It seems that Janelle and I would be jotting down our travel escapades lately. While we were both in Armenia, we have traveled separately in afterwards. Her next entry will most likely will be about Taiwan while today, I will be writing about my recent trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Particularly about the accommodations that hosted me at the time. Say hello to One Perfect Stay!
One Perfect Stay (OPS) isn’t the name of the hotel or apartment…it’s a Dubai-based company that offers holiday home rentals worldwide. This means they have several premium properties that are available for short-term stays. How premium you may ask? Well, I just happen to have stayed at their property atop Souk Al Bahar in Dubai – which is in the heart of downtown and has an unparalleled view of the Burj Khalifa, its dancing fountains and the bustling tourists below. Another vantage was its accessibility to all the food and shopping that you can imagine…I mean, the Dubai Mall was probably less than a hundred steps away. Plus, the landmark of the location is hardly a reason to get lost – so it’s easy to find.
Check-in was pretty casual but cordial. The OPS representative met us in the main Souk Al Bahar, wheeled our luggage up and gave us a rundown of the apartment before leaving us with the keys. We were given a three-bedroom apartment that could probably fit a family of eight if you ask me. We were at the top-most floor that included a balcony, dining room, living room, a functioning kitchen and like four bathrooms – I lost count! The masters’ bedroom was connected to a bathroom that had a his-and-hers sink, toilet, a large bathtub, and a walk-in shower. The best part was of course the view! If you’re a city girl like me, you will marvel at the skyline right across your bedroom window – especially at night. Just look at the photos below:
We are welcomed by the large living room.
Dining room.
One of the other two bedrooms. They looked similar. had a larger closet space.
The adjoining bathroom with two separate sinks. Love that!
Outdoor seating at the balcony.
The view from our balcony.
Hi Burj Khalifa! Nice to see you again. Still gorg as ever.
After settling in, we changed clothes and headed to the Soul Al Bahar a few floors down to find a place to eat. We found the “The Claw” restaurant and pub where we had our vacation drinks started (spell Corona) and a big plate of ribs for the taking. To walk off our dinner, we indulged ourselves in the shops nearby. Souk Al Bahar emanates a traditional souk feeling with its interiors, with several cultural (and quite pricey) souvenirs that you can choose from. From abayas, artworks, jewelries and trinkets, they have it there. For some basic necessities, we went to the locally-known grocery store called “Spinneys” which also had a branch in Souk Al Bahar before heading up to our room.
Our first big meal was at The Claw, one of the few pubs inside Souk Al Bahar.
Path to Souk Al Bahar if coming from Dubai Mall. Just cross the bridge.
The next day, we were scheduled to ride a bus all the way to Abu Dhabi to visit the Louvre – which I will write about in the next entry. In the meantime, I’ll continue the story to the night we got back from AUH and was able to catch one of the dancing fountain’s performances at night. The Dubai Fountain is truly one of the must-sees in Dubai. The designers of this metropolitan marvel are the same people who created the famous fountains in Las Vegas by the Bellagio Hotel Lake – which I have also had the privilege of seeing up close last year. It puts on a show every thirty minutes from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM (weekdays), up to 11:00 PM (weekends). Three of our bedrooms have a view of the fountain, but we thought it best to enjoy it from the balcony as it was a rare chance to see the dancing fountains from that view. After the show, we indulged ourselves with some Xiao Long Baos from Din Tai Fung which we have been eyeing from our apartment since we arrived.
The next day, I met up with one of my college friends named Jaizle at the Dubai Mall nearby and we caught up at a restaurant called “Jones The Grocer” (We were all about trying out restos that weren’t in Riyadh yet). I also ended up doing a “little” (co’ugh) shopping since there was an uber-mega sale happening that weekend (it was the last few days before Ramadan started) and plus, Dubai Mall was home to the world’s largest Nike superstore — I had to buy at least one item from there. 😉 Jou and I also ended up visiting Kinokinuya – a famous book shop and I had fun smelling the printed books….I miss them!
The largest Nike superstore in the world can be found at Dubai Mall.
For our last day, we spent our morning at the SensAsia Urban Spa in The Village, Jumeirah Street. It was recommended to us by Jaizle and hands-down, we two thumbs up-recommend this place too! Jou and I each took on the Balin-Ease Me More massage which was a 90 minute massage for 425 DHS. Everything about the experience was professional and top-notch, we couldn’t stop talking about how great it was afterwards. From the welcome, to the transitions to the massage itself, oh my goodness — we seriously did not want to leave! Unfortunately, we had to check out from the apartment so off we went.
Our three-bedroom apartment in Souk Al Bahar cost 2000 DHS per night and can accommodate up to six people maximum. They have a whole lot of other units around Dubai that can cater to your budget and needs so all you have to do is browse through their website: https://www.oneperfectstay.com/en/652259/properties to find your One Perfect Stay in Dubai!
To book, contact them at:
Instagram: @oneperfectstay
Website: https://www.oneperfectstay.com
