A hotel with a rooftop swimming pool. Here is where we stayed in Dubai.
No luck with Airbnb in Dubai. The listings we found either had no reviews or they were small low cost hotels portraying themselves as Airbnb rooms. They also came with several very suspicious reviews. This baffled me because we had not seen this before. I did a simple google search and I learned that Airbnb is heavily taxed in Dubai. The homeowner or renter who wants to rent out a room in their own dwelling must follow a pretty tedious list of must dos to get the proper licensing. The fees and taxes are numerous and high. This is too high of a burden to place upon a homeowner for the money they receive in the end. So, we ended up with no Airbnb and moved onto plan B.
Our next thought was a hostel. I searched online for a hostel and all I could find was a few with some pretty crummy reviews. I have noticed that people who stay in hostels tend to be relaxed and easy going. So, when I see several bad reviews – I just move along to the next option. Our plan c option was a hotel. For the first time, I tried a app called Trivago (TRIp VAcation GO = trivago). Trivago is a metasearch engine for hotels. What that means is if I go to Trivago and search for a room and insert my answers into their filter then Trivago goes to work. With that information Trivago will then scan several hotel sights – Booking.com, hotels.com, Agoda.com and more. It will take the best from this search and display it to me. I can go through and look at photos and read reviews and make a choice. When I make that choice, the app seamlessly sends me to the destination site for me to complete the reservation. An example would be if Booking.com had a great price on a room in the Hilton – Trivago will send me to Booking.com. Trivago earns its money through the choice you made to book the room (booking.com).
So, long story short, we found a great deal on Trivago for a room in Dubai. It was not the fanciest but it also was not a motel 6 variety. For $85 a night we received a king size bed, a large room, a nice tub and shower, access to a gym, and a rooftop swimming pool. They also offered a daily free shuttle to the beach and back. In a city that is known for being high priced and unaffordable for many people, we could find a very comfortable deal. As time goes on, we have increased our experience level to maintain a decent budget in one of the world’s most luxurious cities. Mission Accomplished. Bet
