Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Dubai Encounter

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Not know much about Dubai when I was first asked to go, I learned a great deal from this book. I learn about different areas, where to go and what the culture was like. Specificly I found the section on "women traveling to Dubai" very helpful. It pointed out how to expect to be treated when going out to eat, what to wear, and where to stay.
I highly recommand this book and even more so if you're a woman.

We used this guide extensively during our recent trip to Dubai. We found the information to be accurate and comprehensive. We tried a few or the reviewed restaurants, shops, and excursions and were very pleased.

LP hits another grand slam. I have not bought one LP that wasn't great. I own about 12.

Keep up the good work.

This one has alot of great information on this amazing city. The maps are a little dated, but what can you expect when youa re mapping the fastest growing city in the world.

My '5 stars' are for Dubai. I'm one of the authors and lived in the UAE for almost 8 years. I guess we do believe the hype, because we've lived it. Dubai is an extraordinary city, the country offers one of the best lifestyles in the world, and the Emirati people - Dubai locals in particular - are incredibly dynamic, funny, laidback, hospitable and tolerant. Having travelled all over the world (to over 50 countries) and recently moved to Europe, Dubai remains one of my favorite cities.
I'd rather not risk repeating what's in our books, but it's true that Dubai has glorious year-round weather (if you like it hot), access to some truly spectactular desert and mountain scenery, some of the world's best shopping (souqs, malls and a growing number of independent stores), restaurants, bars and hotels (and I'm not referring to Burj Al Arab), and a culture that is comprised of both the local and traditional, contemporary and multicultural, that is hybrid and mobile, fresh and alive. Unfortunately, however, we've been just as guilty as the next writers in focussing too much on the city's sun, sand and shopping. Fed up with people criticising the city as being souless (which we know it isn't) and without culture (which we know it has - many complex layers of local, regional and world cultures, in addition to a growing and buzzy arts scene) - in our update of this guide, we try to introduce people to the 'real Dubai' and 'backstreet Dubai' via boxed texts and walking tours that will take visitors off the beaten track. We're hoping these will guide travellers to get beyond the hype and experience more than the beach, desert safaris and malls, and taste a little of the real Dubai - the Dubai that keeps many expatriates in the city so long, and lures vistors back to the city time and time again.

Of all the LP books I've read (probably 30 or 40), this is my least favorite. The authors seem to be working way too hard to sound hip and cool and impress their readers to produce an interesting book for travel addicts. Perhaps they've just been into Dubai a bit too long and have bought into the hype...

This books brings a good overview of the city (although I haven't been there yet) with nice quick tips and facts that usually go unoticed on other travel books.
It lacks however a better map and visual image of the city as a whole.

After reading the book through one time, the cover and the pages fell apart. This does not make the book useful for travel, unless I want to carry it page by page.