mpeterson78

Is there some reason everyone just isn't renting a car and driving? Rental cars to Al Maha are cheap and taxis seem very expensive. I was able to get a car that I pick up in the Dubai Marina, stay at Al Maha for 2 nights, and then drop it off at DXB. It was $60. And I'm assuming fuel will be cheap too. And free parking at Al Maha. Am I missing something? Why would people want to pay more for taxis? Is it just the convenience factor?

MrM2016

I rented. No issues whatsoever. Very convenient, enjoyed the flexibility of going into Dubai one evening.

Assume most people do not enjoy the hassle of driving and renting. I tend to enjoy it!

CaroFos

I had the fear of god put into me about renting and driving .. e.g. if you had an accident and hurt someone you would probably never see daylight again.. .

Didn't seem worth the risk for us. Uber is reasonable for getting around in Dubai itself and if you use Blacklane you'll be paying about $65 dollars from DXB to Al Maha for a nice E Class . I didn't book my return at the same time and was shocked when it went up to $150 dollars to get back but i revisited this thread and Airport Taxi Transfers I think did the job nicely for around Ł50 - there is no need to use the expensive hotel services..... https://airportstaxitransfers.com/tr...pax1=2&quote=1

YOu'll have a fab time - we only went for 24 hours and it was amazing.. plus the nicest bed I've ever slept in ! :-)

GVA

I've had pretty poor rentals in Dubai and UAE. Ranging from very doubtful practices (had I BMW confirmed with a good but not exceptional rate) the rental agency considered it too good gave me a corolla. I argued about this and the guy at the arrivals hall had already called for the car to be driven to the DXB departures parking lot. End result was that I was threatened to pay the parking fees, called a liar and told that they would ask police to review CCTV (hint police had other stuff to do). Between the time that I arrived and left the lot over 3 hours had gone by (was past 1am). Following day I discovered that the tires had 1.4 bar and rest of the car was basically a rust bucket.

This was my 3rd rental company in the UAE, the other two having not really been much better either. I also refuse to valet park at any hotels in UAE ever since I had the case where 200km were put onto the car overnight (the car was a pile of rubbish but this was at a 5 star hotel).

You then add the fact that if you hit someone (god forbid a local emirati), you're going to be in deep trouble.

As far as I'm concerned every single rental in the UAE has something that goes wrong and just isn't worth the hassle. Much easier to hop into a taxi or uber. I compare this to US/Canada rentals where nothing ever goes wrong, European rentals where maybe 1 in 15 rentals has something off and UAE rentals which are eventful every time.

escape4

Depends how long your stay at Al Maha is. We were there 5 days and did not intend on leaving the resort so what's the point of renting a car just to have the car sit there for 5 days? People going to Al Maha for a 1-2 night stay... yes I could see the point of driving rather than taxi.

mpeterson78

This makes the most sense of all. I'm only going for 2 nights, so yeah renting a car made more sense. I totally get not wanting to pay for a car that sits there for a week.

mpeterson78

Do reservations need to be made for the free activities in advance of arrival? Is there any way for them to "sell out" or fill up? Or can I just handle all that when I arrive?

dcht

Just completed a 2 night stay at the Al Maha and wow.... probably one of the best hotel experiences I've ever had. The staff and service were absolutely incredible. I'm usually a tough grader when it comes to reviews, but my experience was truly a 5 star experience.

We booked a rental car for 3 days at $20/day. Super cheap and was very easy to drive in the UAE. Got to the Al Maha with no problems. Definitely would recommend this over a taxi.

rstidolph

When is the best time to book a two night award stay? Looking at a date in 2020 that is yet to be open for booking.

if not available, should I book a cash booking and hope I can later get a points booking?

kaizen7

Just register on arrival

Happy

Unless you are booking the holidays time, i.e. X'mas thru New Year, I dont see any need to book way in advance. The rush of crowds who booked it at 60K should be about gone. I took a peek last week on Dec 2019 award availability, there were still many 85K nights. When we booked ours in advance at the 60K there were only 3 nights in Dec available. I canceled them in August as we no longer plan to take a Suez Canal crossing cruise therefore would not be in Dubai hence I canceled the bookings. Same dates are available now, just at 85K.

rstidolph

Thank you.

i too am arriving after a cruise. Would like to spend two nights here and two at an undetermined property. Had a great stay at the JW Marriott in 2005 Was upgraded to a corner suite on a very high floor.

rstidolph

I am presently unable to book two nights for next November on Marriott’s website. Neither cash or points Am I better off calling the Titanium Elite line.

margarita girl

Are you trying to book more than 50 weeks out? I think that is the max allowed by Marriott.

rstidolph

Dates are there, just not showing availability yet. Other hotels in Dubai are showing availability but not at Al Maha. Starting to think that they just wait longer to be in the system.