going on.
Either it's an interesting store name, or it's some kind of hoax. We decided to go, fear, of course, we suffered, but as it turned out, everything was safe. Without a man, I still wouldn’t go, because 3-4 Arabs run into this secret room and start showing you bags, copies of branded watches, cell phones. Well, it's up to you to decide whether to go there or not. In principle, it is very safe in Dubai, since for any violations there are serious consequences and even the death penalty (if it is rape). Therefore, in this Arab country, you can safely walk without men. If you want to buy fashion glasses with rhinestones or watches with swarovski crystals then you need to go to Dubai Mall. Here, in the huge aisles between the sections, they sell jewelry, beautiful glasses and watches, of course, discounts are also present here. Here I bought glasses for 1300.00 and a watch for 1500.00 with Swarovski crystals, you simply cannot find such exclusive models in Samara.
I also want to write about one little-known ABU HAIL center. It is located at the ABU HAIL metro station, of course it is far from the center, but there is also something to see here. In Dubai, we realized one thing, the less well-known shopping center, the cheaper you can buy something. In this center, I bought myself a pair of shoes for 25 dirhams on sale, that is, about 250 rubles per pair, I bought elite jewelry: a ring - 25 dirhams, chic earrings - 50 dirhams. Here, too, we had to bargain. But for the most part, Abaya, the national dress of Arab women, is sold in this center. What kind of dresses are there, transparent guipure, velvet, almost all are decorated with rhinestones. On the 2nd floor of this center there is an inexpensive eatery where we went to have a bite to eat. It looked awful, but the food was delicious. Here, inexpensive fresh juices for 6.8 dirhams and like our shawarma 10 dirhams, only tastier.
We also wanted to stop by the OASIS shopping center, which is located between 26 Business Bay and 29 Noor Islamic bank metro stations, but, alas, there was not enough time.
Tours
I’ll start with where you need to go, of course, the singing fountains, then see the Marina embankment, go to Abu Dhabi, and it seemed very interesting for us to visit the WILD WADI Aqua Park, located next to the Jumeirah beach opposite the sail hotel (the view is gorgeous). As for the singing fountains, they start at 19-00 and the performance lasts about 3 minutes (1 piece of music), but if time permits, wait until 20-00. Very beautiful illumination not only of the fountain, but of everything near Manhattan. It takes very nice pictures. If you go to look at the Marina, there is also a wonderful view, modern buildings, a spinning hotel (it does not noticeably turn around for tourists in a week). Everything will be very interesting.
In our hotel Gloria at the entrance there is a stand with small brochures and advertisements, it turns out these are small discounts. Digging through my bag, I found 3 pieces and they gave us an additional discount of 90 dirhams (1 brochure represents a discount of 30 dirhams). And we went inside. In this park, if you need a locker where you want to leave your things, you need to pay 40 dirhams. But we did not use this service, since there were 6 of us, there was someone to look after the bags. Although everyone leaves things on the sun loungers and runs away to the rides. If you come in, and the sun loungers are occupied (mostly they are occupied by the children's pool), do not be discouraged, go up higher, you will see a bunch of empty seats. We did not know this and waited a long time for someone to leave, and when we ran along the hills we saw a bunch of free sun loungers.
There is a wonderful complex for children, a pool with artificial waves, where very warm water is maintained and if you have a child with you, then he will not forget this visit for a long time. As for adults. This park has a lot of extreme, and for me personally, very scary water slides. It is better to go to all these entertainments in pairs, since on some slides one person is not planted, and you have to wait a long time for your partner to ride. In the water park there is even such a slide, where the water does not flow from top to bottom, but, on the contrary, from bottom to top. But I want to warn you, if you are old or have a bad heart, it is better not to risk it. At least after two water rides, I was even speechless. (a slide with free fall and a slide on large cheesecakes, where at least 2 people are seated).
