Please recommend a tour company in Dubai & A Dhabi

They look just like bank branch offices (many banks also have branch offices in the malls so you can use either a bank or an exchange). A couple of the larger exchanges are UAE Exchange, Al Ansari Exchange, Sharafexchange, Al Rostamani Exchange. The reason we have so many is to facilitate transfer of funds to home countries for expatriate labour who may not meet the requirements of international banks to open accounts with them, so they serve the same purpose as banks - they are not back street money dealers like you may find in some other countries... If you go in a mall and pick up one of the directory pamphlets from the information desks you’ll find both banks and money exchanges listed in them along with their location within the mall..

 

Anne..

Thank you Ann. Such a good explanation. I keep these notes on my planner.

Got a couple of questions for you Anne...if you wouldn't mind.

1. We are staying at the Holiday Inn, Al Barsha in December. Picked it, as its close to a metro station (Sharaf) and sort of central in Dubai. We are more or less next door to the Mall of the Emirates and I see there is a HOHO bus stop there. I think it is on the bottom level of the multi storey car park. Do you know if we can easily walk into the car park to access the bus stop from the 'snow dome' side, or have we got to come in through the main entrance on the metro station side?

2. We will be in Dubai for a week, then in Abu Dhabi for 3 days before embarking the Constellation. To cut down on luggage, we will need to do some laundry prior to getting on the ship. Normally we'd just go to a self service launderette, but I don't think there are any in Dubai or AD...just places that do it for you. Can you recommend one in Dubai or AD, or do you know if the hotels that do laundry on site or send it out? I suspect if they 'send it out', they will charge you extra for the privilege!, so we'd probably like to sort it out ourselves.

Thanks for any help

Simon

Got a couple of questions for you Anne...if you wouldn't mind.

 

1. We are staying at the Holiday Inn, Al Barsha in December. Picked it, as its close to a metro station (Sharaf) and sort of central in Dubai. We are more or less next door to the Mall of the Emirates and I see there is a HOHO bus stop there. I think it is on the bottom level of the multi storey car park. Do you know if we can easily walk into the car park to access the bus stop from the 'snow dome' side, or have we got to come in through the main entrance on the metro station side?

 

2. We will be in Dubai for a week, then in Abu Dhabi for 3 days before embarking the Constellation. To cut down on luggage, we will need to do some laundry prior to getting on the ship. Normally we'd just go to a self service launderette, but I don't think there are any in Dubai or AD...just places that do it for you. Can you recommend one in Dubai or AD, or do you know if the hotels that do laundry on site or send it out? I suspect if they 'send it out', they will charge you extra for the privilege!, so we'd probably like to sort it out ourselves.

 

Thanks for any help

 

Simon

Simon,

The HoHo bus pick up will be on the groud floor level of the car park as I feel certain there is a bus lane there as many hotels operate shuttle services to the mall and the entrance will be from the Al Barsha side of the mall. Just follow the signs for taxis or buses and it should take you to the place you need to be. The pedestrian mall entrance on the upper level was only created when the Metro opened as it links directly to the MoE metro station, prior to that the main entrance was on the ski slope side of the mall...

Leave the laundry question with me and I’ll get back to you on that one...

Anne..

Simon,

 

The HoHo bus pick up will be on the groud floor level of the car park as I feel certain there is a bus lane there as many hotels operate shuttle services to the mall and the entrance will be from the Al Barsha side of the mall. Just follow the signs for taxis or buses and it should take you to the place you need to be. The pedestrian mall entrance on the upper level was only created when the Metro opened as it links directly to the MoE metro station, prior to that the main entrance was on the ski slope side of the mall...

 

Leave the laundry question with me and I’ll get back to you on that one...

 

Anne..

Thanks very much...appreciate your time.

Simon

Thanks very much...appreciate your time.

 

Simon

I was with a friend last night who regularly uses the MoE for shopping and is more familiar with Al Barsha area than me. She assures me there are lots of laundry and or dry cleaners located close to the mall and the hotels that are there too. I did a quick google search and it came up with several pinned to a map of the area....I would suggest you do the same as I did and just google 'Laundries in Al Barsha 1' when you are at the hotel and check out the ones that come up as being closest to the Holiday Inn. Whilst we do not have laundromats here, most of these laundry services offer 24 hour service....

Anne..

Thanks very much for the info Anne. Appreciated.

Simon

Anne,thank you so much for your recommendation of Dubai private tour. We were in Dubai in April pre cruise and used them for an all day trip to Abu Dhabi. So reasonably priced compared to others,and we had a great day and tour in Abu Dhabi with our guide Ajay. We'll be back next year and use them again. Definitely a highlight of the trip. Thanks again for the advice.

Anne,thank you so much for your recommendation of Dubai private tour. We were in Dubai in April pre cruise and used them for an all day trip to Abu Dhabi. So reasonably priced compared to others,and we had a great day and tour in Abu Dhabi with our guide Ajay. We'll be back next year and use them again. Definitely a highlight of the trip. Thanks again for the advice.

Hi FDNY: please detail how did you get in touch with the tour company in order to inquire about their tours. Did you just email them? Thank you for sharing your experience.