In a city known for its family-friendliness and relaxed atmosphere, iftar and suhoor buffets are sure to be a great place to gather to celebrate the holy month. We round-up five iftars to try in Al Ain.
Al Ain Rotana
Iftar buffet at Zest, until 10.30pm, from Dh175; 50 per cent off for children aged six to 12; free for children under six, live stations, starters, main courses, desserts and Ramadan juices.
Suhoor at Al Zaeem Tent, from Dh50; shisha from Dh55, entertainment includes games and an oud player from 8pm, quiz night on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 8pm to 1am
03 754 5111, www.rotanatimes.com/alainrotana
Ayla Hotels & Resorts Al Ain
Iftar buffet from Dh105 at Ayla Restaurant at Ayla Hotel; from Dh80 at Sedra Bawadi Restaurant at Ayla Bawadi Hotel; from Dh129 at Nara Restaurant at Ayla Grand Hotel. Buffets include Indian, Oriental and Continental foods. Weekly raffles for the chance to win prizes worth more than Dh10,000 including mall vouchers and prizes from Coca-Cola and Mediclinic.
Ayla Hotel, 03 761 0111; Ayla Bawadi Hotel in Bawadi Mall, 03 703 0111, www.aylahotels.com
Danat Al Ain Resort
Iftar buffet at Arabesque restaurant until 8.30pm features international cuisine and a section of Arabic cuisine, from Dh109 on weekdays; from Dh125 on weekends. Book during the first week of Ramadan for buy-one-get-one free; after the first week, it is get one free when 10 book.
Suhoor at Oasis Café from 8.30pm to 2am is an a la carte menu of Arabic cuisine, with a minimum spend of Dh50 on weekdays; from Dh75 on weekends. There will be shisha from Dh45, and entertainment including a Kanoon player and a Tanoora dancer.
03 704 6000, alain.danathotels.com
Aloft Al Ain
Iftar buffet at Olive Tree restaurant features a variety of traditional Arabian style foods, from sunset to 10pm daily from Dh120 per person.
Suhoor at WXYZ bar is a la carte and has shisha from Dh50. It runs from sunset to 2am.
03 713 8888, www.marriott.com
Radisson Blu Al Ain
Iftar is a buffet of Arabic food at Flavours restaurant and adults can dine from Dh120 and children from Dh50 until 10.30pm. Then visit the Iftar tent, which features shisha from Dh65, as well as activities and a buffet from Dh95.
Suhoor also takes place at Flavours restaurant and features a buffet of Arabic food, different from those at iftar, and runs from Dh85 from 2am to 3.30am.
03 768 6666, www.radissonblu.com
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Read more:
Ramadan 2019: iftars to try in Dubai
Ramadan 2019: Abu Dhabi's best places to try
Ramadan 2019: international iftars and suhoors to try in the UAE
Ramadan 2019: Vegan and vegetarian iftars to try in the UAE
Ramadan 2019: Suhoor tents to try in the UAE
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Short-term let permits explained
Homeowners and tenants are allowed to list their properties for rental by registering through the Dubai Tourism website to obtain a permit.
Tenants also require a letter of no objection from their landlord before being allowed to list the property.
There is a cost of Dh1,590 before starting the process, with an additional licence fee of Dh300 per bedroom being rented in your home for the duration of the rental, which ranges from three months to a year.
Anyone hoping to list a property for rental must also provide a copy of their title deeds and Ejari, as well as their Emirates ID.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Company profile
Name: One Good Thing
Founders: Bridgett Lau and Micheal Cooke
Based in: Dubai
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 5 employees
Stage: Looking for seed funding
Investors: Self-funded and seeking external investors
