A month in Dubai: long stays in a holiday home

Why a month

From November to March, Dubai has the weather northern Europe does not, a time zone that overlaps with both London and Singapore for the working day, and fast internet in every home. A month here in January has become ordinary for people who can work from anywhere, for parents with a child under school age, and for couples who have retired and would rather not spend February at home.

A hotel cannot hold you for a month without the bill becoming absurd and the room becoming small. A holiday home can, and the longer you stay the more sense it makes.

What changes in the price

Three things move in your favour on a long stay. The nightly rate drops: most operators, including us, price a month well below thirty times the nightly rate, because a month with no gaps and no turnovers is worth more to the owner than four separate weeks. The cleaning fee is paid once, so it becomes a rounding error. And the Tourism Dirham, the city fee of AED 10 or 15 a bedroom a night, is charged for a maximum of 30 consecutive nights, so from night 31 it stops.

• Nightly rateAsk for the monthly figure, not the nightly one. It is a different number
• Tourism DirhamCharged for the first 30 nights only
• CleaningOne fee at the end. A mid-stay clean, if you want one, is arranged separately
• Electricity and waterUsually included, sometimes with a fair-use limit for air conditioning in summer. Ask
• DepositOften higher on a long stay. Agree it in writing

Read the costs line by line in our guide to how renting a holiday home in Dubai works.

Which area for a working month

For a month you want a neighbourhood more than a view. Somewhere with a supermarket downstairs, a café you will go to every morning, a gym, a walk, and quiet at night. The areas that visitors love for a weekend are not always the ones that wear well for thirty days.

• The Views and the GreensOur first suggestion. Low towers around lakes, a golf course to walk round, everything you need within ten minutes and nobody on holiday. The Links East is our one-bedroom here, with a balcony over the lake
• Dubai MarinaFor people who want the sea every day and do not mind the weekend crowds. The promenade is a seven-kilometre loop for a daily run
• DowntownCentral, walkable, expensive, and busy every evening. Better for a month of meetings than a month of work from home
• The HillsFor a family's winter. Vida Residences has four bedrooms and the golf course below the pool deck

Our area guide to The Views, the Greens and The Hills says what a day there is like.

The questions to settle first

Your visa. Many nationalities get a visit visa on arrival; its length depends on your passport, and longer tourist visas and a remote-work visa exist. Check the current rules for your passport with an official source before you book a month, and tell us your dates so the stay fits inside them.

The internet. Ask for the provider and the speed, and whether it is fibre. Every one of our homes has fibre and we test the speed before each stay. The desk. A dining table is not a desk for thirty days. Ask whether there is a proper table and chair, and where the light falls in the morning. The washing machine, whether there is a dryer, and whether a mid-stay clean is available and at what price.

Noise and the neighbours. A home that is fine for a weekend can grind over a month. Ask what you will hear at night and whether there is building work nearby. We tell you before you book; it is the question we most wish every guest asked.

Next in the journal

Holiday home or hotel in Dubai: the real cost, worked out. How to compare a Dubai holiday home with a hotel properly: the fees each side adds, a method for a family of four over a week, and when the hotel wins.