Shopping in Dubai

Steve Garley takes us on a personalised shopping tour of Dubai…

It’s really difficult to keep up with the seemingly constant changes in this great city. They say you need to come back to Dubai every six months to check what has happened!   That’s true for the amenities, the hotels and certainly the shopping!

New on the scene since I was last there is the Dubai Mall. As ever in Dubai, it is the biggest of its kind in the world, with 600 shops open now and 600 to follow in the summer. Best place to stay to be close to this shopping paradise is the Palace in the shadow of the Burj Tower.

If it’s a shopping mall with the most expensive stores and brands you’re after, then it must be Wafi near the Creek. It’s in the shape of a pyramid and sphinx and houses Chanel and Escada as well as newcomers like Kitson. The flagship store is Salam with a wealth of prestige international brands. If you want to be on the doorstep of luxury check out Raffles- it adjoins it.

Karama is the place for fake watches, handbags and clothing. The tacky stuff is at ground level on display. To get to the best of the fakes you will be taken to a different location. Don’t be alarmed when you need go round the corner and up some stairs to find the best stuff. You need to bargain like crazy. Oh, and remember to check at the end that the watch works – ours did not!

The Gold Souk is famous It’s an area of small jewellery stores selling yellow gold on the edge of the Creek. Try to get here in the late morning when the stores and area is less busy. To get the right price you need to haggle. Next door is the Spice Souk. It is great to buy some Iranian saffron.  Good value and very small in your luggage.

I still like the Mall of the Emirates. I love to watch the skiing at the biggest indoor ski slope in the Middle East.   It is also worth taking a 30 Minute taxi ride out of town to the Outlet Mall. It’s one million square feet of pure discount!  OK, it is last year’s models and the sizes tend to be very small, small or big and huge, but the prices are a fraction of the original

So when’s the best time to buy?  When the sales are on! There are two big promotions:  Dubai Shopping Festival is in the winter months and Dubai Summer Surprises runs in the summer.

They are both pretty full on, but if you’re prepared to haggle, even in the upmarket boutiques, you will get some additional discount.  Dubai is not the place for cheap bargains (with the possible exception of the Outlet Mall), but you will get well known and established brands and quality locally produced merchandise at prices that do represent outstandingly good value for money.

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