Never did I think Couchsurfing was a thing in a land of futuristic visions wrapped into an Arabian Night’s splendor. It’s hard not to fathom Dubai for its tireless ability to realize gigantic projects that others only dream of and never gets it off their sketch pads. This superlative-craving city has birthed an audaciously incredible skyline of the world’s most tallest skyscrapers, different shaped islands, flying taxis and an army of robots similar to the stormtroopers from Star Wars – testament to the Emir’s determination to prepare Dubai as the most essential city of the twenty-first century.
Participating at a Couchsurfing meetup in Dubai first struck me when I planned my evening activities for my recent trip to Dubai. I was also intrigued by the notion of the venue of the meetup when I saw it on the events page on the Couchsurfing website, the Crowne Plaza Dubai, a 5-star hotel located in the heart of the city’s commercial district, at Sheikh Zayed Road across the street from the Dubai World Trade Center.
Crowne Plaza Dubai
Me and my friend Shafy arrived at the Crowne Plaza Dubai at about 8.35pm on Tuesday, 24th April. We carefully followed the instructions to the venue on the CS event page and walked into the Italian coffee shop on the right side of the ground floor of the hotel and found a group of guys engaged in a busy, and seemingly interesting conversation. We didn’t want to interrupt, but we clarified if it was the CS meetup and quickly introduced ourselves and continued listening to Rod, an active CS member. A couple of minutes passed and we had another four joiners.
We had lots to talk and made new friends.
Since it was my last night in Dubai, having the opportunity to meet the local Couchsurfing community provided me a few insights into Dubai’s famed vibrant nightlife. Jigar, another CS member was kind enough to help us move our evening to the next level by giving us a private late-night tour, which really was far from ordinary. From discotheques to watering holes to speakeasies, moves and grooves to shiny disco balls, entertainment options were just limitless.
Couchsurfing Dubai in Cadillac style!
We hailed an Uber at the entrance of the hotel, and a Cadillac Escalade picked us up and we disappeared into the night.
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