DUBAI – Hyatt Regency Creekside

I had to go to Dubai for a doctors appointment so we decided to turn it into a weekend stay. So we booked a night at Hyatt Regency Creekside since it was very close to the clinic.

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Tim enjoyed his stay at the hotel, he went for a swim and a massage. I spent the time with Renee talking and catching up and consuming the stuff in the mini fridge and mini bar. Guess What? IT WAS ALL FREE LOL since we booked a Club Member room.

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The hotel offers a variety of restaurants and we had dinner at La Tablita, an authentic Mexican restaurant. The hotel is huge and has a lot of things to do and the location is really great, it has easy access to all parts of Dubai and also has a mall (Wafi Mall) near by and 15 minutes walk to the metro station.

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Z Hostel – Makati, Manila

Tim and I stayed at Z Hostel in Manila for a couple of nights and it’s one of the best hostels we stayed at. We didn’t pay much and location was suburb. At the roof top they’ve got a bar which turns into a mini club and has an amazing view of the city.

We highly recommend the hostel whenever you visit Manila. Z Hostel offers good breakfast and a nice cozy common area to use your laptop or read a book. The hostel also offers good recommendations on what to do around the city.

Budget : $$

Hotel Service : 8/10

Visited : March 2017

Tips :

  • Check out the area around the hostel. It has one of the best night life in Manila.

*this is not a sponsored post and all opinions are my own

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Celebrating Tim’s 29th Birthday in UAE

Tim’s 29th birthday was yesterday, 23rd Sept. and although I look younger than him, I’m only 2 months and 16 days younger. So, I’ll be turning 29 soon and since it will be our last 20’s, we agreed to make the most out of it before we could say we are 30.

Yes, we know age is nothing but a number. It’s just our last year as 20’s but I feel we will be more energetic and ready for more adventures in our 30’s.

Unfortunately, this year we were not able to celebrate his birthday abroad. So, I planned two birthday trips in the UAE in the occasion of Tim’s 29th AND here is what we did.

Trip #1: Sir Bani Yas Island

We visited Sir Bani Yas and stayed at Al Sahel Villas. A luxurious 5-star hotel located on a natural Island in Abu Dhabi. The hotel is managed by Anatara. The island is 250km from Dubai. You can either book a flight to the island or road trip it like we did and took a ferry to the island. There are 3 different types of accommodation.

  1. Dream Islands Resorts & Spa
  2. Al Sahel Villas
  3. Al Yam Villas

The island offers a lot of activities, from spa, kayaking, mountain biking, wildlife safari, falconry, archery and natural walk. Tim and I went tried the wild life safari which costs AED 200 per person. At night, we had a fine dining experience at the hotel and enjoyed African grilled dishes. The staff are so friendly and helpful. The hotel service was probably the best service we’ve experienced.

Hotel Rating : 5 STARS

Budget : $$$$$

Hotel Service : 10/10

Visited : September 2017

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Trip #2: The World Island

We booked a ticket to Lebanon for the 13:00 slot. Not the country but the island located in the World Island LOL. We arrived at Jumeirah Fishing Harbour at 11:30 and had breakfast at omniyat. At around 12:45, we walked to the deck to get on a speed boat and headed straight to the island.

As soon as we arrived, we were greeted with cold drinks and were given towels. They later walked us to our beach bed. AHHH, the view was surreal and it felt like we were on holiday. Tim and I ordered the platter for two which included 2 sliders, 4 lamb chops, coleslaw, French fries and chicken skewers.

At around 18:00, we headed back to the city and civilisation which SUCKED lol.

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Dinner at Ting Irie

On his actual birthday, we had dinner at Ting Irie. A Carribean/ Jamaican restaurant in Downtown Dubai. Everything we ordered was delicious. The staff are super friendly and the music was so good that I even asked for the name of the album which I got and downloaded hehe.

Tim and I ordered Plantain Chips, Cocobread Buns, Jerky Hummos and Johnny’s Cakes. For the main course, we had Dat Lamb THO and Ackee & Saltfish.

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So CHEERS to 29 and to Health, Wealth and Happiness.

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Weekend Stay at Al Hamra Village

Tim and I celebrated our 2nd year anniversary in Ras Al Khaimah. We stayed at a hotel called Al Hamra Village and Residence. not so far away from the boarders of Um Al Quwain.

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We decided to go for a swim as soon as we checked-in our room. At around 17:00, we planned to try out the couple massage which we realised we needed. While paying at the counter, the man informed us that there was a pool party at the Palace Hotel from 18:00 – 22:00. The pool party’s DJ played awesome music, he played 70’s, 80’s and 90’s music. I started dancing when he played Boney M and Peter Andre.

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The Palace Hotel is part of the Al Hamra Village and it just a 10 minute walk from each other. Al Hamra Village has a Massage Centre, Restaurants and Swimming Pool. While Palace Hotel offers the same facilities, they have 2 pros which are:-

  1. They have 2 Swimming Pools. One of the pool has a volleyball net.
  2. Access to the Beach

Although it is a 5 star hotel, the rooms are fairly reasonably priced. So if ever you want to visit Ras Al Khaimah on a budget, we recommend this hotel. The only con we found is that WIFI is only provided in the Hotel reception and not in the rooms.

