'Bang' for your buck: Dubai among most expensive cities for New Year's Eve festivities

Dubai - Miami Beach hotels most expensive anywhere in the world at Dh1,031 per night.

Dubai has been ranked among the world's most expensive cities for New Year's Eve destinations, with a hotel room costing around Dh1,000 per night in a survey of 50 global cities.
Conducted by cheaphotels.org, the poll results showed that Miami Beach hotels are the most expensive anywhere in the world, priced at $281 (Dh1,031) per night. Visitors to Sydney and Dubai will also have to dig deep as the two cities ranked second and third, respectively, with hotel rates costing $274 and $272 per night, respectively.
Guests in Dubai will have to pay 234 per cent more on New Year's Eve than on a normal January rate, revealed the survey results of the hotel website. Dubai attracts a large number of visitors from the Middle East, Africa and Asia to watch celebrations for the New Year across the city, hence hotel rates jump due to increase demand from tourists.
To mark New Year, Dubai hosts grand fireworks in eight different locations across the emirate with Burj Khalifa, along with water-music performances from The Dubai Fountain, becoming the most popular spot. The Burj Al Arab and Madinat Jumeirah, Global Village, Al Seef, The Beach in Jumeirah Beach Residence, Atlantis - The Palm, La Mer and Dubai Festival City are the other spots for fireworks. It also coincides with the Dubai Shopping Festival, which is also a major attraction for shoppers.
Other cities in the top 10 include New Orleans, Rio de Janeiro, New York City, Hong Kong, Nashville, Edinburg and Amsterdam.
In the US and Canada, the top destinations for the New Year Eve are New York, Toronto, Montreal, Las Vegas, Miami and San Diego, among others. In Europe, London tops followed by Paris, Rome, Dublin, Berlin, Venice and Glasgow.
In the rest of the world, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney, Tokyo, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Beijing, Seoul, Cape Town, Cancun and Shanghai make up the list.
The survey compared hotel prices in 50 cities around the globe. And for each destination, the rate for the cheapest available double room for a three-night stay from December 30 to January 2 was determined. Only hotels with a city centre location, with three stars or more and with average positive guest reviews were included in the survey.
Meanwhile, the 10 most economical cities are Bogota ($27 per night), Kuala Lumpur ($37), Hanoi ($42), Buenos Aires ($42), Doha ($45), Nairobi ($47), Wellington ($51), Lagos ($54), Montreal ($56) and Shanghai ($59).
- waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com