But, despite all the fear and a lot of people, we were delighted, and still the first thing we remember about our vacation, we feel joy at the thought of the WILD WADI Water Park. If we succeed again, relax in Dubai, we will definitely visit this fun and extreme water park again. And one more thing at the entrance there are posters that video and photography are prohibited. It is not possible and necessary to take pictures in the park, at least we and other tourists did it.
Insurance case.
Another very not unimportant moment as insurance, which I unfortunately had to use. Swimming in the sea, I accidentally stumbled upon a piece of shell, which entered my big toe with a splinter. Crying out in pain and looking at the leg, I saw part of a fragment of a shell. Despite the fact that I immediately pulled out this splinter, my finger began to hurt and throb.
Arriving at the hotel room and examining my wound, I realized that part of the fragment from the shell remained in my finger. Having tried to get rid of the splinter on my own, I aggravated the situation by the fact that it only went even deeper into the finger. The pain was getting stronger, the finger was very swollen. It was necessary to urgently take measures, and, having read advice from the Internet, I began to soar my leg in furacilin, treat it with hydrogen peroxide, smear it with iodine, but there was no success. The next day, my finger was already shocked, and I turned to a pleasant girl, Rita, at our hotel. She advised me to use the services of a nurse for free, and if she cannot help, then I need to go to the hospital. And if you call a doctor in the room, firstly it will cost money, and secondly, he will not be able to do anything and will also send you to the hospital. Thank you very much Rita for the advice, she was right. Naturally, I agreed to see the nurse.
But when, having picked my finger, a young Filipina (a nurse at the hotels called her Grace) did not find anything, I realized I needed to go to the hospital. Calling Moscow for insurance, I explained the whole situation, to which I was offered to call the doctor's room, but I refused, because Rita warned me about this and I felt that the fragment was very deep and that I already needed to cut the pillow of my finger in order to pull it out. The agent from the insurance company said that our insurance had a deductible of $40, so I pay $40 for the first appointment and the insurance company pays the rest. Naturally, I said ok, there is nowhere to go. After 30 min. I received a text message on my cell phone telling me which hospital to go to and which doctor to see. It turned out to be Hospital International, an emergency medical service. From our hotel to the hospital in a taxi fare cost 55 dirhams. After sitting in line for 30 minutes, I was invited for an inspection.
I wish you all a pleasant holiday. I hope my review will help you, dear tourists. Of course, I will be pleased if my advice is useful to someone, and you are not too lazy, and write your reviews and comments about it. If you have any questions please email. xr25@mail address. ru I will try to answer.
P. S. : Next time I'm on vacation in Dubai, I will definitely choose this wonderful hotel with pleasant staff and polite guests.
Airline
I’ll start my review with the fact that we flew with Flydubai (FlyDubai), which we, of course, really regretted, but there was no other choice, since other airlines temporarily stopped flights to the emirates due to the end of the season. The ticket was for 11 days and 10 nights, but we lost 2 days, because we arrived on May 15 at 21-00, and flew out on May 25 at 5-30. Who flies from Samara and other cities, I want to say that this airline does not provide food, which, as it turned out, is quite important if you are flying with a child, so you can make sandwiches at home, put them in your hand luggage and calmly go through customs. You will feel comfortable stay not only in the waiting room, but also on the plane. By the way, this also applies to water. The husband stated that the liquid should not exceed 100 ml, and we had small bottles of water with us 0.
5 liters and we went to the waiting room without any words from the customs officers. So feel free to take water and food. You need to take something with you, because you arrive at the airport in 3 hours, plus they can delay the flight (as in our case, a delay of 1 hour) plus 4.5 hours of flight and 1.5 hours of retinal scanning at customs in the UAE. And I also want to say about one thing: the weight of one suitcase should not exceed 32 kg if you are flying together with one suitcase. For those who do not want to bother with food, everything can be purchased on the plane. For example, a sandwich, cola and chips will cost 30 dirhams with our money a little less than 300 rubles.
