Dubai was a 14 hour flight nonstop on DL from ATL.  Once you wrap your head around the time factor the flight passes just fine, especially with economy comfort seats which we had purchased.  The Dubai airport DBX is about 20 minutes from the Business Bay hotels.  JW Marriott Marquis just opened 2 months ago and is the tallest hotel in the world.  It is simply gorgeous!  Soaring lobby ceilings, very modern design and a check in on the 37th floor concierge level was a breeze.  We had booked an executive suite for roughly 50.00 more per night and it was worth the extra cost.  It included use of the executive lounge with huge breakfast buffet, cocktail hours with buffet and free Internet.  The room was like an apartment with dining area, living room area, bedroom, dressing room/closet and 1 1/2 baths.  I estimate it was about 800 sq ft of space. 

 

  We took the Metro the next day to the gold souks in the Deira district.  I highly encourage the use of this system to get around the city as it's clean, safe and easy to use with all signs in English and in Arabic.   People were very friendly and helpful.  A banker even gave me his card in case of any problems.  We had lots of fun bargaining a bit and seeing the dazzling displays of "bling"!  We also visited the spice souk which is nearby. Dinner that night was at the iconic Burj Al Arab in the buffet restaurant.  One can only get into this hotel by being a registered guest or having a dinner or tea reservation.  Can't give it very high praise.  The meal was just OK.  This was set up by ASTA so we met some very nice people.

 

 The next night we had booked the Desert Safari through ASTA.  This was a highlight of our time in Dubai with the departure from our hotel around 4PM it took about 40 minutes to be out where they let some air out of the tires on the vehicles and we not "dune bashing".  What a blast!!!  Think "roller coaster"!  They let us out to play in the sand a couple of times and climb the dunes which isn't easy because the sand is so soft.  A Bedouin buffet dinner was included complete with camel rides and henna painting. 

 

  We also did a tour of Old Dubai and New Dubai with ASTA.  Both were informative with good guides.  Loved crossing the Dubai Creek on an Abbra and learning some history.  Don and I also went to the Marina Walk one day and did the circuit with many restaurants and huge buildings.  Dubai is an architect's dream with many different styles of buildings.

 

  The best view of Burj al Arab is from Jumeirah Beach Hotel which is where. Hd the opening night dinner on the beach.  This is a hotel I would highly recommend for families as it's adjacent to the Wadi Water Park and right on the Arabian Gulf. 

 

 Another highlight was a dinner cruise on Bateaux Dubai.  This is an air conditioned glass boat which a la carte dinner service.  With wine it's about 150.00 USD but it was well worth it.  All of the dhow dinner cruise boats are illuminated with lights as they cruise the creek.  The views of the buildings, mosques, etc were lovely.

 

  That's about it.  Seminars were informative and dispelled a lot of myths about their culture.  I wish I would have had 1 more day to go to Abu Dhabi to see the grand mosque there and compare the cities.