Boozing Brit Expats Run Riot At Dubai Staycation Resort

Brit expats are getting ahead of both themselves and common-sense rules at a luxury Emirati resort.

Western expats are flocking to the Hilton Doubletree Resort in Ras Al Khaimah to take advantage of the lack of covid-19 restrictions. One reason is that, even during the alcohol-free month of Ramadan, the resort is still allowed to sell unlimited amounts of booze. Located just an hour’s drive from Dubai city, dozens of British expats were spotted singing football chants, queuing at the bar and crowding around and in the pool. A senior employee at the resort told reporters it’s reminding its guests about the two metre distancing rulings, although it’s possible such reminders might not be heard due to the loudspeaker-amplified music and footie chants.

One holidaymaker told the press it’s easy to identify the Brits as they’re all drunk and all chanting their favourite footie teams' songs. It seems the hotel is now booked solid with Western expats flocking in to escape the UAE’s anti-coronavirus curfew and other restrictions including the religion-based alcohol ban. One expat who’d booked in for a quiet weekend was caught leaving, saying the place is now like a zoo since it’s become party central.

Tourism in Dubai, as in the rest of the world, is now on hold for an unspecified period, with social distancing wrecking any chance of normal social behaviour. The UAE’s anti-pandemic restrictions are amongst the most severe anywhere in the world and include a nighttime curfew, permits for leaving home, shopping trips cut to once every three days and the alcohol ban, although that's normal during the holy month of Ramadan. Although the restrictions are now being slightly loosened, Dubai hotels are still closed and compulsory social distancing is being maintained except, it seems, at out-of-town hotels advertising staycations as a way to beat the bans.