I went to dubai a few years ago for a mates birthday(never really fancied it but its one of the top destinations for people at british airways with staff travel)and i have to say i was more than pleasantly surprised.The hotels are excellent with staff to match,the beaches in fact everything is immaculate and you never feel anything but ultra safe.The shopping is indeed very good value for money but if your a drinker it is on the pricy side.However there is a big ex-pat community and on several nights of the week theres some kind of promotion going on in town like ladies night where women drink for free or one of the big hotels runs an all you can eat and drink for a set price,say £30 a head,the food being excellent and the drinks proper flowing.
A couple of other things,friday the whole place was shut(holy day)except the hotels,and if your with the missus dont be tempted to go into any of the "nightclubs" downtown as they are populated with hundreds of young russian ladies(it seems like a popular destination for them) but thats a whole other trip report.
on Friday everything has changed now, all the expat bars and resturants are open and all of the gordan ramsays resturants etc
Downtown, will this is a place for a stag do but definatly not a couple, stag 4 day weekend = 4 day hired female servant / brass for about a 100er (obviously this is all through storys whilst out there)