Abu Dhabi

I got up early and went for my walk…and ended up at the Meridian Hotel….as mentioned earlier…got back to the hotel and had the buffet breakfast…then checked out at 11 to go to the Bus Station. 10 minutes later I had my ticket, about $5 to get from Abu Dhabi to Dubai main station…and this bus was really new and clean and the AC worked perfectly, so had a very nice and quick trip. We got into the outlying areas of Dubai in about an hour and a quarter….but then by the time we got to the station it was about a 2 hour trip…but an easy one. I had been wanting to check out the JW Marriott downtown…so got a taxi over to the hotel, about 3 miles away…..talked to one of the managers and she gave me a complete tour. This is the flagship Marriott for the entire middle east…and this is really a 5 Star Plus….one of the nicest that I have ever seen in the Marriott chain….and a very busy hotel even with 4 in Dubai. She then told me about the new one that is planned, which will be the class above the JW Marriott…and it will be one of the largest in Dubai in terms of rooms. She said they just signed the lease so will start shortly for completion in 2012. Should be something else.

Caught the Metro and back at the Courtyard by about 5…and just went in the non-heated heated pool, and then rinsed off with the cold that was warm water….I am going to go to dinner at this mall that is on the Metro but closer to the hotel….and give it a try….unless the shuttle is running…then to Mall of the Emirates….

The one big difference in the two cities can best be explained by saying they are like San Francisco and Los Angeles. SF and Abu Dhabi are close in cities that one can pretty much walk the city….LA and Dubai…no way. Dubai is spread out all over the 30 or 40 mile area….and the car is an absolute necessity to get around….thus a lot of travel jams, etc. Anoher big difference is that Dubai has these various mini-cities all over, like the Green Community, Dubai Internet City, Dubai Marina, etc…..probably a dozen of these all together and each has it own stores, etc….and of course many hi-rises in each area…amny still partially occupied.

It struck me today that the best slogan for the UAE might be “build it and they will come”…..and this will no doubt be the case in the future. It is pretty obvious that the amount of money that has been put into this area is based on the fact that this will become the premier area in the Middle East for trade, business, tourism, and overall quality of life. These are winning factors, and the Monarchy is convinced, I’m sure…that this will, in fact, be the case in the years to come.

Another full day….lots of things to see and a great place to be part of…stay tuned.