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Hotel Rating : 5 STARS

Budget : $$$

Hotel Service : 7.5/10

Visited : 18th August 2017

Hotel Activities Include : Travel Agency Counter to book Touristic Activities

Tips :

  • If you are staying in Al Hamra Village, you can still have breakfast in the Palace Hotel.
  • Seafood Restaurant located in the Palace is included in the Entertainer.
  • Ask Al Hamra Reception if they offer discount coupons for the restaurants in both Al Hamra and Palace.

*this is not a sponsored post and all opinions are my own

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A Luxurious Weekend Stay in Dubai Desert

Tim and I booked a 1 night stay at Bab Al Shams for the weekend. The hotel is expensive and seems far from civilisation but actually it is quite close to Al Maktoum Airport.

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Since we always book our hotel stays with Booking.com,  are now registered as a ‘Genius Member’  so we get discounted rates. We paid AED 855 (£ 176) for 1 night stay with no breakfast. The breakfast was served at Al Forsan which costs AED 130 (£37) per person. Luckily we didn’t purchase the stay with breakfast because we slept till check out. We stayed up late the night before chilling at Al Sarab Rooftop Lounge. We smoked Shisha AKA Hookah and had burgers & pizza for dinner. (So much for healthy eating)

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Hotel check in world wide usually starts at 14:00 but what Tim and I do is, we arrive at 11:00 and use the amenities of the hotel before checking in. However, a room was available upon arrival so we managed to check in early and also got our room upgraded from Superior Room to a Terrace King Room. The room reminded us of the Riad we stayed at in Morocco; the bed was extremely comfy that also explains why we over slept. Tim and I spent most of our time by the pool to get a tan while reading a book but I had to stop because the glue melted and the pages were falling off. (That’s when a Kindle is needed) Anyway the hotel has 3 swimming areas, the first one has a pool bar,  the second one overlooks the desert and the third one has beach chairs to swim and sun bathe.

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We highly recommend you to visit the place, there are lots of activities to do and the hotel also facilitates a lot of desert activities.

Hotel Rating : 5 STARS

Budget : $$$$$

Hotel Service : 9/10

Visited : 30th June 2017

Hotel Activities Include : Spa, Desert Drive, Came Riding Picture with the Falcon and Archery.

Tips : Camel Ride is free from 17:00 – 18:00. At Check In always ask for the free came ride. In addition, if you are an Emirates NBD card holder, you’ll be able to avail 15% discount from all the restaurants in the hotel.

Restaurants : Al Hadeerah, Masala, Al Forsan, Al Sarab Rooftop Lounge, Al Shurooq Lounge, Ya Hala Bar & Pool Bar

Yella Habibi Enjoy Your Stay

*this is not a sponsored post and all opinions are my own

 

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Hipster Hotel in Dubai

Rove Hotel offers an urban hipster kinda looking style hotel for budgeted travellers. The company I work for offered discounted rates for staff in any of the 3 branches in Dubai. So Tim and I selected Downtown area, it is closer to Dubai Mall and the hub of the city.

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We’ve booked 2 rooms so that my father and brothers can experience the hotel and it’s accommodating services. We paid £40 (AED 200) a night inclusive of breakfast and tax. We all arrived at 1PM for an early check in. Later, we got into our swimming suits and went for a swim and of course sun bathing.

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As it got dark, we went back to our rooms to rest a little and get ready for dinner. We then went for a walk to Dubai Mall which took us around 15 minutes. We had the entertainer vouchers so we ate at an Asian restaurant called ‘Japengo’.

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We went back to our hotel to have tea and juices at their only restaurant called ‘The Daily’ and it’s the same place where we had our breakfast. The next day, we woke up at 6AM went straight to the gym and afterwards had breakfast and of course went for a swim.

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The hotel is a lovely place to stay, it’s cozy and affordable. The ambiance is urban but homely and the reception has a play station for the people to play. Definitely a good hotel to stay at for budgeted travellers.

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UAE – Our trip to Tilal Liwa

UAE – Our trip to Tilal Liwa

Tim and I took a day off to be able to spend a night at the hotel located in the middle of no where, a place called Liwa near to Madinat (City) Zayed and close to the boarders of Saudi Arabia.

We stayed at a hotel called Tilal Liwa, it looked like an Arabian palace, the pool was located in the middle of the hotel but with a spectacular view of the Arabian desert. After swimming for hours and of course getting sun kissed, we decided to book quad bikes to explore the desert. Little did we know what was going to happen. Tim had an accident. His quad bike flipped up in the air.

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I told my husband to wait for me till I get back with the emergency team from the hotel, so I went to get the first aid team and got back to the site not finding TIM so obviously I thought I lost my way and started crying thinking I will never find my husband in the Sahara. But then he found us, YES!! HE GOT BACK TO THE QUAD BIKE INJURED AND ALL because he thought I won’t be able to find my way back. OMG! I had the scare of my life.

Anyway our mini vacation continued having dinner in the desert, swimming and reading a book. We are planning to visit the hotel another time because it was marvellously wonderful.

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