海角大神

I was fortunate enough to make use of Etihad's now-infamous $200 mistake fares to聽聽that I purchased on Christmas Day this past weekend. 聽Looking back on what amounts to a whirlwind 60-hour "sampling platter" of what to do in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, I can say that the United Arab Emirates (the country that hosts both Abu Dhabi and Dubai) is a top-tier vacation destination. 聽Here are聽5 reasons why.

1. 聽There's Not a Bad Hotel in Either City

The benefits of essentially building a world-class tourism and business destinationin 15 years means that there aren't many bad hotels in Abu Dhabi or Dubai. 聽In fact, most of them are 4 or 5-star. 聽While Dubai may be the聽聽to stay in, there are deals to be had. 聽I saw rates between $250 and $350 for the best hotels in the city (think Grand Hyatts and brand-new Marriotts), and decided to do a bit of gambling and use my favorite site:聽.

For my two nights in Dubai, I stayed at the Rotana Al Murooj, which turns out to be right next to the Dubai Mall and the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. 聽As luck would have it, my one night staying on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi was also spent at a Rotana. 聽The average per-night rate for 3 nights was around $150. 聽And while I had never heard of the Rotana chain before I stayed there, I can say that they are on-par with any 4 or 5 star business hotel in the States, like a Grand Hyatt.

2. 聽Transportation is Cheap

I wouldn't call Dubai the most walkable city, but to get across town, the cheapest option would be taking the fully-automated Dubai Metro. 聽Running for 30 miles along the main highway in Dubai, the metro is incredibly clean, the stations as fancy as international airport terminals, and allows you to walk straight into major tourist attractions like the Mall of the Emirates (hosting Ski Dubai) or the Dubai Mall (which is where you enter the Burj Khalifa and visit the Dubai Aquarium).

If you choose to take a taxi places, that is also reasonably cheap, thanks to inexpensive gasoline. 聽We cabbed it between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, about an hour and a half drive, and the fare was around $80 each way. 聽Cabs within the city won't cost you more than $5 or $10.

3. 聽You'll Never Be Bored

We jammed a lot into two full days of tourism, but in Dubai, we were able to go up the world's tallest building, ski for two hours indoors, hug a penguin, visit an aquarium on a manmade island shaped like a palm frond, and have drinks at the top of the world's only 7-star hotel (the Burj al Arab), all in a day. 聽While you could easily spread these activities out over 4 or 5 days and have an amazing time, we still left things to do for our next visit.

In Abu Dhabi, we stayed on Yas Island, which is a man-made master planned tourism destination. 聽The main draw for us was Ferrari World, the world's largest indoor theme park with the world's fastest roller coaster, but there are more attractions, like the F1 race track and a $250 million dollar waterpark which is one of the best in the world (Yas Waterworld). 聽They even have a bike share program like New York and Chicago that allows you to get around! 聽Other sites include a brand-new mall (even relative to the other new malls in the Emirates), a beach, and a links-style golf course.

4. 聽You'll Never Miss the Food at Home

Not because local Emirati cuisine is so incredible, but because there's every restaurant here that you have at home. 聽No matter where you are reading this post from, if there's a chain restaurant in your town, it's also in Dubai. 聽There's even a Five Guys. 聽While this isn't necessarily a reason to go to Dubai, the fact is that other non-chain food is top notch as well.

5. 聽The Architecture Will Wow You

I'm admittedly an architecture junkie--big builds like Vegas casinos have always mesmerized me. 聽So, Dubai and Abu Dhabi are sort of dreamlands for me. 聽Between the amazing skyscrapers, the beautiful hotels, or the manmade islands that are entire cities themselves, there's no shortage of things to amaze you in the UAE.

Did anyone else grab a $200 mistake fare to Abu Dhabi? 聽Is the UAE on your travel itinerary in 2015?