48 Hours of Drinking in Dubai

100 Anvers draws a steady local crowd in Marina. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Drop bags. Find a hotel-adjacent bar within a five-minute walk. Order something simple to anchor yourself to the city.

Attiko at W Dubai draws a steady local crowd in Mina Seyahi. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. The polished room you'd take a first date to. Sit at the bar. Talk to the bartender. Stay one drink — you're scouting, not committing.

Double Decker draws a steady local crowd in Trade Centre. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Walk into the city's drinking quarter (the heart of the night, not the tourist version). Two drinks, two rooms. Pace yourself — Saturday is the long day.

1701 Sheesha Lounge draws a steady local crowd in JBR. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Sunset. Find a rooftop. Order whatever the house specials around sundown. Take photos but don't lose 90 minutes to your phone.

40 Kong sits on the 40th floor of the H Hotel with one of Downtown Dubai's most direct views of the Burj Khalifa fountain show. The horseshoe terrace wraps the Eat somewhere with serious bartending built in. The right room is one you order both your dinner and your nightcap from.

Anasa at Saadiyat Beach draws a steady local crowd in Jumeirah. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. The bar that made you book the trip. The pre-research one. Reservation-only ideally. Stay until last call.

Asia Asia draws a steady local crowd in Marina. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Mary, Mimosa, or whatever low-ABV house play the room runs. Eat. Pay. Walk.

Bistro Des Arts Bar draws a steady local crowd in JBR. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Find the hotel bar at your departure airport equivalent — somewhere quiet, low-volume, well-staffed. End the trip on a martini and a clean conversation.