Dubai-Like It Or Loathe It?

I'm glad I saw it, but I don't like it as an entity.

It's basically Las Vegas with fundamentalist religion baked into it. So imagine the crassest, glitziest, techno-futuristic fever dream of a 12-year-old boy given billions of dollars to play with, while being overseen by an ultraconservative father. It's a playground for moralizing, hypocritical, mysogynistic rich turbo-dickheads.

That's not to say there aren't nice people there, of course there are, but the effect and echo of that ruling class is everywhere that isn't an adobe hut. And everyone else that isn't a Western ex-pat gets pretty much excluded from the shiny core.

Seeing the workers there toil in 45ºC heat, it's just unbelievable. The place shouldn't be what it is. They had this insane oil windfall and this is what they did with it.

Been 4 times on holiday.

I love the sun so dubai in Aug or September over 40c - 45c is perfect for me.

What I like is the safety in the city. I have taken my young son to Dubai twice and its somewhere which I never worried about crime.

I agree it can feel soulless and artificial. The non emirate citizens or should I say non white need more rights. Without those the economy would crash as they are the cleaners, shop attendants, restaurant workers etc etc. I spoke to a Lebanese shop worker and while things have improved its still not enough.

Last year I travelled with my gf and never felt like it was an issue. The hotels do not ask if you are married as it matters not to them.

My gf pretty much dressed how she wanted. Walking around the city she didn't make any effort to dress differently than at home in the UK and was no issue. We never felt like it was a problem.

Clearly we didn't do things such as tongue kissing in public.

Dubai is one of the last places on Earth I want to visit.

The crime is low because the state are the actual criminals.

It's a Trumpian shithole.

Dubai is theocratic trash that privileged straight people like

Seems like just a playground for vacationers or the rich that was constructed on the backs of slaves.

Muslim las Vegas, but with more slavery. No thanks

Soulless is what i felt when i visit that place 8 years ago. Stay for four fays days for business trip and its a really strange city for me. I have no interest to visit it again. But i don't know the situation as today perhaps its more interesting?

Besides all the vile shit the city is known for, it sounds incredibly boring for the type of stuff I like to do.

Have no desire to ever visit.
Even outside of all their issues I think it just sounds soulless and boring honestly.

BAD said:

Dubai is theocratic trash that privileged straight people like

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One and done

Never want to go there even though my family want to go on holiday there.

I hate heat above 25 degrees celcius too so it just would be the worst place for me

The city is completely fake and has no soul. The fact that it's a place where the best architects around the world can pretty much go all out with their ideas makes it slightly interesting, but the fact that it was built on modern day slave labour makes it a no-go.

I like that it looks like a city from the future. That's pretty much the extent of my interest in it.

Loathe.

There are regions of Earth I would never want to visit if I had the chance... and this is one of them.

My friend went to work there for two years. Came back generally despising humanity and what it had become.

You'd have to be pretty ignorant to give a city built on slave labor any due.

Like that one guy who thinks it's OK to tour NK.

Hate it.

Went there once, for a few day, waste of time. Traffic is a nightmare, religious laws are a joke, all the shady shit with foreign workers, it's a capitalist shithole.

We rented a car to visit the other emirates though, that was neat.

I liked it. If you want beach and sea in spring or autumn its a cheap destination for europeans and not too far away. Also had amazing food there.

I would never go there.

Waveset said:

Lived there as a kid till about 1986, was an amazing place and had incredible freedoms (for a kid) but it was a very different place. I look at it now and have no desire to go back, absolutely nothing about it appeals to me and I'd prefer to stick to my memories of zooming around the desert on a Honda ATC 125.

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I lived there from 91-95! Did you go to the Jumeirah American School too? It later became the American School of Dubai. I loved it there because it was filled with expats from all over the world. It was a very diverse and fun school to go to. No bullying either.

I loved it there as a kid. It was on the up and up and so there was a lot of new construction, but it was still half a desert. I lived down the street from the Chicago Beach Hotel, in an walled compound with armed guards. I think it was an location for embassy people. If you watch the video below at the 8 second mark you can see a small set of villas where I lived. They built the Burj Al Arab (giant sail hotel) on the Chicago Beach Hotel's bones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azP8ULviIdI

I vividly remember all the new malls and my favorite place to eat at. It was called Eat and Drink. Very imaginative. I've tried for years to find a replacement in the states, but they just can't get the spices right.

All that being said, I have no interest in returning. The bulldozed all the places I loved, and now its a gaudy mess.

I lived there for three years and it was ok. I'm interested in going back to see how it's developed in the 7 years since I left.

Some of y'all are doing too much in this thread.

Never wanna be there ever in my life. It is an affront to human rights.