Customs clearance in the UAE
We flew exactly 4.5 hours. After landing, we went to undergo a retinal scan. All this is done very slowly and took about 1.5 hours, because there were a lot of people who arrived at the same time.
Transfer
After many hours of torment on the plane and at customs, having taken our suitcases, we joyfully went out. And then our first adventure began. Our tour company was Natalie Tour. And, of course, at the exit, we began to look for signs, plates with the logo of our tour company. But, alas, nothing was found. Standing at the exit of the airport purely by chance, or maybe not, an Arab ran up to us. Asking for the name of our travel agency, he quickly ran inside the airport without saying anything. After that, after 2-3 minutes, a guy came out with a group of tourists and some kind of A4 piece of paper on the subject of Natalie Tour, led people to the bus. And then an Arab familiar to us jumped out. Having whistled to us, they say, follow this representative, and we are pleased that our tour operator was found and went for everyone. Sitting on the bus, they began to list the hotels where everyone would be taken. And what a surprise we were that our hotel is not on this list. Then it turned out that we got on the wrong bus.
Thank God that a Russian-speaking guide ran up and taxied out the situation. We were taken to another bus. We were the first in it. And as it turned out, many people were late for a retinal scan, and since we were the first, signs with the sign of Natalie Tour were not put up. So being the first and the last is not good enough. In our example, unnecessary experiences. And finally, we set off on our long-awaited vacation and the Gloria Hotel Media City 4*. The road took about 40 minutes, but it seemed to us very quickly, as we admired Dubai at night.
Language
Knowledge of languages in this country is very important, and if you do not speak it, be sure to take a dictionary with you. On the trip, it was very useful for us when placing, buying bags, jewelry, even with medical insurance which we used (I will also write about this). Or write prepared proposals on pieces of paper (for example, place us on a high floor - as we also did).
This makes communication easier. Very few staff speak Russian, more precisely, one Russian-speaking girl, Rita, who provided us with great help. She answered all the questions about the hotel, about shopping, about buying a fur coat and helped me in providing medical care, although this is not part of her duties.
Accommodation
At the reception we were greeted well, but there are some comments. Since we had a large group of 5 adults and one child (3 rooms), we asked to be placed on the same floor and preferably high. But, unfortunately, it was not possible to accommodate in this way (maybe, of course, there really weren’t 3 rooms on the same floor, maybe they didn’t want to). We were placed at 36.30, 29 floors, fulfilling our second wish. We were very pleased with this, as the road noise is not heard on the higher floors.
Rooms
The apartments are great, they have everything except the stove. We used the microwave and that was fine with us. The rooms differed only in view and furniture.
If you want a view of the hotel sail and the sea, then take numbers from 19 and descending (example: our room was 3619-36 floor room 19 or 3519 will also have a view of the sea, but only the floor will be 35) Everything is clean. They clean every day, change linen every day, bring water every day, in general, everything in the hotels is super. The only thing in two rooms was the furniture, a little older than in the third (almost new in it) and in the kitchen, where the trash can, when you open the set, there was an unpleasant smell, but when it is closed, you can’t feel it at all, otherwise there were no comments
Nutrition.
Our package only included breakfast. We had breakfast at the restaurant on the 8th floor. Breakfast is excellent, although a bit repetitive. Lots of fruits, various omelettes, yogurts, muffins, etc. Pay attention to the jars on top, where fruits and sausages are, there are various sweets that you can also take, however, we noticed them on the last day of our stay.
As for the food subscriptions that other tourists wrote about in the reviews, they have long been gone. Therefore, in the evening we went to the supermarket, picked up food and were satisfied and full. The pricing policy in supermarkets is affordable, but compared to Samara it is a little expensive. I would also advise you to take smoked or raw smoked sausage from home, 3 sticks (there are none there) and have a snack at lunch. It helped us a lot. After the sea, eat a boutique, drink fresh juice and run to the malls for shopping.
