Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates with Kids : A City Getaway

Having lived in Dubai for more than a decade – the thought of doing a staycation in a hotel attached to Mall of the Emirates would never, ever cross our minds. It’s literally 10 minutes from home and we go to MOE a lot. So why on earth would we even consider staying in the […]

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A Tea Sommelier Experience @ Seasalt, Alila Hinu Bay – Mirbat Oman

Have you ever done a Tea Sommelier experience? During our stay in Alila Hinu Bay, I had the opportunity to do a one on one session with the very lovely Maureen in their signature restaurant – Seasalt. The husband was not interested had to stay with the kids in the Kids Club which was conveniently […]

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A Relaxing Family Staycation @ Al Baleed Resort Salalah by Anantara

Right by the Salalah coast lies a luxury resort whose name we may be quite familiar with : Al Baleed Resort Salalah by Anantara. We stayed here with the kids in April 2022 on the second half of our Salalah trip – with just one goal in mind : to relax, and we did just […]

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Excursions from Alila Hinu Bay : Journey through the Mirbat Coast

On the third day in Alila Hinu Bay, we got on a boat with the amazing Frank from Ocean Sense. Similar to the Wadi Darbat excursion, this is booked through Alila and they will organise everything for you. More packed lunches and drinks so you don’t have to worry about all that. Frank picked us up […]

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Excursions from Alila Hinu Bay : Journey to Wadi Darbat

On the second day in Alila Hinu Bay, we went on an excursion through to Jabal Samhan to Wadi Darbat with the family. You can book this through Alila and they will organise everything for you – including packed lunches and drinks so you can have it as a picnic while you are there. The […]

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An idyllic family retreat @ Alila Hinu Bay, Mirbat Oman

Tucked away in Mirbat, Oman – sits an expansive and stunning property by the name of Alila Hinu Bay. We had the privilege of staying here with the family early April 2022 during its soft opening phase. Here’s what we thought of the resort, and why you should definitely add this to your Oman Bucket […]

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Dubai to Salalah with Kids : An Overview

We spent 5 nights in Salalah during the Spring Break – April 2022. This was the first time visiting the South Eastern side of Oman – having been to Muscat almost ten years ago now. It was also our first real holiday since Summer of 2019 so we were fairly nervous and excited at the […]

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Family Staycation in Downtown Dubai – Address Boulevard Dubai

Address Boulevard Dubai opened its door earlier this year. Yes, I know  – another Address 🙂 So everyone knows the infamous Address Downtown Dubai which made headlines news NYE 2016. It’s not that one – this is the brand new beautiful property, which is located opposite Fashion parking, and you got it – along the Emaar […]

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A luxurious visit to the Capital @ Jumeirah Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi

Back home from a short getaway to the capital. We used the 2nd, and last of the staycation voucher in our Isme Elite app this time  – a “city getaway” – at Jumeirah Etihad Towers Hotel in Abu Dhabi 🙂 It was either that, or Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai (too close to home, the […]

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Our weekend away @ Al Qasr with a baby

First “holiday” away from our apartment last weekend. Social media has been driving me a little nuts lately with photos of everyone on their summer holiday (insert sulk face) . So after a lot of research on the newly launched Isme Elite app, we decided that it was pretty worth it, went ahead – bought it, […]

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The sad state of Al Qudra Lakes

About a year ago, we took a drive out into the desert in search of this placed called ‘Al Qudra’, as recommended by a workmate of mine. I did a post (click here), and a lot of friends and workmates have since gone and sent me photos of their trips with their families which I […]

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Our beach suite getaway @ Sofitel Dubai The Palm

Why don’t we have a bathtub in our bedroom? Now if your wife asks you this, an easy way to make her happy is to take her to a Beach Suite in Sofitel the Palm 🙂 So, picture this. The bellboy takes you to your suite and you try your best to keep calm when […]

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A day out @ Saadiyat Beach Club

Home from work drinks at Iris 🙂 In blogging mood. So here’s one, specially written for Nada Al Ghowainim from Undefined Declarations. We met briefly at the Coffee Club Middle East launch many months ago.  Very sweet girl, and recently she was on twitter asking for somewhere to recommend for a staycation to Abu Dhabi for […]

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A weekend spent @ Vida Hotel, Downtown Dubai

I like Vida’s concept. They do things simple, and minimal, and they do it well. Over the last year or so we’ve reviewed quite a few of their outlets as part of an invitation, and would honestly recommend it to friends and workmates. Just recently, we were invited for a staycation at the hotel (yay!). I […]

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A drive-through Al Qudra Camping Oasis

How to get there? I don’t know how to do this insert Googlemaps into blog business so here’s as good as it gets. Search ‘Al Qudra Camping Oasis’ and it’ll pop out. Easy, right? The GPS coordinates are 24.837536, 55.376665. For some reason the lakes don’t show up if you’re in ‘Map’ mode so change it to Satellite […]

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A Night in Meydan Hotel

Somebody tell me who did the interior design for Meydan Hotel’s rooms? I love it! The rooms are rectangular, but they managed to fit it out in such a way that when you open the door, all you see is an curved alleyway leading into your grand home away from home. You feel like a […]

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A night in Waldorf Astoria, Ras al Khaimah

What a weekend 😀 So, G picked me up from work on Thursday, and off we went up north, driving along the west-coast of the UAE towards Ras Al Khaimah 🙂 We’ve only been up to RAK once since moving here , and honestly never had any reason to go back up since. Good thing […]

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