the troops are coming; finding the right place to stay

Now that the temperatures here in Dubai are cooler and the weather just perfect, no rain, everyday blue skies and very low humidity, there’s no doubt that the tourism season is well on its way.

After almost 6 months of convincing my in-laws to visit us here, they finally said yes and we are in the middle of planning for their trip! I must admit, it was so hard to lure them to come here. The 12 hour flight, excluding the 5 hour train ride from their place to Nagoya airport, the totally different culture and the language barrier (they don’t speak any English at all) made them really hesitant no matter how they say that they miss their grand-daughter so much.

I have to tell them over and over that the daytime temperatures are very ideal for tourism from the month of November to March. The evenings are even a little cold at 13C. I guess it’s just hard to get the stereotyped thought out that it is very hot in the desert the whole year through!

Now we are busy in finding accommodation for them. As much as we would like to have them in our home, we have very limited space so we all agreed to house them temporarily in any of the numerous furnished apartments in Dubai, preferably near our place of course. When we started looking, we were surprised to see that the Dubai’s yellow pages directory book is outdated. Telephone numbers and location information of hotel apartments in Dubai are not up to date because of the everyday changes in this ever growing city. New Dubai hotels and apartments are popping everyday and it is difficult to find a resource that compiles and updates that information.

I have been tempted to go look for these hotel apartments that are self catering in Dubai by going to the place myself, ask for tariff rates and availability, especially for those that is not listed in the directory. But this is Dubai where going from one place to another, unless it’s a Friday, can take so much time and energy. I always wondered why the quality of web-based services here seems to just lack in functionality or worse nothing available online at all.

So for those planning for a trip here, finally travellers can book hotel apartments in Dubai at the comfort of their seat. Dubai apartments is Dubai’s premier online property marketing and rental portal that provides a comprehensive list of properties from simple furnished apartments to holiday apartments. The website is sophisticates but easy to navigate, user friendly and lets you effectively and securely book your accommodation online.

Why we chose a hotel apartment rather than the usual hotel? Because sometimes, hotel apartments give a better feel of home away from home and besides, who wouldn’t want to try waking up and open the window and see the beach when staying in a furnished villa in Palm Jumeirah? If they decide to stay in the Palm Island, I would have to ask them for a sleepover!