Lonely Planet is capable of producing very good guides when it tries to cover a destination and not set the world straight. I have seen excellent guides by Lonely Planet, but this is not one of them.



This is not a guidebook to Dubai - this is a guidebook to the author's own busybody and killjoy brain. Disguised as pieces as 'another opinion', the text is littered with nuggets of 'responsible thought' - even desert safary should leave you worried because, you see, it is POTENTIALLY damaging the evironment. Potentially? Or is it that there is no proven harm of riding jeeps on the sand but in the twisted spirit of Lonely Planet, one should always frown upon irresponsible ways of the world.



The guide goes on for pages and pages of what has to be the most irrelevant, useless and inacurrate advice. Airline 'tariffs' (what do these have to do with what you actually pay) are shown down to the nearest dollar, the trouble is that it has nothing to do with reality. Maybe if the authors were less concerned with wacky socialist ideas (you see, according to some friends of LP, airline alliances nowadays 'restrict the competition' - I couldn't make it up if I wanted) and curious preoccupations with anything in Dubai that comes from 'the former Soviet Union' (the author appears never to have let go after the self-confessed experience of being mistaken for an Eastern European sex worker), they would have more time to research something properly.



Like hotel prices, for example. What is that lunacy about? How can they be SO inaccurate? Have they even checked? Or were they too busy lamenting that there are few 'cheapies' (their world, not mine) in town that proper research was not a priority. Come to think of it, maybe it is just as well that there aren't many cheap hotels in Dubai, otherwise it would be full of people like the authors of this book and a city full of people like that would not look pretty.



You will see that in this thin guide so much space is taken by irrelevant 'general' advice (common sense or misguided information, much of which is recycled from other LP guides and which is either outdated, inaccurate or blindingly obvious to anyone who doesn't use the word 'cheapies' in daily life), that descriptions of things to see are so thin and short that they could have been avoided altogether.



Indeed, you will find more info about Dubai on Emirates airline website than you would in this incompetent and amateurish book. Waste of money - and another proof that LP should keep its unwashed hands off the places that do not particularly welcome the penny-pinching crowd.

Lonely Planet is capable of producing very good guides when it tries to cover a destination and not set the world straight. I have seen excellent guides by Lonely Planet, but this is not one of them.

This is not a guidebook to Dubai - this is a guidebook to the author's own busybody and killjoy brain. Disguised as pieces as 'another opinion', the text is littered with nuggets of 'responsible thought' - even desert safary should leave you worried because, you see, it is POTENTIALLY damaging the evironment. Potentially? Or is it that there is no proven harm of riding jeeps on the sand but in the twisted spirit of Lonely Planet, one should always frown upon irresponsible ways of the world.

The guide goes on for pages and pages of what has to be the most irrelevant, useless and inacurrate advice. Airline 'tariffs' (what do these have to do with what you actually pay) are shown down to the nearest dollar, the trouble is that it has nothing to do with reality. Maybe if the authors were less concerned with wacky socialist ideas (you see, according to some friends of LP, airline alliances nowadays 'restrict the competition' - I couldn't make it up if I wanted) and curious preoccupations with anything in Dubai that comes from 'the former Soviet Union' (the author appears never to have let go after the self-confessed experience of being mistaken for an Eastern European sex worker), they would have more time to research something properly.

Like hotel prices, for example. What is that lunacy about? How can they be SO inaccurate? Have they even checked? Or were they too busy lamenting that there are few 'cheapies' (their world, not mine) in town that proper research was not a priority. Come to think of it, maybe it is just as well that there aren't many cheap hotels in Dubai, otherwise it would be full of people like the authors of this book and a city full of people like that would not look pretty.

You will see that in this thin guide so much space is taken by irrelevant 'general' advice (common sense or misguided information, much of which is recycled from other LP guides and which is either outdated, inaccurate or blindingly obvious to anyone who doesn't use the word 'cheapies' in daily life), that descriptions of things to see are so thin and short that they could have been avoided altogether.

Indeed, you will find more info about Dubai on Emirates airline website than you would in this incompetent and amateurish book. Waste of money - and another proof that LP should keep its unwashed hands off the places that do not particularly welcome the penny-pinching crowd.

Perhaps if the reviewer from Seattle had been smart enough to buy the second edition (which doesn't describe the Burj as a casino), he might have found it more useful. It would also be more up to date.

This book saved my behind in Dubai and increased the value of my experience there. I had such a great time and it further solidifies my faith in Lonely Planet books. Too bad there's not an update to address the newest hotel in Dubai, the Burj-Al-Arab. This should be the first resource guide you should buy in addition to doing more homework to enjoy Dubai.

This is the one and only good guide on Dubai. For the visitor to the worker it covers all aspects of life and pleasure, ranges of activities and budgets. Using this guide I managed to bargain my way into a budget of $40 a day, which certainly meant low range accomadation and eating, but this city is still definately kicking and worth a much larger 'splurge', after spending time in some of the neighbouring countries. Well worth the extra money then simply buying the UAE and Oman guide, or the middle east guide for that matter, if you plan on spending a lot of time in the city. The guide captures the essence of the place and truly prepares you on a realistic scale as for the weather, costs and atmosphere of Dubai. As usual there could have been more flowing information on getting there and away. The next guide should expand on day trips, especialy to the good beaches in the region, have a better variety of car rental information. As well check out some more of the cafe's in town, which is one of the few ways to meet locals and expats. Five Stars Five Stars.