The welcome
When travelling from Abu Dhabi to Dubai Marina, road signage is less than specific, so after turning off into the southern part of the marina, I’m left with no option but to head onto the E11 back towards Abu Dhabi and make a U-turn at Discovery Gardens, and after following signs to JBR, waiting in lines of traffic and making a U-turn again on Al Sufouh Road, I’m finally heading up the steep ramp to the twin-tower Habtoor Grand. The entrance is crowded but staff unload the car and deftly unpack my stuff as I check in. The hotel has been newly refurbished and the lobby is fresh, with a mostly holiday atmosphere.
The neighbourhood
The Habtoor Grand sits at the northern end of Jumeirah Beach Residence, next to Le Meridien and Skydive Dubai. It has its own landscaped grounds and beach access, a swimming pool and numerous restaurants. From the hotel you can walk the entire length of Jumeirah Beach Residence, with the newly opened The Beach mall about 10 minutes away.
The scene
The hotel was busy with holidaymakers from various countries. The outside areas were more relaxing, and the hotel comes into its own in the evening, when most of the other guests disappear indoors and you can watch the sunset by the beach, followed by a swim in the pool (heated in winter). The outside of the hotel has a quirky, almost retro feel, which I liked.
The room
The rooms and corridors are freshly refurbished, with a nautical feel. The balconies are small and a bit vertigo-inducing, but I have a good view over the beach and Skydive Dubai. The back of the towers face the northern end of the marina.
The service
Very good – staff are generally well trained and proactive.
The food
The hotel has a variety of good restaurants. At Luciano’s, the Italian restaurant, the burrata cheese with a sweet balsamic tomato salad (Dh75) was fresh, tasty and authentic; the parmigiana di melanzane (Dh75) was also good and generously portioned. At Al Basha, the Arabic restaurant, the fattoush (Dh38) and hummus with meat (Dh44) were good, and the freshly baked Arabic bread was appreciated. At Fish Bazaar, which is a fish restaurant combined with a Thai restaurant, the batera tuna (Dh55) was a kind of fish cake, with tuna, avocado, rice, spicy sauce and radish salad, and good value. There is an impressive array of fresh fish and other seafood cooked to order.
Loved
The evening swim and the Elixir spa, which was low-key but fairly large, with obliging staff. The hour-long therapeutic massage (Dh495) was by a skilled Filipino therapist and left me feeling like I could take on the world. The adjacent gym is large and well-equipped.
Hated
There were three lifts in my tower but there was always a fairly long wait to get in any of them, especially at check-out time when one was out of service. Late at night in my room, I could hear other guests and staff going in and out of rooms and banging doors. There is a charge for the Wi-Fi and only two devices can be connected at once, with a login code.
The verdict
A self-contained destination for a mini, almost Mediterranean-style holiday in Dubai away from Dubai, away from roads, traffic and driving.
The bottom line
Double rooms at the Habtoor Grand (
[ grandjumeirah.habtoorhotels.com ]
; 04 704 8888) cost from Dh1,078 per night including taxes.
rbehan@thenational.ae
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Kill
Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
Starring: Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya, Raghav Juyal
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs: 2018 Nissan Patrol Nismo
Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 428hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 3,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km
Getting there
The flights
Flydubai operates up to seven flights a week to Helsinki. Return fares to Helsinki from Dubai start from Dh1,545 in Economy and Dh7,560 in Business Class.
The stay
Golden Crown Igloos in Levi offer stays from Dh1,215 per person per night for a superior igloo; www.leviniglut.net
Panorama Hotel in Levi is conveniently located at the top of Levi fell, a short walk from the gondola. Stays start from Dh292 per night based on two people sharing; www. golevi.fi/en/accommodation/hotel-levi-panorama
Arctic Treehouse Hotel in Rovaniemi offers stays from Dh1,379 per night based on two people sharing; www.arctictreehousehotel.com
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 190hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 10.9L/100km
Price: From Dh119,900
On sale: Now
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
Off-roading in the UAE: How to checklist
Company Profile
Name: Raha
Started: 2022
Based: Kuwait/Saudi
Industry: Tech Logistics
Funding: $14 million
Investors: Soor Capital, eWTP Arabia Capital, Aujan Enterprises, Nox Management, Cedar Mundi Ventures
Number of employees: 166
MATHC INFO
England 19 (Try: Tuilagi; Cons: Farrell; Pens: Ford (4)
New Zealand 7 (Try: Savea; Con: Mo'unga)
if you go
The flights
Fly direct to Kutaisi with Flydubai from Dh925 return, including taxes. The flight takes 3.5 hours. From there, Svaneti is a four-hour drive. The driving time from Tbilisi is eight hours.
The trip
The cost of the Svaneti trip is US$2,000 (Dh7,345) for 10 days, including food, guiding, accommodation and transfers from and to Tbilisi or Kutaisi. This summer the TCT is also offering a 5-day hike in Armenia for $1,200 (Dh4,407) per person. For further information, visit www.transcaucasiantrail.org/en/hike/
THE BIO:
Favourite holiday destination: Thailand. I go every year and I’m obsessed with the fitness camps there.
Favourite book: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. It’s an amazing story about barefoot running.
Favourite film: A League of their Own. I used to love watching it in my granny’s house when I was seven.
Personal motto: Believe it and you can achieve it.
Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
A Bad Moms Christmas
Dir: John Lucas and Scott Moore
Starring: Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, Susan Sarandon, Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines
Two stars