Messofanego said:

It probably would be dust storms.

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And now I wanna play this again.

ironjoe said:

I lived there from 91-95! Did you go to the Jumeirah American School too? It later became the American School of Dubai. I loved it there because it was filled with expats from all over the world. It was a very diverse and fun school to go to. No bullying either.

I loved it there as a kid. It was on the up and up and so there was a lot of new construction, but it was still half a desert. I lived down the street from the Chicago Beach Hotel, in an walled compound with armed guards. I think it was an location for embassy people. If you watch the video below at the 8 second mark you can see a small set of villas where I lived. They built the Burj Al Arab (giant sail hotel) on the Chicago Beach Hotel's bones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azP8ULviIdI

I vividly remember all the new malls and my favorite place to eat at. It was called Eat and Drink. Very imaginative. I've tried for years to find a replacement in the states, but they just can't get the spices right.

All that being said, I have no interest in returning. The bulldozed all the places I loved, and now its a gaudy mess.

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Yeah Those villas near the Chicago (now called Jumeirah Beach Hotel) were demolished and a big hotel and shopping place was put up there (Madinat Jumeirah and the Al Qasr hotel).

Eat and Drink still exists and has kinda blown up. They have locations around Dubai now.

Went there once on a port call while in the Navy, it's uh interesting? There's a lot of neat stuff, but it's all for show. It's pretty much a more fake version of Las Vegas, but without the gambling.

Also of course we waited the three hours in line and paid the ridiculous price to go to the top of the Burj Khalifa, how could you not? Worlds tallest building man.

i don't go to theocracies

ironjoe said:

I lived there from 91-95! Did you go to the Jumeirah American School too? It later became the American School of Dubai. I loved it there because it was filled with expats from all over the world. It was a very diverse and fun school to go to. No bullying either.

I loved it there as a kid. It was on the up and up and so there was a lot of new construction, but it was still half a desert. I lived down the street from the Chicago Beach Hotel, in an walled compound with armed guards. I think it was an location for embassy people. If you watch the video below at the 8 second mark you can see a small set of villas where I lived. They built the Burj Al Arab (giant sail hotel) on the Chicago Beach Hotel's bones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azP8ULviIdI

I vividly remember all the new malls and my favorite place to eat at. It was called Eat and Drink. Very imaginative. I've tried for years to find a replacement in the states, but they just can't get the spices right.

All that being said, I have no interest in returning. The bulldozed all the places I loved, and now its a gaudy mess.

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No I went to Dubai English Speaking School, my brother was at Dubai College.

My Dad went back around 2000 and said it was unrecognisable, the old desert road to Jumeirah beach was completely built up with shopping malls, nothing of the old place remained apart from Jumeirah Mosque.

Funny you mention food, I have strong memories of a take away place called Ravis and its amazing chicken!

Did the week start on a Sunday when you were there? When we left it felt so strange having Saturday/ Sunday off instead off instead of Friday/ Saturday.

Edit: its still there, maybe I will go back.

Dynedom said:

Yeah Those villas near the Chicago (now called Jumeirah Beach Hotel) were demolished and a big hotel and shopping place was put up there (Madinat Jumeirah and the Al Qasr hotel).

Eat and Drink still exists and has kinda blown up. They have locations around Dubai now.

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I love that Eat and Drink became so popular. Their shawarmas were amazing. Thank you to everyone for the added info too.

Also, the week starting on a Sunday was some bizarre stuff. I forgot until the moment you mentioned it.

Messofanego said:

Been four or five times, it's boring when you look past the materialism. Not to mention the cost to humanity.

It probably would be dust storms.

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thats awesome, what game is this?

dystopian

Rendering... said:

A glitzy capitalist hellscape built on slave labor and ruled by the tyranny of conservative religious misogynists. You can be jailed if you kiss your bf/gf in public. Not a fan.

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Pretty much.

DonFreecs said:

thats awesome, what game is this?

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Spec Ops: The Line. The story is a hell of a ride, basically Apocalypse Now in video game form.

Andrew Korenchkin said:

Wait......WTF?

Yeah....this place sounds worse and worse. Glitzy as hell and if you want that Dubai is your muse...but most of us could care less.

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You didn't know about that? Public displays of affection are illegal.

Tackiness made into a city

Had to stay there for 24 hours thanks to a delay. Absolutely hate it and it's probably the most soulless place on Earth. Everything is so fake.

a big flashy shithole...like Vegas but on bath salts.

Good food, hotels, and activities. It's worth it for a trip if you don't do anything against their laws.

I have family that lives there. Visited a few times and always enjoyed my time there. Enjoyed the hotels, restaurants and family parties and get togethers.

