The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Dubai

And what to know before visiting

Dubai is one of the most interesting places I have visited, primarily because of its contradictions. The desolate desert surrounds state-of-the-art architecture, including the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa. You’ll see women covered head to toe in a Niqab next to a woman in a miniskirt and heels. It is a crossroad of cultures.

It also serves as a hub and playground for overseas contractors coming and going from the region’s hot zones and the world’s wealthy. After traveling there many times, I have experienced the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good

Dubai has some of the most amazing hotels you will come across with fantastic customer service. I loved my hotel, which was off the beaten path, the Marriot Hotel Al Jaddaf, and stayed there several times. They had a free shuttle to the Dubai Mall, which I could wander around for hours. It was the type of mall where you didn’t know what would be around the corner. A gigantic fish tank? Dinosaur bones? An ice-skating rink? Even just seeing the difference in culture, I found it fascinating.

I needed shampoo on one visit and found one of the salons had my preferred brand. I had never thought about a hair salon for Muslim women who wear a hijab or headscarf. It looked like a bank vault. The windows were covered so you couldn’t see in from the mall, and the lobby was separate from the salon area. Being in the Middle East made me realize how freeing it is to be out from under the male gaze, and this was no exception. I couldn’t help but notice how happy all the females seemed behind the closed doors.

On my first visit, I visited the old souk in Dubai, and it looked like something out of Aladdin with rows of shops selling goods. There were no high rises or modern architecture here. If you want a souvenir, this is the place for it. You could find barrels of spices, curled-toed shoes fit for a genie, jewelry, and much more.

After dinner in the old souk, my friend hired a boat to take us on a river cruise. The boats mainly functioned as a ferry for the working class, and some were cruises for tourists. Watching the crowded waterways of small wooden boats splashing up and down the Dubai Creek was enchanting.

The beaches are not amazing, but this comes from a Californian who lived in Hawaii. But, there are beaches and hotels lining the water. I spent a few nights on Jumeirah Beach and was quite surprised at the many nightclubs. There is a surprisingly happening nightlife scene in Dubai. Since the days are so hot, it’s common for there to be more people out at night than during the day.

The adventure options seemed endless, from skydiving to skiing inside. I opted to spend more time at the pool and the spa than chasing adrenaline rushes. I mainly went in and out of Kabul then, and Dubai became my oasis. The restaurants were fantastic, and I had some of the best meals of my life there.

Dubai is more accepting of Western-style dress. Unlike some Middle Eastern countries, you don’t have to fully cover up or wear a headscarf, which is good because it’s scorching. An etiquette guide in the mall suggested I keep my knees and shoulders covered. That was a reasonable request to me.

The Bad

Dubai is hot. It’s really, really hot, and even though it’s the desert, it can also get humid. A friend told me they were seeding the sky to make it rain more. I don’t know what that means, but it seemed cloudier than usual on one visit. While lying by the pool one day, I overheard the staff talking about cooling the pool because guests complained it was too warm. That’s how hot it is.

Most of the workforce are expats from more impoverished countries who come here to make money. The hotel clerk I befriended told me he only got to go home to the Philippines every few months. He sent most of his paycheck home to his family and just kept enough to live on. There are other claims that sometimes employers will hold the passports of their workers, essentially holding them hostage. There have been articles written that claim abuse of the migrant workforce.

The party scene was much larger than I expected. While standalone bars were not allowed, alcohol could be sold in the hotels which had a bar in them.

A beach bar with a DJ was packed one night as me and my boyfriend grabbed a drink. Two couples from Europe and North America chatted us up, and we spent the rest of the night hanging out together. When the bar closed, they suggested we return to their hotel room, where they had beer, to keep the night going. Once there, after a few more drinks, they suggested we all get even more friendly with each other. I grabbed my shoes and walked out the door with my boyfriend, smartly chasing after me. We grabbed a cab back to our hotel and sat quietly in shock.

Dubai can act as a playground for expats who seem to enjoy the excitement of acting more tawdry than usual in a country that forbids that type of behavior. It’s against the law to share a hotel room with someone other than your husband or family. People have been asked to supply a marriage certificate upon check-in. I was never asked for that, but I heard it can happen.

The Ugly

There is a dark side to Dubai that I alluded to in my story about the time I was mistaken for a prostitute, as found below.

Between the wealthy businessmen and the slew of government contractors coming through Dubai, despite strict laws, prostitution is relatively abundant. But I wanted to see it for myself.

One slow night on the town, I suggested we visit Jewel’s Bar, a known prostitute bar at an airport hotel. When we walked in, I was shocked by how many women were shoved into the bar area. It was explained that they were not allowed to enter the restaurant. So about 40 women of all ethnicities stood, all decked out in their finest and looking bored.

A few Caucasian men were chatting, drinking, and enjoying the attention. One tall man in glasses grabbed a tiny Asian woman in a long sundress by the hand and headed out. About two hours later, I would see her return and then wait for the next opportunity to make some money.

I watched an older British couple walk in holding hands, and upon seeing the women, the man’s face lit up in the most enormous grin. It was only a few minutes before the wife picked up on what was happening and dragged him out of there. Several contractors came in, still wearing their badge holders and 5.11 gear. They were older with big bellies, and had the blotchy red face that suggested they drank too much. They stood there chatting the girls up, holding whiskey drinks. My friend asked what I was thinking.

“Just how much money it would take for me to have sex with those guys,” I replied. More than they had was what I came up with.

I began talking to some of the women. Working with Vice in the police department gave me a sympathetic view towards women of the night. One stunning African woman told me she was from Mozambique. I told her I had traveled there before, and we chatted about her home country. Most of the women were quite friendly towards me, and occasionally, I had to shoo one away from my boyfriend.

Then it was time to go, and as I walked out of the bar, Megan Trainer’s song began playing, “If I was you, I’d want to be me too.” Sadly, it was probably true that most of those women would have given anything to have my life. There, in one tiny bar area, women from all corners of the world, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe, were all trying to better their lives the best way they could. Once I moved away from the airport areas, I didn’t see as much prostitute activity. It seemed more geared towards those only spending a night or two in town.

The laws are different from Western countries, and a victim of rape can be arrested for having an extramarital affair if she reports it. There have been a couple of examples in the news of this happening to Western nationality women. If you decide to visit Dubai, it’s worth understanding how the laws differ from what you are used to.

Dubai is a complex country, but it remains a favorite place to visit in the Middle East, as it is truly a crossroads of cultures.