Mall of the Emirates Dubai  

Mall of the Emirates, Dubai, UAE, tel +971-4-4099000

Abu Dhabi shopping malls | Dubai shopping malls | other UAE shopping malls

Mall of the Emirates opening times

• Ramadan timings/hours are daily 1000-0100 next morning including Carrefour supermarket. Most restaurants, cafes and other food and drink outlets are closed until Iftar - the time of day when fasting ends (between 1700 and 1900 depending on the time of year that Ramadan occurs).

Mall of the Emirates information

Mall of the Emirates (MOTE or MOE - but don't confuse that with the Ministry of Education) claims to be the largest shopping mall outside North America - as of mid-2006. This would be correct if China was in North America. South China Mall (opened 2005) is 9.6 million sq ft, Golden Resources Shopping Mall (opened in 2004, also in China) is 7.3 million sq ft, Mall of the Emirates comes in third with 6.5 million square feet. West Edmonton Mall in Canada is 5.4 million sq ft. Those are total areas, not retail area or leasable areas. Anyway, The Dubai Mall and Mall of Arabia will open in 2008 or 2009 and fight over the number one spot, along with a couple more in China.

In addition to all the normal facilities - shops, coffee shops, cinemas, supermarket, it has a large walk-in freezer at the western end where you can go from desert sunshine and 40+ degrees Celcius to skiing and snowboarding on real man-made snow in sub-zero temperatures at Ski Dubai. The Snow Park is if you don't have a snowboard or skis but still want to cool off. Large windows separate the mall from the skifield so you can enjoy the winter scenery while wearing summer clothes.

• Mall of the Emirates is owned by Majid Al Futtaim group (MAF CEO is Francois de Montaudouin). Other shopping malls in MAF Holding are Deira City Centre, Sharjah City Center, and Ajman City Center along with a couple more outside the UAE in Egypt - Cairo and Alexandria.
• Sometimes called The Emirates Mall (but that's not really correct).
• Cost of the Mall of the Emirates was 800+ million dhs.
• Shops started opening around September/October 2005 and official opening was November 2005.
• Awarded with the title of The World's Leading New Shopping Mall in November 2005 at the World Travel Awards in London. This was shortly before it rained in Dubai and the Mall of the Emirates' roof leaked.
• Area of 6.5 million square feet with 460+ retail shops, 14 cinemas including Dubai's only Cinemax theater (not the same as the iMax at Ibn Battuta Shopping Mall), the Black Hole of weirdness in the Magic Planet entertainment area, and not enough car parks on a Thursday or Friday night (don't park on the pavement - tickets are being handed out).
• Kempinski Hotel at Mall of the Emirates has 5 stars, 900 rooms and opened in 2006. For now, it has enough car parks. Apres is a bar in the hotel Kempinski overlooking the ski slopes at Ski Dubai where you can get that genuine authentic apres ski feeling just as if you were in ze French Alps oui?

St Moritz Ice Cafe

If you're feeling hot and bothered after all the shopping, you can cool down at the St Moritz Ice Cafe (open August 2009) in Ski Dubai, without having to pay the Ski Dubai entry fee. Jackets and seat warmers provided so your bare flesh doesn't stick to the ice-chairs.

Mall of the Emirates car park charges

MOTE announced that weekend parking would be free after the Dubai Metro starts, irrespective of number of hours. Details below need updating.

As MOTE has a Dubai Metro station connected to it, many commuters will be tempted to use the MOTE car park. To avoid that, MOTE car parking fees start after the Dubai Metro launch date (09 September 2009). Car parking fees were first mentioned in June 2009 as possibly applying to customers who stay more than 4 hours in the shopping mall (Dubai Eye radio interview June 2009). Car park charges announced on 22 July 2009 are:

• free for first 3 hours on weekdays, first 4 hours on all day on weekends (Friday and Saturdays) and public holidays
• additional hour free for those attending the cinema (keep your ticket)
• car parking charges are 20 dhs per additional hour on weekdays, 40 dhs or 60 dhs per hour on weekends, rising to 100-150 dhs for 6-8 hours
• information in table below based on MOTE information and Gulf News report 30 August 2009, not confirmed.
• a lost or damaged ticket will cost AED 150 (unknown how lost ticket claims will be dealt with if customer parked for time period worth in excess of AED 150).

Mall of the Emirates numbers (August 2009 Emirates Business report)

• Daily footfall 70,000-80,000 weekdays, 100,000-110,000 weekends.
• Annual visitor numbers 23m in 2006, 27m in 2007, 30m in 2008, expected to be 30m in 2009.

Mall of the Emirates expansion 2008-2010

Majid Al Futtaim Group (MAF) announced 28 September 2008 that they would invest AED 500 million on expansion of shopping, eating, and parking facilities at Mall of the Emirates. Anyone who has tried to find a carpark on a Thursday night will be delighted to hear that. The bad news for car parkers though is that the 750 space car park extension is part of phase II. Phase I is extending the shopping facilities.

• Expansion expected to be completed by early 2010 (cynics will say that's Dubaispeak for late 2010).
• Phase II also includes a link to the Dubai Metro. Expected completion of phase II is September 2009 - same time as the Metro starts.

Mall of the Emirates stores

• Crate & Barrel - a US furniture and homeware store, opening in 2010.

Mall of the Emirates Dubai Metro station and shops

From 09 September 2009, the Dubai Metro will be in operation, and have a stop at Mall of the Emirates. New shops opening in the connection link between the metro station and the main MOTE building include Better Life¹, Borders Express, Cold Stone Creamery, ECity, EMax, Home Sweet Home, Jacky's Electronics¹, Nokia Evo, Paperchase (Express), UAE Exchange (UAExchange).

1. Better Life and Jacky's will be moving from current locations in MOTE.

Mall of the Emirates awards that you probably don't really care about

• 'Best Shopping Mall' title at the Best in Dubai Awards 2008 - beating 9 other shopping malls in a voting contest by residents of Dubai.
• 'World's Best Retail Destination of the Year' at the 2008 Retail City Awards
• 'Best Mall Award' at Grazia Middle East Style Awards 2008
• 'Brand of the Year' Award at Superbrands 2008
• Won the 'Best Design and Innovation' award at the ICSC International Design and Development Awards 2007. ICSC is the International Council of Shopping Centers, a global trade organisation representing shopping centers around the world, founded in 1957.

Last update Sunday 04-Oct-2009

Related pages

• Dubai Film Festival - annual film festival in Dubai (December) with most screenings at MOTE
• Home Center Dubai - list of Home Centre locations
• Shopping malls in Dubai - list of other Dubai Malls and shopping malls in other emirates
• Things to do in Dubai
• Tourist guide to Dubai

Related websites (open in new window)

• www.malloftheemirates.com - official Mall of the Emirates (MOTE) website
• Dubai directory - add your link free

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