Persian Gulf.
The transfer goes to the sea 2 times a day. At 9-00 to the free beach of Jumeirah, back at 13-00. At 10-00 to the paid beach of Jumeirah, back at 14-00. You need to sign up for any beach at the reception (when viewed from the side of the elevator, then the registration is carried out at the leftmost counter, if viewed from the entrance to the hotel, then this is the counter on the rightmost side near the glass walls). If you have not signed up, then you will go to the beach by taxi.
There, in this regard, it is strict, the availability of seats on the bus is carried out according to the list of those who have signed up. Of course, you may be lucky and there will be places, but it's better not to risk it. I'll tell you first about the paid beach, the transfer of which leaves the hotel at 10-00. There is one nuance here. On Wednesdays and Sundays, access to this beach is closed for men, as Arab women swim there. Drive to the beach for about 30 minutes. The entrance to the beach is 5 dirhams, you can not take umbrellas, as there are palm trees on the beach, under which you can hide from the scorching sun. Be sure to take a sunscreen with a factor of 50, there it simply cannot be replaced. Here, unnoticed by you, it is very easy to burn out, especially for skin that is not prepared for tanning (if you have not gone to the solarium before). The entrance to the sea is good, but we liked the free beach better. Not because it is free, but because it is better for children to enter the sea there. But there are downsides here too.
There are very few fungi, we had to take the fungus faster than anyone, although most of us were by the sea, but still the fungus helped out a lot. If you are traveling with a child, be sure to take an umbrella with you, even if it is not very large (or buy it in the mall). Playing with the baby in the sand, we put an umbrella so that the child would not get burned. And I want to say, despite the fact that we put an umbrella, put on a T-shirt for the child, smeared with a cream with a factor of 50, the child still tanned.
Underground.
To comfortably move around Dubai, it is better to use the metro. Firstly, it is cheaper than by taxi, and secondly, it is much more interesting. You can get a metro map at a small counter next to the reception (as you enter the hotel, the counter is on the right side). Before the trip, you need to purchase a silver card (silver card) which costs 20 dirhams and these 20 dirhams are already credited to it.
If you are traveling with a man on the subway, make sure that it is mixed before getting into the carriage, as there are specially women's carriages, gold class carriages (only for rich Arabs) and mixed carriages for everyone. 90% of the people on the subway are men and don't expect a seat to be vacated as the men have a high status there. The fare varies depending on the distance of the trip, the further you go, the more expensive your fare. When the money on the card runs out, the card is replenished either through the machine, or where you purchased the card.
Buying a fur coat in the UAE
For our family, this is the first vacation in which it was necessary not only to melt in the sun, swim in the sea and relax, but also to purchase a good fur coat. Before the trip, I went around all the shops with fur coats and naturally began to distinguish between the Chinese quality of the skin from the Greek quality of the skin, the technology of sewing fur products.
Reading various reviews, I thought I was fully prepared to find and buy a fur coat. In fact, everything turned out not quite so. All trading floors with fur coats are located at the metro station BANIYAS SQUARE (former Nasser Square) green line. Coming out of the subway, a crowd of kamaks fell upon us, one might say, people who have a percentage of the purchase of a fur coat. That is, this person takes you to various outlets, offering you a variety of fur coats, and the sellers, seeing that you did not come alone, immediately put the cost of his services into the fur coat. Even if the camak himself tells you that all his running around and providing assistance in purchasing a fur coat is 20 dollars, DO NOT BELIEVE. The cost of his services varies almost 500-800 dollars, or even higher. And if suddenly you decide to return the fur coat, for some reason (most often these are holes), then naturally not the entire amount will be returned to you.
