Gold Souk

Dubai is the most favorite place among tourists because it influences them with its beautiful skyscrapers, deluxe hotels, the very rare World Islands and a lot of other entertaining locations. But it is not just the end of the list. Dubai attracts the tourists for another reason that is the title of “City of Gold”. This title has been given to it because of the world’s popular gold market in Dubai called Gold Souk. Gold souk is located in Deira, Dubai near Baniyas Square.
About Gold Souk
Gold Souk Dubai is a worth-seeing place even if you don’t have an intention to buy any jewelry. If you ever had a chance to visit gold souk, you will definitely understand why Dubai is given the title of City of Gold. It is a huge gold market having almost 600 shops in narrow streets where the windows sparkle with the gold ornaments. Windows of each shop are jam-packed with gold rings, bangles, ear rings and necklaces. According to an estimate 25 tons of gold is displayed in the windows of shops. Other than gold, some precious stones are also sold in the market.
Two Gold Markets
There are two gold markets, old souk and the new souk. Both are in the same location and display same variety of ornaments.
Prices and Variety of Gold
Most of the jewelry in this market is 24 carat or 22, 21 carat. In this market, you can find gold in different shades and colors. These shades include pink, yellow, white and purple. As far as the prices are concerned, they are found to be the lowest in the world. But the prices are not displayed because gold prices change everyday. The prices are displayed only on the main shops. These prices are obtained from The National Bank of Dubai. The daily gold prices are set by the UAE government. Moreover, the prices are based on weights and not per piece as in the western world. These prices are set regardless of the design of the jewelry.
Best Time to Visit Gold Souk
If you have an intention to visit gold souk, the best time is evening because at evening you would have abundance of time to go from one shop to another. The reason to visit every shop is that in gold souk you will find a wide range of long gold chains and other ornaments that you had never seen before. You will definitely have a desire to touch the beautiful ornaments with your hands.
How to Purchase Jewelry?
When you have a desire to do shopping from the gold souk, go in the day time specially morning so that you can check the selected item. Moreover the market is not much busy in morning time. You should also check the jewelry carefully to make sure that there are no flaws and rough edges. Another thing that should be kept in mind is that you will have to bargain with the shopkeepers because they tell high prices first. You can also check the selected item from other shops to get better price. Then go to your favorite shop and purchase the selected item by keeping an eye on the scale.
Opening Timings of Gold Souk
The opening timings of gold souk are 10 am to 1 pm and it reopens at 4 pm to 10 pm. On Fridays, the market remains closed in morning and opens in the afternoon.

