Dubai

Dubai - November 2020

This post is long long overdue. But hey, I haven’t been inspired to write these past couple months but here we go.

After a long 2020 we decided to go to Dubai in November. It started off with pre flight covid tests for my husband and I. The kids did not require a negative test in order to fly on Emirates.

We took a 15 hour non stop flight with Emirates from LAX to Dubai. Thankfully it was easy and smooth. When we arrived at LAX we had our test results looked at by the staff in the line to check in our luggage.

After arriving to Dubai we went through customs, they checked our passports and negative test results and we were good to go!

I have always dreamed of staying at the Atlantis: the Palm, on Palm Jumeriah. Growing up I was obsessed with “Holiday In The Sun" a Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen movie where they stayed at the Atlantis in the Bahamas. This one is much bigger and newer. And much farther away. It had endless views all the way to the Burj Khalifa on a clear day, and the best night views of the entire city from our room’s balcony.

The resort had many pools to dip into, endless beaches and bars. My favorite drink was a passionfruit Frosé. Not to mention it had the best restaurants and my personal favorite restaurant: NOBU! They even had the most delicious breakfast buffet with everything you could imagine from a pancake and waffle bar, to a eggs Benedict bar which I ate every single day for breakfast.

I am sure you can guess the kids’ favorite part of the resort…the water park! One thing I was told by a friend who worked and lived in Dubai, is that you never have to worry about your belongings being stolen. You could go to the beach or to the water park and leave your bag, your phone, no one will steal it. We would leave all of our belonging by the kids section of the water park and go jump on the tubes and go river rafting with the kids. Not a care in the world. They even had a simulated wave you could boogie board on!

Even in the middle of a pandemic, at what is usually their busy season in Dubai, we felt extremely safe. We were required to wear a mask at all times throughout the hotel. And they had free covid testing at the hotel as well. There was security at every access point making sure you had a mask on, and temperature checks at every restaurant and store. They even had what looked like security cameras that were actually heat seeking for checking temperatures of people walking by.

My favorite activity we did aside from our yacht day around Palm Jumeirah was our desert safari. It felt like we were in Sex and the City 2. We went 4x4ing in the sand dunes, had dinner in the desert, live music and performances. It was amazing to enjoy their culture and food.

We had an amazing date night at Zuma for dinner, and drinks at the roof top bar at FIVE Palm Jumeirah resort. It was so windy but nice to go out without the kids (they had a nanny service through our hotel, very convenient) and let loose and drink a magnum bottle of Moet with my husband while smoking shisha.

We celebrated my 30th birthday on our last night in Dubai. We were hungover but enjoyed a full day at the beach and pool, followed by a nap and dinner at Nobu. The staff at Nobu were so sweet they brought out every single dessert on the menu to celebrate my birthday. What an amazing way to ring in my thirties: in Dubai with my family!