Leaving one kamak, we were surrounded by another and it was simply unbearable, it gave the impression that you were in the market with gypsies. One kamak even said such a phrase to the address that how is it so a Russian tourist without a fur coat, so such excuses as: they came to see, take a walk, that fur coats do not interest us, no longer works. But, despite this, the first thing we did was visit the EGO salon, which is located right behind the metro. The quality of the fur coats in this salon is very pleasing, but the pricing policy and the availability of the size and style that I really wanted were not there. And we wanted to buy two fur coats, a light mink for my sister-in-law, and I would like to buy a fur coat 110 cm long, with a hood, fitted, and of course an interesting model. And in EGO there was neither my size nor the desired length, in general, one frustration. Then we went to ABRAGE CENTER.
And after walking through the first 3 floors, I realized that 90% of China is hanging, I can’t understand why they call it a Scandinavian mink, without recognizing the obvious Chinese quality. Opening the hems of fur coats, the presence of obvious holes in the skin of 2 ml is striking, this indicates that the skins are stretched. I understand that there are technologies: First, traces of labeling of raw materials. Buyers of raw fur, before handing over the goods for dressing, mark it with a special brand, consisting of many needles. This is done in order to avoid possible substitution of skins and to mark one batch of goods. Secondly, when processing raw materials, the skins are put on special rules, and in the rump part they are clogged with carnations for stretching. Thirdly, holes that have arisen during the technological operation are very common - 'editing the fur cut'. At different industries, dressing is done either manually with pegs or with the help of an air gun.
After straightening the product, holes remain along the entire vertical seam of the product. The presence of holes does not lead to a decrease in the wear of the product and is not a marriage. But I've never seen holes like that. On this day, we looked at very few fur coats, because, entering any section, he ran after us, but it was that CAMAC was watching. And we decided to return to the hotel. The next day, we decided to consult the Russian-speaking girl Rita in the hotels about buying a fur coat, and she signed us up for a transfer to the FUR PLANET. My personal opinion about this salon is that there is nothing to do there. But for a change, or if you know little about fur, you may need to go there to see and understand the quality of fur, tailoring technology. Since it is very easy to distinguish China from Greece there. On the second floor, fur coats are not expensive and, accordingly, Chinese with a very long axis, although the sellers assured that this was a Scandinavian mink.
On the ground floor, fur coats are more expensive, you can find good quality, but from the models I saw on the skins there were a lot of small, and sometimes not quite small holes. As for the light mink, looking at it visually, it cast some kind of blue. After looking through the skin, the owner of this salon even approached me, began to find out with a claim why I was looking at the skins of fur coats. It also says something. Most of the fur coats are sewn with a dissolution, I didn’t want a fur coat with such technology, because if the fur coat is sewn poorly, it will spread. To the holes I saw, to light mink with dissolution technology, the sellers replied that they sewed fur coats by machine. But if the fur coats are new and the holes are 1 cm each, what will happen next? The sellers were silent. And we again disappointed went to the hotel. After 3 days we again decided to go to Nasser Square, but already prepared.
Sitting in the subway, a fellow traveler talked to my husband's sister, called himself Jumbo, from Uzbekistan. Not knowing the purpose of our trip, he kindly told us where and what we could buy. My sister-in-law, after asking about everything that interests us, switched to the topic of buying a fur coat, and then he took out a small mink skin, and I immediately realized that it was a kamak. He began to ask how much money they were talking about, but then she was not at a loss and said that she had only 50 thousand rubles, that the money was close, that we were leaving soon, and that she wanted a light mink coat for this money (and about my coveted fur coat, we didn't say a word. ) Jumbo replied that all this is real, that for this money we will even buy a real Greek fur coat, although we understood that this was simply not possible on such a budget. But, despite this, we followed him, deciding to just look at his “Greek fur coats”. He took us for two hours in different sections, China was everywhere, in principle, this is not surprising.
