Lonely Planet Dubai (Dubai, 2nd Ed)

Rating:
Summary: Liberals will love this book
Review: I read this book and found its commentary to be a bit too judgmental for a travel book; there are better books on Dubai as I found, and more up too date. By the way there is no casino at the Burj.

Rating:
Summary: Dubai not a dump? LP disappointed...
Review: Lonely Planet is capable of producing very good guides when it tries to cover a destination and not set the world straight. I have seen excellent guides by Lonely Planet, but this is not one of them, unless you wish to read a bit of anti-capitalist rhetoric.

This is not a guidebook to Dubai - this is a guidebook to a city as they would like to see it: as far from civilized world as possible. You can almost see the writers being intensely uncomfortable in the clean and shiny world of shopping malls and air-conditioned breathtaking buildings. I can see them walking around and complaining why couldn't Dubai be a bit more like Afghanistan. I bet if they found some people drinking raw sewage or a possibility to sleep in a rat-infested bus shelter, that would make their day. Except there aren't any of these things in Dubai.

Lonely Planet writers like to think they are after "authenticity" - unfortunately, in this case they miss the point. Dubai IS about wealth and shine and efficiency, glitter and gold ARE its authentic face. When you think about the attitude of this book, "killjoy" is the world that comes to mind. It is like taking your grumpy granny to see 'The American Pie'. She will just sit there and grumble that young people are not what they used to be.

Try Time Out instead: they have an open mind. Lonely Planet still has to learn that a place does not need to be poor and dirty to be exciting.

Rating:
Summary: Incompetent little book of inaccurate information
Review: Lonely Planet is capable of producing very good guides when it tries to cover a destination and not set the world straight. I have seen excellent guides by Lonely Planet, but this is not one of them.

This is not a guidebook to Dubai - this is a guidebook to the author's own busybody and killjoy brain. Disguised as pieces as 'another opinion', the text is littered with nuggets of 'responsible thought' - even desert safary should leave you worried because, you see, it is POTENTIALLY damaging the evironment. Potentially? Or is it that there is no proven harm of riding jeeps on the sand but in the twisted spirit of Lonely Planet, one should always frown upon irresponsible ways of the world.

The guide goes on for pages and pages of what has to be the most irrelevant, useless and inacurrate advice. Airline 'tariffs' (what do these have to do with what you actually pay) are shown down to the nearest dollar, the trouble is that it has nothing to do with reality. Maybe if the authors were less concerned with wacky socialist ideas (you see, according to some friends of LP, airline alliances nowadays 'restrict the competition' - I couldn't make it up if I wanted) and curious preoccupations with anything in Dubai that comes from 'the former Soviet Union' (the author appears never to have let go after the self-confessed experience of being mistaken for an Eastern European sex worker), they would have more time to research something properly.

Like hotel prices, for example. What is that lunacy about? How can they be SO inaccurate? Have they even checked? Or were they too busy lamenting that there are few 'cheapies' (their world, not mine) in town that proper research was not a priority. Come to think of it, maybe it is just as well that there aren't many cheap hotels in Dubai, otherwise it would be full of people like the authors of this book and a city full of people like that would not look pretty.

You will see that in this thin guide so much space is taken by irrelevant 'general' advice (common sense or misguided information, much of which is recycled from other LP guides and which is either outdated, inaccurate or blindingly obvious to anyone who doesn't use the word 'cheapies' in daily life), that descriptions of things to see are so thin and short that they could have been avoided altogether.

Indeed, you will find more info about Dubai on Emirates airline website than you would in this incompetent and amateurish book. Waste of money - and another proof that LP should keep its unwashed hands off the places that do not particularly welcome the penny-pinching crowd.

Rating:
Summary: non-liberal viewpoint
Review: Perhaps if the reviewer from Seattle had been smart enough to buy the second edition (which doesn't describe the Burj as a casino), he might have found it more useful. It would also be more up to date.

Rating:
Summary: Mindblowing!
Review: The Guide was accurate in every area we required.

We arrived with a reasonable amount of knowledge about the country and its customs and were able to enjoy our holiday from day one, without worrying about upsetting the local people. They were curteous to us [especially once they found out we had bothered to learn some of the basic greetings in Arabic] and we responded as best we could. Somehow bargaining was easier from then on, and you could also get a much better deal if you had cash in dirhams! Best trip-30 mins on an abra to explore the creek. Negotiate a price.

It was a wonderful experience, but a week in May/June was long enough because of the heat, as indicated by the guide. [40 degrees and hotter till August!]

The hotels on Jumeirah Beach were all excellent from all accounts. We were at the Radisson, which was outstanding for their service and space for guests. We never felt overcrowded even on 2nd June which is a local holiday and all the "Radisson Club" members descended for the day!

Their shuttle bus to town was reliable but didn't have a later evening pickup for guests in town so unless you were prepared to pay £10 for a one way trip by taxi on top of the cost of a meal in town [minus alcohol], the hotel had a captive audience for their evening meals, which were very good we must say. House wine=£20 per bottle at the hotel.

The book shows you the contrasts of this amazing place but can't really prepare you for the culture shock of the place. It's the rich/poor, modern/traditional, high rise/low roofs, high tech/old fashioned, heat/cold [in areas with air conditioning], expensive designer gear/saris for £2, green soft grassy golf courses/arid desert areas beside each other, 4x4 vehicles/camels on the beach. It all just takes your breath away with the diversity of it all. Its like no other place we've been to.

I felt that the book allowed us to enjoy our holiday as well prepared as we could have been. 10/10 for an excellent guide. When can we go back?

P.S. There is an awful lot of building going on everywhere, but especially in the vicinity of the airport. Because of the desert/sand/lack of water, it does look like a building site generally, but there are huge projects underway all over the place. Even lake -building! In some places, "Health and Safety Issues," are, "Interesting."

P.P.S All Dubaian drivers have been to the Parisian School of Motoring - be warned!

Rating:
Summary: Lonely Planet does it again!
Review: This book saved my behind in Dubai and increased the value of my experience there. I had such a great time and it further solidifies my faith in Lonely Planet books. Too bad there's not an update to address the newest hotel in Dubai, the Burj-Al-Arab. This should be the first resource guide you should buy in addition to doing more homework to enjoy Dubai.

Rating:
Summary: Lonely Planet Gets it Right
Review: This is the one and only good guide on Dubai. For the visitor to the worker it covers all aspects of life and pleasure, ranges of activities and budgets. Using this guide I managed to bargain my way into a budget of $40 a day, which certainly meant low range accomadation and eating, but this city is still definately kicking and worth a much larger 'splurge', after spending time in some of the neighbouring countries. Well worth the extra money then simply buying the UAE and Oman guide, or the middle east guide for that matter, if you plan on spending a lot of time in the city. The guide captures the essence of the place and truly prepares you on a realistic scale as for the weather, costs and atmosphere of Dubai. As usual there could have been more flowing information on getting there and away. The next guide should expand on day trips, especialy to the good beaches in the region, have a better variety of car rental information. As well check out some more of the cafe's in town, which is one of the few ways to meet locals and expats. Five Stars Five Stars.