Hi. What is your nightly budget?

We always use the Le Meridien which is next to the airport.

Roadwarrior, I checked Le Meridien and they are out of my budget.
I was hoping for something like $150. Am I dreaming?

We flew to Dubai from Nairobi arriving at 2AM and wanted a place to crash fast. We actually were staying the next night also before boarding a ship at noon the second day.

In my hotel search I found the Dubai hotels very costly compared to other places. So you may be dreaming, but I would try the Airport Hotel in the airport, you may be able to get close to that with the hourly rates they offer.

Since it was soooo late, 2AM, and after being up since 6AM, traveling by land cruiser and two different planes from Ngorongoro Carter in Tanzania to Dubai, we stayed the first night at the Airport Hotel actually in the airport.

It was great, they met us at the gate and escorted us over to the hotel. The hotel was very nice and comfortable, absolutely no noise. If we had been meeting a later flight, they would have escorted us to the next gate, as it was, they escorted us to passport controt when we left at about 11AM and arranged to have our checked luggage put in will call for us.

No luggage to deal with and no passport control either when we arrived since we didn't leave the airport that night. We had the run of the great shopping mall and it is fabulous! This would work really well if you don't want to leave the airport. I guess you could still leave the airport after checking into the hotel and dropping any hand luggage then go back to the room before the next flight for your luggage.

They rent rooms by the hour or by the day. The night there was actually cheaper than the next night which was at about the cheapest hotel I could find close to what we wanted to do.

The airport is 30 to 45 minutes from the gold and spice souks and the place where you catch the water taxis for a ride on Dubai Creek. These places are all in the same area (short walks from each other)and can be visited in several fun filled hours for a good taste of Dubai. We spent the next night at the HYATT REGENCY HOTEL which is in walking distance of these places. It is definitely out of you stated budget but a nice older hotel.

Al Bustan or the le meridien.

For $150, you would struggle with main stream hotels. I would suggest you try websites like Expedia, Trip Advisor, etc.

Thanks again. I looked on line to see the rates on the Dubai Airport Hotel which sounds good by your description but could not find anything. Do you remember the name?

We have connections coming and going and on the return flight our layover is 8 hours so I thought the airport hotel would be perfect for that stay.

For the outgoing flight I have looked at Expedia and found some ok places that will do for one night.