And then we turned to him, and where are the fur coats of good quality, to compare the fur, to know for the future when we save up and return again, since with our sum of 50 thousand you can’t buy anything, and then he reluctantly took us to TWIN TOWER. Arriving at the 1st section, we were delighted, but, having made an emphasis on our 50 thousand, they soon left, saying goodbye to the kamak and promising to come back in six months. Well, finally we are alone, which we have been waiting for. We did not go along the TWIN TOWER with him, so no one knew us, and we went into the sections alone. Of course, China also came across here, but in the bulk of the skins were good, stuffed. After going through 2 floors, I started to get nervous, since there were no small sizes. And then, having lost hope, I went into the FOKOS section on the 2nd floor (bags, suits and other nonsense were on the 1st floor, fur coats were on the 2nd floor). We were met by 2 pleasant sociable girls. They began to offer various options and here is a miracle !!! ! I saw my dream.
It was a fur coat 120 cm long (although I wanted 110 cm, but when I put on this one, I immediately changed my mind), with a chic lynx hood, fitted as I wanted, slits on the sides, with good quality fur. But then I was in for a shock, the price! The price of this fur coat was about 8 thousand dollars, I had eyes on my forehead, a complete frustration, in general, I did not have that kind of money for a fur coat. Looking at my husband, I realized that the dream of a quality fur coat was slipping through my fingers. Responsive sellers, saying that the owner would definitely drop in price, called the director of this salon. The name of this wonderful person is PANAYOTIS. After talking with the sellers, Mr. Panaetis gave me a good discount of 5.8 thousand dollars, but I still didn’t have the necessary amount in my pocket, and I asked to talk to the director myself. I was ready for anything, even to work as a kamak in his salon, if only he would sell me this fur coat for the amount I needed.
Of course, they gave us a discount, but not for the amount that the sister-in-law had in her wallet. And she frustrated went to the room. But the next day, she went to this salon by the already familiar path, as if to her home, and acquired a white coat of excellent quality for the amount of $ 4.000 instead of the previously declared $ 7.000. Thanks again to Mr. PANAYOTIS for the opportunity to purchase not expensive, but high-quality fur products. Naturally, I don’t want it to look like an advertisement, I’m just writing this review for tourists like me, realizing that not every family can afford to purchase a high-quality fur product, and if such an opportunity arises and every penny counts, I don’t want to be deceived kamak and instead of the long-awaited Greek fur coat, get a Chinese replacement. And one more piece of advice, be sure to personally talk with the director of the salon, this greatly increases the chance of a good discount.
Even if the sellers resist this, insist on your own. Here, in our case, the sellers did not think that Panagiotis would be so inferior in price, but as it turned out, the director reduced the initial cost and sold these fur coats to us. For those who are interested, I will try to explain where the TWIN TOWER is located. As you exit the subway, immediately follow the subway, cross the road, seeing the inscription of the EGO salon on the right side, then you are going in the right direction. Pass EGO, pass BRASHI and go further along the sidewalk 400-500 meters along AL Maktoum Road, and opposite there will be a building with glass doors, (i. e. you need to cross the road) go there and go up to the second floor. In extreme cases, ask passers-by, just be careful not to get caught by a kamaku. Better yet, look at the Google map.
TWIN TOWER: 2nd floor, shop no. : 210-V Mob. : +97.50 6521777
Abrazh Center: b-floor, shop no. 604 Tel. fax: +97.4 2220434, mob. : +9715.6521777
Sheikh Latifa Building G-floor, shop no. : 6 Tel. : +97.
4 2280184 Nasser Square, Deira, Dubai-UAE
Factory: 33 km Kozani-Kastoria Agia Kyriaki Kaloneriou 50.00 Siatista. Greece Tel. 003.24650 71033 Fax. 003.24650 71301 Web: www. fokosfurs. com E-mail: fokos@eim. ae
If you decide to come in, say hello and many thanks to him from Yulia from Samara, I think he remembered me well with my persuasion and requests, tell me about my fur coat with a lynx hood, and a white fur coat with a sable hood, he will remember, and an additional discount will be provided.
Shopping for bags, watches, glasses and various souvenirs.
