A Dubai Frame review

The Dubai Frame was not what I expected.

In the flurry of publicity when it opened, the media showed just what its name promised: a picture frame. That’s what I thought it was: a large picture frame, outsized, like everything in Dubai. It was two or three stories tall, I figured, perfect for taking a picture of the tall, glitzy Dubai skyline, framed within it.

(Disclosure: While I paid the full entrance fee for the Dubai Frame, this Dubai Frame review contains affiliate links, which means making purchases through them will earn me a small commission.)

I was wrong. I should have known. After all, everything in Dubai is wrapped in extremes: the biggest mall, the tallest building, artificial islands shaped like a palm tree, an indoor ski slope, a garden in the desert. That’s how they roll in Dubai.

The Dubai Frame

I decided to go to the Dubai Frame because I had most of the day free before an afternoon meeting, and I’d seen all the highlights of Dubai on previous trips: the Burj Khalifa (tallest building), the main malls, the old section of Dubai. I figured I had plenty of time to get to the Dubai Frame and snap a picture of the skyline.

Getting there

Another thing I’ve noticed about Dubai is that nothing is as near as it seems. Just try walking to the Burj Khalifa from the nearest metro station: you’re likely to reach your Fitbit step goal.

The same held true for the Dubai Frame. I suspect that most people get there by car or taxi. I took the metro to the nearest stop, Al Jafaliya station (The Dubai metro is wonderfully smooth, efficient and clean, by the way. Just be ready to walk once you disembark!).

Exiting the station, I could see the Dubai Frame in the distance. That was the point when I realized how big it was … and how far I would need to walk.

I couldn’t head toward it because of a large construction site in the way, something you see a lot of in Dubai. Instead, I continued down the main road in the direction the metro was headed, turning right when I reached Zabeel Park. Asking directions, I was instructed to walk around the perimeter of the park along the jogging track that circles it – entering the park costs only AED5 (about €1), but I have no idea if there is a way back out on the other side.

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How tall is the Dubai Frame?

As I neared it, the Dubai Frame’s height became increasingly clear. This thing is huge! I found out later that it’s 150 meters tall, which is about 45 to 50 floors.

Looking at it – and it really does look just like a picture frame, with a beveled inner edge – I figured it must hold small offices on the vertical sections. Wouldn’t that be a great place for small businesses like private practice lawyers or artists?

I was wrong again. This structure is only a picture frame: no offices, no real useful purpose, except to be a tourist attraction and visible landmark. It is an attractive structure, though, with its gold embossed decorative facing.

Dubai Frame inside

For the price of admission, visitors inside the Dubai Frame experience “the past, present and future of Dubai.”

What does that mean? First, after paying the fee, I went up a one-story escalator to a very small exhibit on Dubai’s past (no photos allowed). This consisted of a mock-up of an old-style market street, much like you can also find in the Dubai Museum in the old section of the city. Projections showed a hint of how the city began to grow. It was all pretty long on atmosphere but short on information.

But never mind. The point of the exercise is going to the top of the Frame, and that was the next stop.

With a few other visitors (My husband went separately on a Saturday and it was extremely crowded. I was there on a Thursday and it was no problem at all.), I zipped up 150 meters fast enough for my ears to pop. The elevator has one glass wall, so it might be a problem if you are afraid of heights.

Emerging from the elevator took us into a large room 93 meters long, but only perhaps about 15 meters across. A strip of colorfully changing lighting along the length of the hall’s ceiling brightened the place, and both sides, lined with windows, allowed wide views over Dubai.

Past and present

On one side, the view is low-rise, overlooking the relatively older part of the city called Deira: the past. On the other side, I could see the shiny, chic skyscrapers people have come to associate with Dubai. Judging from the sheer number of cranes and construction sites, this view is going to grow and change rapidly.

While all the visitors busily snapped pictures, it struck me that one detail has been overlooked. We could see out the windows on both sides, but because of the angle of the glass (the room is wider at the ceiling than the floor), combined with those bright lights down the length of the hall, I could not take a single picture without visible glare. Perhaps a better photographer could manage it, but not me.

The real excitement of being in this hall, though, involved the floors. When I entered, it looked to me like the floor has a strip of large grey panels down the center. Watch out if you step on them, though. The grey immediately clears, and you can see straight down 150 meters. If you suffer from vertigo or a fear of heights (as I do), stay well away from these center panels.

It didn’t help that an employee warned that we were welcome to walk on them but not to jump. What will happen if people jump? Could they break?

I simply could not get myself to step on them without feeling that I was somehow risking my life.

Dubai’s Future

At the other end of the hall, I entered another elevator to descend back to ground level. There, a brief “immersive” video – projected around curved walls and floor – depicts Dubai’s future (no photos allowed). It’s a bright and eco-friendly future, in this vision. People get around in fast, efficient public trains, electric vehicles and personal aircraft. The air is clean and the roads uncrowded. The walkways are lined with windmills and solar parks edge the city. Robots serve and drones deliver packages. Advanced health care can grow back severed limbs.

I greatly enjoyed this futuristic view, but it got me wondering. This is a city where most people drive from place to place and the general dust level in the air is too high to use solar panels. An indoor ski slope is maintained even in the summers when the temperature can top 50 degrees Celsius. It seems to me that a very big change in attitude would be necessary to turn this into an eco-friendly city.

The Dubai Frame or Burj Khalifa? A comparison

Last time I was in Dubai I went up to see the view from the Burj Khalifa. You can see my article about it here. Here’s a simple comparison of the two:

	Height	Entrance fee
The Dubai Frame	150 meters	AED50 (about €12/$14)
The Burj Khalifa	828 meters (555 meters at observation deck)	Starts at AED149 (about €32/$35) to the 125th floor or AED378 (about €93/$103) to the 148th floor

The Burj Khalifa provides much more of a “wow” moment at seeing the view. A side benefit is that, because there are outside observation decks, you can take a better picture of that amazing view. On the other hand, the prices are much higher. The Dubai Frame’s tickets are cheaper, and it has a great, if somewhat distant, view of the Dubai skyscrapers on Sheik Zayed Road.

A random woman I chatted with on the way out of the Dubai Frame told me that local families are more likely to visit it, simply because it’s cheaper. On a day out with children, especially on a weekend when Zabeel Park is busy, the two – the Dubai Frame and Zabeel Park – would make a great combination.

My Dubai Frame review

If money is no object, go to the Burj Khalifa: choose the 148th floor version. However, if money is an issue, you could end up kicking yourself for spending that kind of money for what is, after all, just a view. In that case, stick with the Dubai Frame. The same goes if you’re traveling with children and you’re watching your budget: definitely choose the Dubai Frame.

The Dubai Frame is fun to visit, in any case, especially the thrill of those glass panels in the floor and zooming up in a glass-sided elevator.

Visitors Information: Dubai Frame, Zabeel Park gate #4, Al Jafaliya metro stop. Open daily 9am-9pm, but it may close early if all tickets have been sold.

Book a combination of tickets and a transfer from your hotel, so you’re sure to get in (and won’t have to walk far like I did!).

Have you visited the Dubai Frame or the Burj Khalifa? If not, which would you choose if you went to Dubai? Add a comment below! And please share this post on whatever social media you frequent!