The Dubai Diaries in Fujairah

A couple of weeks ago my best friend Lucy finally came to visit me in Dubai! What with me travelling most of the time and her working full-time in the UK, it’s never been easy to plan a visit out here, but we finally got our act together, I booked some leave and Lucy got hers approved, found some cheap(ish) flights and before we knew it, I was picking her up at Dubai airport ready for a week of adventures!

Since it was her first time in Dubai, I tried to plan a few things to show both sides of the city, old and new, as well as plenty of time for relaxing, just as a holiday should be.

After a good few days full of sightseeing and eating out, I surprised her with a trip to Fujairah, one of the 7 emirates of the UAE. I actually came here around the same time last year with my friend Kirsty, however it was only a day trip – this time we’d be staying overnight.

It’s about a 2 hour drive from Dubai, so by lunchtime we’d arrived at our hotel ready for some sunbathing, swimming and cocktails!

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I chose the Le Meridien Al Aqah resort, since they offer a really great discount for Emirates Crew, which was very handy! It also had the best reviews out of all of the hotels in Fujairah.

Since our room wasn’t ready straight away, we popped down to the pool area and ordered a deliciously refreshing mojito, sitting in the sunshine in a gorgeous little cabana!

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We couldn’t wait to get our bikinis on and get in that pool, so as soon as our room was ready we headed up to the 16th floor, where our luggage was already waiting for us, changed and came straight back down to make the most of the afternoon sunshine.

We both took our books with us, and alternated between reading, lazing in the pool when we got too hot, and drinking another cocktail! Because if you can’t drink cocktails in the daytime when you’re on holiday, when can you?!

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As the sun started to set, we made out way back up to our room to get ready for some dinner.

The room I had booked us was on the club floor, which meant we had access to the club lounge, as well as drinks and nibbles in the evening.

It also had a balcony with a fantastic view of the nearby mountains and was just perfect for watching the sunset.

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Our room had an enormous bathroom with a gorgeous marble bathtub (which I somehow managed to forget to take a picture of!) so we both had a long soak, enjoying a cup of tea on the balcony while the other was in the bath! We took our time getting ready, before heading up to the bar to enjoy a few pre-dinner drinks.

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We sat chatting and enjoying our wine for a good while, before heading downstairs to the Thai restaurant for some dinner.

The next morning we woke up ready for some more sunshine, and after a delicious buffet breakfast made our way back out to the pool for a day of relaxation.

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The hotel also offers tons of other activities throughout the day, so we started off with a session of aqua-aerobics in the pool! Luckily we weren’t the only ones, as we did feel a bit silly, but it was a great way to work off breakfast!

We spent the day doing pretty much the same as the day before – reading, swimming, playing a few games of table tennis (which I had to admit defeat to!) and lazing in the sun.

Our club lounge also included afternoon tea, which we made the most of before the drive back to Dubai. Neither of us wanted to leave, but unfortunately Lucy’s flight was leaving bright and early the next morning, so I drove us back to Dubai for the final evening of the holiday.

A relaxing stay in Fujairah was the perfect end to Lucy’s holiday and my staycation, and I would highly recommend the Le Meridien Al Aqah if you’re thinking about it!

I’m so happy Lucy made it out to Dubai, and fingers crossed she’ll be back soon! 🙂

P.s. Follow me on Instagram & Twitter for more day-to-day updates of where I am in the world! 🙂

8 Comments

  1. Ashr
    March 26, 2016 / 12:08 am

    Greetings! Thank you so much for sharing such a wonderful experience that you had in Fujairah. I never thought that the UAE could be so beautiful and so free( even though it is an Islamic country) to allow two European ladies travel by themselves within the country. It was great to read about the fun you had there !! We need to read more about this in the New World!! ie North America where the Middle East is not depicted in a favorable light. Thank you for sharing!!

    • thedubaidiaries
      Author
      March 27, 2016 / 4:09 pm

      Hi there! Thanks so much for reading, I’m really glad you enjoyed the post. The UAE is very westernised and you’re right, we do need to see it more favourably!

  2. MK
    March 24, 2016 / 3:40 am

    Hi! Do you know of any cabin crew that fell for a passenger they met on a flight and ended up swapping flights for that passengers country as much as possible so they could spend time together…..or is that something impractical that would only happen in the movies?

    • thedubaidiaries
      Author
      March 27, 2016 / 4:07 pm

      Hi there! Yeah I’m sure that happens, haha! Plenty of crew have boyfriends/girlfriends in another country and swap as many fights as they can for that city!

  3. Lisa
    March 11, 2016 / 9:40 am

    Hello can I ask what the portfolio is that new crew have to complete before the officially graduate? 🙂

    • thedubaidiaries
      Author
      March 27, 2016 / 3:54 pm

      I’m actually not too sure since it’s only been introduced quite recently! I think it’s just different stuff about your flights, although I’m not too sure exactly! 🙂

  4. March 10, 2016 / 5:06 pm

    Great read! I will definitely try that hotel I guess. Have fun in Rome:)

    • thedubaidiaries
      Author
      March 27, 2016 / 3:53 pm

      Thank you! I had a lovely time in Rome, thank you 🙂

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