If you want to buy not expensive souvenirs, a high-quality branded bag or a fake fashion watch, then feel free to go to the AL KARAMA souk fake market. Coming out of the metro, go straight across the road, take a little to the left and, without turning, walk 200-300 meters, in front of you there will be a narrow street between houses and you need to go straight along it. Here you will see another, poor Dubai with its gray colors. Get to the road. After crossing it, you will see many different sections, this is the market.
Souvenirs here are 3 or even 4 times cheaper than in the Dubai Mall, but of course you need to bargain here too. The more you take, the bigger your discount. Here we bought various Dubai-themed T-shirts, magnets, a glass Burj Khalifa and other knick-knacks. Also in this market, my sister-in-law bought a copy of the Stella McCartney branded bag for $ 90, we saw the same one in the Dubai Mall for 40 thousand rubles, though the original. Initially, the seller asked for 130 dollars or 140, I don’t remember exactly, as a result I gave it for 90. I also liked the handbag, but I decided not to take it, thinking that I would buy it cheaper through joint purchases. I very much regretted this decision. Firstly, there is no such bag in Samara, and secondly, it costs 5 thousand rubles through the online store, instead of 2.5 in Dubai. So if you like something feel free to bargain to a minimum and take it. When shopping, we were often called to a secret store. We couldn't understand what was going on.
Either it's an interesting store name, or it's some kind of hoax. We decided to go, fear, of course, we suffered, but as it turned out, everything was safe. Without a man, I still wouldn’t go, because 3-4 Arabs run into this secret room and start showing you bags, copies of branded watches, cell phones. Well, it's up to you to decide whether to go there or not. In principle, it is very safe in Dubai, since for any violations there are serious consequences and even the death penalty (if it is rape). Therefore, in this Arab country, you can safely walk without men. If you want to buy fashion glasses with rhinestones or watches with swarovski crystals then you need to go to Dubai Mall. Here, in the huge aisles between the sections, they sell jewelry, beautiful glasses and watches, of course, discounts are also present here. Here I bought glasses for 1300.00 and a watch for 1500.00 with Swarovski crystals, you simply cannot find such exclusive models in Samara.
I also want to write about one little-known ABU HAIL center. It is located at the ABU HAIL metro station, of course it is far from the center, but there is also something to see here. In Dubai, we realized one thing, the less well-known shopping center, the cheaper you can buy something. In this center, I bought myself a pair of shoes for 25 dirhams on sale, that is, about 250 rubles per pair, I bought elite jewelry: a ring - 25 dirhams, chic earrings - 50 dirhams. Here, too, we had to bargain. But for the most part, Abaya, the national dress of Arab women, is sold in this center. What kind of dresses are there, transparent guipure, velvet, almost all are decorated with rhinestones. On the 2nd floor of this center there is an inexpensive eatery where we went to have a bite to eat. It looked awful, but the food was delicious. Here, inexpensive fresh juices for 6.8 dirhams and like our shawarma 10 dirhams, only tastier.
We also wanted to stop by the OASIS shopping center, which is located between 26 Business Bay and 29 Noor Islamic bank metro stations, but, alas, there was not enough time.
Tours
I’ll start with where you need to go, of course, the singing fountains, then see the Marina embankment, go to Abu Dhabi, and it seemed very interesting for us to visit the WILD WADI Aqua Park, located next to the Jumeirah beach opposite the sail hotel (the view is gorgeous). As for the singing fountains, they start at 19-00 and the performance lasts about 3 minutes (1 piece of music), but if time permits, wait until 20-00. Very beautiful illumination not only of the fountain, but of everything near Manhattan. It takes very nice pictures. If you go to look at the Marina, there is also a wonderful view, modern buildings, a spinning hotel (it does not noticeably turn around for tourists in a week). Everything will be very interesting.
