My husband and I are flying from Athens to Sydney with a stop over in Dubai at 9:30pm for 5 hours, then flying out at 2:15am.
Has anyone stayed in the international hotel inside Dubai airport? How is it and do you recommend it? Otherwise what should we do during our stop over?
Dubai International Terminal Hotel is good but not cheap. Over $200 Australian. For a five hour stopover I would just find somewhere comfortable to sit in the terminal. By the time you deplane and check in to the hotel you will lose at least 30 minutes. Then you need to head to the gate for your connecting flight about an hour before departure. This means you are only likely to have use of the room for 3 hours.
Another option, if you really can't stand to just stay in the public areas, are the Mahaba Lounges in Terminals 1 and 3. These are accessible for a fee and b ave showers, food etc.
Are you flying Emirates? They have vast, really vast Business Class lounges, with five separate (but identical) hot buffet areas, snooze chairs, beauty salons, showers, etc. This lounge has the square footage of an entire terminal for a modest-sized airline.
Edit: Don't even think about going downtown. You don't have time, it's well over 100 degrees in summer, and there is little actually worth seeing. (We spent three nights in the Hilton Dubai Creek to time-adjust on the way to East Africa.)
Shop till you drop in duty-free. While the emirate is strict about alcohol, the airport is eager to fill your arms with bottles. The airport website should help you http://www.dubaiairports.ae/
For a five hour layover, I don't think you'll need a hotel. After all, you've got plenty of time to sleep on the plane, both coming and going! There's nothing else like the Dubai Airport. It is a huge shopping mall with lots of restaurants and shops to explore. My advice would be to sample some local Middle Eastern cuisine.
When I was there in January, 2010, the security inside the airport was pretty tight. We were free to roam around the terminal to visit the shops and restaurants, but the lounges at each departure gate were walled off. To get in there, they didn't just screen our carry-on bags and purses, but actually rummaged through them all. Just giving you a heads up.