Was planning to go this year but couldn't make it. Might go next year.

I lived there for 5 years because that was the only viable option for me to study a bachelor degree and some of my relatives lived there. I bailed as soon as I finished my degree and would never, ever set foot in that shithole again. It's a classist, garbage ass capitalist state with rampant slavery. Half of the people living there are also garbage and shallow. So yeah, I loathe it.

Depends, do they still have no plumbing and require the miles-long septic truck poop train that dumps their shit in the desert like the world's biggest litter box?

It's no Atlanta

Shitty place that I will never visit unless I absolutely have to.

Can't love it with that human rights record.

My least favourite place to visit on business. Wave after wave of assholes.

I used to enjoy the car scene, but since they started cracking down on speeding its been a bore.

Been there numerous times for business, first couple of times I was blown away by the extravagance of it and really enjoyed it, subsequent visits I started to see below the surface and realised what a horrible place it really is. I now try and avoid every trip and will only go if it's absolutely necessary, unfortunately I think one of those trips is coming up for early January.

Knew this was a city to be avoided when the IG models I'd see get flown out there would come back with the most soulless looking eyes.

nThou said:

Going in a month for new year just a 4 Day holiday with my wife - any tips?

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I haven't been there in 6 or 7 years now, but I can recommend a couple of personal favorites, assuming things are still the same.

First of, there's a Hilton in the Marina District... it's the Hilton Dubai Jumeirah. They have (or had) an awesome outside bar/restaurant on the beach. Very laid back here and the food is good. Probably my favorite place to hang out in all of Dubai during the afternoon.

Secondly, I'd recommend eating at Karam Beirut. There's one at the Dubai Mall right on the water where the fountain show is (next to Burj Khalifa). There was also a smaller one at the Mall of the Emirates. For whatever reason, I prefer the Dubai Mall location. I love the food at this place... amazing hummus and bread. I'm not a huge fan of tabbouleh, but I can eat an entire bowl of theirs. I also recommend the spicy lamb. Fantastic stuff.

It interests me and is a place I'd like to visit. The opulence is kind of astounding.

But in general I have no real opinion on it. I also know very little about it and pay it little attention.

Crispy75 said:

The epitome of everything that is wrong with the world. I haven't got a single kind word for it. I hope the ocean or the desert engulfs it, and the ruined spires serve as a warning against the hubris of mankind.

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Damn that is some post-apocalyptic shit. But I don't disagree. Specially as a brown dude, they basically used my native countrymen as slaves to build this city and treat brown people like shit.

Personally aside from that, it's Vegas but without the freedom/fun aspects of Vegas. It's basically shit.

I was raised there. Loaded question with a lot to digest but I'll simply frame the following around critiquing the government and not the some 4 million people that reside there.

In a nutshell, the worst case scenario of what people envision around what a fascist and even a Nationalist Trumpian America looks like is in place in Dubai.

Imagine working 30-40 years at a company only to, BY LAW, be pushed out because a) you're not a national and b)are being replaced by one. Imagine you being told that at 65, you're to retire, no exceptions, so that you can begin to enjoy retirement, at the government's request, not by your own assertion. Imagine not owning land or a home. Imagine being told what you can say or do in public (some examples of these have been taken out of context in numerous threads here and in old place, downplaying and distracting from actual bullshit that go down).

Dubai is a fascist location where fantasy and science fiction is used to distract people from the fact that while they have any choice on what to buy or where to buy nonsense from, they have zero choice in their political and civil lives.

Someone mentioned it was a capitalist haven. Even this isn't true as most of the enterprises that exist there are exclusive to the elite who are loyal to the royal family if not a member of the family themselves. For example, here stateside, any person with a bucket of cash can franchise a McDonalds. There? All licenses are owned by a single family.

I've not even begin how you can't apply for a job without first going out and buying health insurance from one of two insurance carriers, also privately owned.

ecnomically, it's a cluster fuck. and they continue to pay for it by taking out loans from neighboring cities in the region and it's the people trying to just get by who pay for it with increased inflation that wages will never be able to keep up with.

While the shit here stateside is absurd and a lot of what's happening is unexcusable, I know we haven't stepped foot in the worst of it just yet and I'm reminded of this each time I speak to my dad and uncle every weekend along with high school pals every now and then.

spineduke said:

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Yep, I lived there between '84 and late 90s. It was magical to see it go from exhibit A to B (I've been absent from everything else that has come since, which is insanity). But socially, in the 80s, it was a magical place to be in and one where people didn't even have locks on their doors and the culture was centered around which coffee shop you wanted to spend time with friends at. It's a different animal now. More materialistic. It was incredibly diverse too with a large european and american population that still make up the bulk of the population today than the nationals do.