In our hotel Gloria at the entrance there is a stand with small brochures and advertisements, it turns out these are small discounts. Digging through my bag, I found 3 pieces and they gave us an additional discount of 90 dirhams (1 brochure represents a discount of 30 dirhams). And we went inside. In this park, if you need a locker where you want to leave your things, you need to pay 40 dirhams. But we did not use this service, since there were 6 of us, there was someone to look after the bags. Although everyone leaves things on the sun loungers and runs away to the rides. If you come in, and the sun loungers are occupied (mostly they are occupied by the children's pool), do not be discouraged, go up higher, you will see a bunch of empty seats. We did not know this and waited a long time for someone to leave, and when we ran along the hills we saw a bunch of free sun loungers.
There is a wonderful complex for children, a pool with artificial waves, where very warm water is maintained and if you have a child with you, then he will not forget this visit for a long time. As for adults. This park has a lot of extreme, and for me personally, very scary water slides. It is better to go to all these entertainments in pairs, since on some slides one person is not planted, and you have to wait a long time for your partner to ride. In the water park there is even such a slide, where the water does not flow from top to bottom, but, on the contrary, from bottom to top. But I want to warn you, if you are old or have a bad heart, it is better not to risk it. At least after two water rides, I was even speechless. (a slide with free fall and a slide on large cheesecakes, where at least 2 people are seated).
But, despite all the fear and a lot of people, we were delighted, and still the first thing we remember about our vacation, we feel joy at the thought of the WILD WADI Water Park. If we succeed again, relax in Dubai, we will definitely visit this fun and extreme water park again. And one more thing at the entrance there are posters that video and photography are prohibited. It is not possible and necessary to take pictures in the park, at least we and other tourists did it.
Insurance case.
Another very not unimportant moment as insurance, which I unfortunately had to use. Swimming in the sea, I accidentally stumbled upon a piece of shell, which entered my big toe with a splinter. Crying out in pain and looking at the leg, I saw part of a fragment of a shell. Despite the fact that I immediately pulled out this splinter, my finger began to hurt and throb.
Arriving at the hotel room and examining my wound, I realized that part of the fragment from the shell remained in my finger. Having tried to get rid of the splinter on my own, I aggravated the situation by the fact that it only went even deeper into the finger. The pain was getting stronger, the finger was very swollen. It was necessary to urgently take measures, and, having read advice from the Internet, I began to soar my leg in furacilin, treat it with hydrogen peroxide, smear it with iodine, but there was no success. The next day, my finger was already shocked, and I turned to a pleasant girl, Rita, at our hotel. She advised me to use the services of a nurse for free, and if she cannot help, then I need to go to the hospital. And if you call a doctor in the room, firstly it will cost money, and secondly, he will not be able to do anything and will also send you to the hospital. Thank you very much Rita for the advice, she was right. Naturally, I agreed to see the nurse.
But when, having picked my finger, a young Filipina (a nurse at the hotels called her Grace) did not find anything, I realized I needed to go to the hospital. Calling Moscow for insurance, I explained the whole situation, to which I was offered to call the doctor's room, but I refused, because Rita warned me about this and I felt that the fragment was very deep and that I already needed to cut the pillow of my finger in order to pull it out. The agent from the insurance company said that our insurance had a deductible of $40, so I pay $40 for the first appointment and the insurance company pays the rest. Naturally, I said ok, there is nowhere to go. After 30 min. I received a text message on my cell phone telling me which hospital to go to and which doctor to see. It turned out to be Hospital International, an emergency medical service. From our hotel to the hospital in a taxi fare cost 55 dirhams. After sitting in line for 30 minutes, I was invited for an inspection.
I wish you all a pleasant holiday. I hope my review will help you, dear tourists. Of course, I will be pleased if my advice is useful to someone, and you are not too lazy, and write your reviews and comments about it. If you have any questions please email. xr25@mail address. ru I will try to answer.
P. S. : Next time I'm on vacation in Dubai, I will definitely choose this wonderful hotel with pleasant staff and polite guests.
Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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