Hotel Accommodation in Dubai

ACCOMMODATION. Miles for Smiles takes place during one of Dubai’s busiest calendar weeks, so hotel rates are at a premium. We have, however negotiated some very good rates through Emirates Hotels & Resorts at The Harbour Hotel & Residence and Green Lake Towers (check them out at www.emirateshotelsresorts.com). These do give you the opportunity to team up with other runners and share a one, two or three bedroom suite, which can really make a difference on cost.
The Harbour Hotel & Residence is at Dubai Marina and there is a shuttle bus to the beach. We understand there may be some construction at Green Lake Towers (check when you ring).
RATES: All are in AED per room and include 10% municipality tax and 10% service tax. Breakfast is available at AED 100 per person.
The Harbour Hotel & Residence : Studio: 1728; One bedroom suite: 2246; Two bedroom suite: 2268; Three Bedroom suite: 3632:
Green Lake Towers: One bedroom apartment: 1128; Two bedroom apartment: 1380; Three bedroom apartment: 1740.
For more information call +971 4 303 4222 or email ekresorts@emirates.com , ask for Sandeep Rajan or Murali Mohan and quote Just Giving/Miles for Smiles. These rates are very competitive for this time of year.
For a cheap and cheerful alternative, there is the Holiday Inn Express at Jumeira. They cannot give us definite prices for November at the moment but say the highest rate will be AED1,200. It’s a beach hotel and much closer than the others to the Jumeira Beach Hotel, where we’re running from. www.hiexpress.com 0871 423 4876.

Getting to Dubai for Miles for Smiles

A few people have been asking how Miles for Smiles fits in with the other travel retail events that happen in the UAE at this time of year. Miles for Smiles is on Saturday November 22 in Dubai, and we plan to start a 0800 hrs. So do bear this in mind when you arrange your flights; you really need to build in some recovery time before you go running! The annual Dubai Duty Free Golf Tournament then takes place on November 23 and 24 and the MEDFA conference follows in Abu Dhabi on November 25 and 26. Registration for MEDFA, however, kicks off on the afternoon of the 24th and there is an opening cocktail from 2030. We understand that MEDFA will be providing coaches up to Abu Dhabi from Dubai, for those taking part in the golf, but have no details at this time. If you're looking for a hotel in Dubai, the run takes place at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel - so that's a good place to start. But it's not cheap. There is a Holiday Inn Express nearby. Contact Mandy for details. Note: The Middle East Exclusive Show, which usually tags onto the end of MEDFA and the golf, has been moved to March 2009.

Miles for Smiles

Welcome to the Miles for Smiles blog....your opportunity to share the ups and downs of training between now and the run on November 22nd in aid of The Smile Train. For some of us, doing a 10k or 5k run is a major challenge; for others it's pretty damn easy. So this blog - we hope - will enable us to inspire each other to just keep going! We want you to feel free to post anything on here (as long as it's clean and relevant!) - questions, tips, ideas, queries - anything.