Tanya & Hua Loo Loo in Switzerland

There are two sides of Dubai to explore - the flashy world of breathtaking hotels, gourmet treats and luxury shopping; and the earthier old Dubai of wind towers, mosques, shwarma and souqs.

My top day usually involves showing guests around the city, 
and nothing goes down better than starting the day with a dip in the Gulf complete with an uninterrupted view of the Burj al-Arab from the beach at Jumeirah. 

The next stop is always a step back in history with a trip to the Dubai Museum. 
Suitably amused and impressed, my guests are usually keen to keep the heritage theme happening 
so we'll take a walk through the Bastakia area and down to the Heritage and Diving Village.

 After a bite to eat it's off to Deira City Centre to start comparing rug prices before heading to the Gold Souq as it inshallah  (God willing!) gets a little cooler. 

As everyone is always keen to keep shopping, we'll head to Souq Madinat Jumeirah, where my hidden agenda is scoring my favourite spot outside at Bahri Bar, with its unsurpassed views of Mina A' Salam and the Burj al-Arab. 

After a couple of sunset drinks it's generally off to one of my favourite Moroccan restaurants, usually Tagine, so my guests can have some sheesha (tobacco smoked through a water pipe) afterwards in the atmospheric Courtyard outside.

 If the weather's cool enough, we'll then head to Sho Cho, where the DJ keeps the tunes in time with the breaking waves and then kick on to Boudoir where bottles of spirits and dancers share the tabletops.