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Hotels at Dubai

Dubai is one of the finest places to visit. The tourists are attracted toward its beauty and culture. The tourists are impressed by the thrilling world of Dubai. To meet the demands of the international tourists, there are a large number of hotels providing contemporary facilities blended with the traditional touch of Dubai culture. The hotels at Dubai have been built with dual purpose i.e. business as well as leisure.
Dubai has a large variety of hotels. The hotels at the beach side are more popular because they provide feeling of being relaxed as well as beautiful view of beaches. But it doesn’t mean that the city center has less number of hotels. Many famous hotels can be found in the heart of Dubai city. All these hotels make Dubai famous for its contented and deluxe accommodation.
Here I am mentioning some of the hotels at Dubai which will help you to make a guess about the hotels facilities and console.
Burj Al Arab
Burj Al Arab is the only 7-star hotel in Dubai. The hotel is 321 meters high and has a shape of sail of a ship. All these features make it unique and famous all over the world. It looks even more beautiful at night because the colored sculptures of water and fire create a stunning scene. As it is a 7-star hotel, you can expect sophisticated services. Its important features include:
• Luxurious Suites
• Advanced technology
• Jacuzzi
• Spa Bath
• State-of-the-art facilities in restaurants
• Lavishly Decorated Rooms
• Meeting and Event Management
• Ballroom
• Aquarium in the Restaurant
• Dining in a restaurant 200 meters above the sea level
• Well-equipped health club
Raffles Hotel
It is another famous hotel of Dubai. Its building is made in the shape of pyramids whose inspiration was taken from the Pyramids of Egypt. This feature of hotel has become a signpost in the city of Dubai. It is a 19 story building whose top most structure shows gold like color that gives a glittering effect in the day time. It has another exclusive feature that is a botanical garden located on the third floor of the hotel. This garden has been divided into four parts that represent the four elements of life that is Water, Air, Earth and Fire. Each part is decorated according to their relative features. For example, in the water garden there is a stream flowing and having water plants. The restaurants have their own amazing features which can’t be found in other hotels of Dubai. Some other features are as follows:
• Most spacious rooms in the city
• Each room having its own private balcony
• Restaurants and bars offering exclusive dining experience
• Clubs
• Raffles Amrita spa to revitalize yourself.
Jumeirah Beach Hotel
It is a 5-star hotel located near the shores of Arabian Gulf. It is considered among the leading hotels of the world. Its shape is quite interesting because the hotel looks like a breaking wave. Although, the hotel is located near the beach, but despite of this fact, it has its private beach to facilitate the guests. The guests also love to stay here because the Wild Wadi Park is just near to it. As far as the hotel facilities and services are concerned, it provides deluxe rooms, suites and villas having different categories and facilities accordingly. Some of its features include:
• Deluxe Beachside Villas
• Theatre having audio-visual equipment, and a capacity of 416 people
• Facility of diving center
• Leisure Club having state-of-the-art facilities
• Facility of different body treatments
• Massage facility
• Sindbad’s kids club for kid’s leisure
• Spacious Ballroom having a capacity of 1100 persons
Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel & Towers
This hotel is located on the bank of Dubai Creek, which is the heart of Dubai city. It is a fully renovated hotel having world class facilities including luxurious suites and tower floor. Most of the deluxe suites have floor to ceiling windows which provide a beautiful view of Dubai Creek. The list of the features of this hotel is never ending but some of these are:
• Restaurants providing Indian and Japanese cuisine
• An English pub
• Creek Health Club offering steam room and massage treatment
• A well-equipped gym having wooden floor and big windows to provide natural light
• Children’s pool
• Facility of temperature controlled pool
• Facility of playing tennis for recreation
• Business centers having color printers, internet access, meeting rooms accommodating up to 500 people
• Limousine service
Taj Palace Hotel
It is a 5-star deluxe hotel that is located on the northern side of Dubai Creek. It has 245 well-furnished rooms, having lavish carpets, paintings and bathrooms which have contemporary facilities. The apartments have such facilities that you will never heard before like dishwashers, kitchenette and microwaves. Its other features include:
• Six restaurants providing Japanese, Indian, Turkish and Italian cuisines
• Fitness center which is equipped with modern machines
• Spa for the guests, where they can enjoy different treatments
• Three function rooms
• Ballroom having a capacity of 500 people and providing modern technology equipment
• Facilities of translation
• Facility of video conferencing
• Facility of integrated video recording
These were the most famous hotels of Dubai but the list is too long. Here you can see some names of the hotels and their locations at Dubai:
• Atlantis, The Palm, Palm Jumeirah
• Al Maha Desert Resort, Sheikh Zayed Road
• Al Bustan Rotana Hotel, Al Garhoud
• Concorde Hotel and Residence, Al Maktoum Road
• Coral Boutique Hotel, Sheikh Zayed Road
• Desert Palm Dubai, Al Awir Road
• The Harbour Hotel and Residence, Al Safoud Road
• Grand Hiyyat Dubai, Deira
• Shangri-La Hotel, Sheikh Zayed Road
• Jumeirha Emirates Tower Hotel, Sheikh Zayed Road
• Hilton Dubai Creek Hotel, Dubai Creek
• Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Resort, Jumeirah Beach
• Samya Hotel, Deira
• Coral Deira Hotel, Deira
• Sheraton Deira Hotel, Al Mateena Street
• Metropolitan Hotel, Al Maktoum Street Deira
• Coral Boutique Villa, Al Barsha
• Hyatt Regency Dubai, Al Khaleej Road, Deira
• Crowne Plaza Hotel Dubai, Sheikh Zayed Road
• Coral Deira Hotel, Deira, Dubai
This list of hotels in Dubai will definitely help you to choose any of these hotels when you have a plan to visit Dubai.

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