Ideal for budget travellers - Becs Piper. Date of travel: Mar 2007
The San Marco Hotel is ideal for budget travellers - it was fairly basic but clean and comfortable with decent rooms, a rooftop pool and very helpful staff. Breakfast was included, which was a buffet style affair with hot and cold dishes (changing on a daily basis), lunch was on the same lines, dinner a la carte. 24 hour room service, free shuttles to the beach and to local shopping centres on a daily basis. Conveniently situated in the heart of bustling, cosmopolitan Deira, close to the Gold Souk, Spice Souk and fish markets the San Marco was well placed for access to most parts of the city, although getting a taxi during changeover time (6-8pm) was very difficult. Traffic also very heavy in that area (and other parts of the city) so it was fortunate taxi rates are cheap! The hotel could have done with a bar in my opinion (so remember to bring in some duty free) but other than that it was perfect for my needs. Also as a note, Deira is the old part of Dubai, a Muslim country and noted for the presence of prostitution, so ladies (and gents) should be respectful enough to dress modestly (take note hotpant clad Russian blondes!) and to behave appropriately.