The United Arab Emirates consists of 7 states, including those of Dubai and Abu Dhabi and has a population of just over 3 million people.

Arabic is the official language, although English is widely spoken. The local currency is the Dirham, which is pegged against a US dollar at 3.65 Dirham. The climate in Dubai is hot and humid in the summer with daytime temperatures in excess of 35C. The winter months, from December to February offer warm pleasant daytime temperatures averaging 25C.

Tourism is quickly becoming a major industry and the continued investment and innovative development are continuing to entice visitors back year after year. The now infamous Palm Island developments are now nearing their final stages and will open in 2006 adding a further 120 km of beachfront to Dubai’s coastline. Each island will incorporate up to 40 boutique hotels, 2,000 residential villas, 2 marinas, shopping complexes and cinemas.

A host of other exciting projects are currently under construction including Dubai Marina, Festival City, Arabian Ranches and of course the most ambitious being “The World”– a group of 200 man-made islands clustered in the shape of a world map will soon rise from the waters of the Arabian Gulf.

Golf has become a major attraction with some of the finest courses including Emirates Golf Club – Majlis and Wadi courses, Emirates Hills Mongomerie course, Dubai Creek to mention but a few.

Ramadan is the holy month in which Muslims commemorate the revelation of the Holy Quaran. The timing of Ramadan is not fixed in terms of our western calendar but occurs a few days earlier each year. It is a time of fasting when Muslims abstain from all food, drinks and cigarettes from dawn to dusk. Tourists are asked to refrain from consuming these items in public places during this time, as a mark of respect.

THE PALM JUMEIRAH

The Palm Jumeirah is now nearing the latter stages of development and the first hotel, Atlantis the Palm, will open its doors on September 24th 2008. Click on the following link for a full interactive Tour of the Palm Jumeirah :

http://www.thepalm.ae/jumeirah/tour-the-island/interactive-tour/

LATEST UPDATE 10 APR 2007 : DUBAI CONSTRUCTION

To facilitate the huge growth in Tourism to Dubai, many new hotels and apartments are being built both in Dubai City and along the Jumeirah Beach Coastline. New projects are constantantly being announced.

At present, many of the hotels along the Jumeirah Beach coastline are affected in some way by this construction. Escape2 only offer sea-view rooms in all of our beachfront properties to minimise any inconvenience our clients may receive. Our staff our well informed as to the level of construction that may affect in some way your stay. Please check with our staff for construction updates when making your reservation.

At present the following Hotels on Jumeirah Beach are being affected in some way by the construction : Hilton Jumeirah, Oasis Beach, Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort, Le
Meridien Mina Sayahi & One&Only Royal Mirage. We would however, wish to point out that any disturbance is minimal as most of the construction is at an advanced stage.