DUBAI EXPERIENCE

I hardly know where to start telling you about my educational trip to Dubai as we did so much in the course of the week.

We stayed at three very different hotels, Atlantis the Palm, the Meydan and the One and Only Royal Mirage, Arabian Court, all of which were excellent.

The Atlantis hotel totally lived up to its hype with great facilities on offer and high standards throughout. An ideal choice for a family holiday. The Meydan hotel is a stunning new 5* hotel which only opened a few months ago. It is located at Meydan racecourse in a newly developing area of the city. If you are keen on horse racing, this is the place to stay-you can even watch the racing from your balcony which overlooks the course.

The Arabian Court is a beautiful beachfront property with traditional arabic architecture and décor set in beautiful gardens. It's a very stylish hotel with a relaxing atmosphere and high standards.

Throughout the week, we also visited other hotels including the Armani, the Ritz Carlton, The Palace, Royal Meridien, Habtoor Grand and the Hilton Jumeirah. It was great to have the opportunity of visiting a range of different properties as first hand knowledge is unbeatable when it comes to advising clients on which hotel to choose.

We also visited the Burj Khalifa tower, experienced a desert safari which included dune bashing in a 4x4 followed by a meal under the stars in a desert camp. We also spent a fun morning at the Ski Park , a catamaran cruise around the Palm not to mention a drive in a racing car around the track at the Autodrome.

There really is so much to do in Dubai and if you like shopping-you'll be in heaven. There are over 1000 shops in the "Dubai Mall" alone-just one of the many shopping malls in the city.

Dubai is undoubtedly an amazing place-it's full of surprises yet at the same time nothing seems to surprise you there.

Think this was summed up when I jokingly told our guide how disappointed I was that Dubai hadn't yet got outdoor air conditioning and he simply said "They're working on it".