Originally Posted by
Thunderroad
My wife and I will be transiting through DXB on a Tuesday evening in October, CDG-DXB-SFO in EK F. We arrive DXB at 8 pm and depart the next morning at 9:10 am. I assume we're not eligible for Dubai Connect, as these are award tickets.
So a few questions about staying at the Dubai International Hotel vs. going to a hotel near the airport:
1. If we stay at the DIH, do we have access to the EK F lounge the evening we arrive, such as for dinner and drinks?
2. If we instead head to a hotel near the airport, is there one that would be nice in terms of a bar with a good view, a nice place for an evening walk, or a nice nearby restaurant for dinner? We'd be particularly interested in a hotel associated with a major chain, as we have points with Marriott, Hilton, IHG, etc.
3. Since we also have AA miles that we could use to stay at the DIH fairly inexpensively (miles-wise), any recommendations on whether we should do that versus going to a hotel near the airport? FWIW, we have already been to Dubai a few times and liked it, but don't feel a need to try to squeeze in a bit of an exploration on such a short stay.
Thanks for any advice.
1) Yes, you will have full access to the F lounge the entire time. They stop serving dinner and change over to breakfast sometime around 3:30-4am.
2) The Le Meridien Dubai Hotel & Conference center is a short taxi ride away and has tons of restaurants and has nice enough grounds to walk around.
3) If you don't mind being cooped up in the airport, the DIH is great, you'll probably end up having a late dinner at the lounge and sleeping till the next morning anyway. I typically stay at the DIH the evening before my morning flights to the west coast, wake up and get on the flight so I'm quite used to it and enjoy the convenience.