Zaafaran 2, Downtown Dubai
Zaafaran 2 is a low-rise residential building in the Zaafaran cluster of Old Town, the Arabian-style district of Downtown Dubai developed by Emaar Properties around 2006, a short walk from Burj Khalifa, The Dubai Fountain and Souk Al Bahar. It holds a mix of one and two-bedroom apartments across a compact, three-storey building. Short-term rental listings already operate inside Zaafaran 2 today, and Royale Stays manages the setup, pricing and guest side of listing a unit for a fee from 15%.
Storeys
3
Developer
Emaar Properties
Completed
Around 2006 (Old Town)
Units
1BR & 2BR only
Area
Zaafaran, Old Town, Downtown Dubai
About Zaafaran 2
Zaafaran 2 is one of the numbered buildings in the Zaafaran cluster, part of Old Town, the Arabian-style sub-community Emaar Properties built around Burj Khalifa in Downtown Dubai. Old Town as a whole dates to around 2006, and while a full masterplan-wide description puts the district's buildings anywhere from four to seven storeys, Zaafaran 2 itself is a compact, low-rise building of 3 storeys, in keeping with the lower end of that range and the sandstone, courtyard-style architecture Old Town is known for.
The building holds only one and two-bedroom apartments, with no studios and no larger units, a narrower mix than some of the other Zaafaran-numbered buildings in the same cluster. Short-term rental activity is already visible here: one listing markets a "Huge balcony 2BR in Zaafaran 2 w Burj Khalifa view" through Allsopp&Allsopp, and a separate operator, Higuests Vacation Homes, runs its own holiday-home listings under the building's name, independently of anything Royale Stays has done. Royale Stays manages the day-to-day side of turning an apartment here into a working short-term rental, from setup and pricing through to guest communication, as part of its wider Airbnb property management approach in Dubai, for a management fee from 15%.
Location & Nearby Landmarks
Zaafaran 2 sits within the Zaafaran zone of Old Town, one of six themed zones inside Emaar's Downtown Dubai masterplan, close to Souk Al Bahar and within walking distance of Burj Khalifa, The Dubai Fountain and Dubai Mall. Business Bay and Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall Metro stations are both a short drive away.
For a wider view of the area's short-term rental market, Royale Stays' Airbnb management guide for Downtown Dubai covers licensing and demand across the community. Other Downtown Dubai buildings covered separately on royalestays.com include Downtown Views 1, 48 Burj Gate and Downtown Mada Residences, each with its own layout and unit mix.
Unit Types
Zaafaran 2 was built with one and two-bedroom apartments only. One-bedroom layouts run from around 772 to 1,287 sq ft across 17 distinct plans, and two-bedroom layouts run from around 1,250 to 1,344 sq ft across 12 distinct plans, giving owners a genuine spread of sizes to choose from within the same two unit types.
Amenities
Residents have access to a fitness club, a swimming pool, covered/underground parking, concierge services, ongoing building maintenance and round-the-clock security.
Transportation & Access
Business Bay and Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall Metro stations are both a short drive from the building, and Sheikh Zayed Road is close by for anyone driving, typical of most Old Town addresses tucked just behind the Downtown Dubai skyline.
Rental & Price Trends
Downtown Dubai rents rose roughly 4 to 7% through 2025, according to Bayut's Dubai Rental Market Report, with H1 2026 figures putting a one-bedroom apartment in the area at around AED 133,000 a year and a two-bedroom at around AED 223,000, the two unit types Zaafaran 2 actually offers. No verified Zaafaran 2-specific rent or price-per-square-foot figure is available at the time of writing, so these reflect the wider Downtown Dubai trend rather than a building-specific number. Owners weighing a specific unit's numbers can run their own scenario through Royale Stays' ROI calculator.
Airbnb / Short-Term Rental Income Potential
This is where the research lines up with something concrete: short-term listings already operate directly inside Zaafaran 2, including a two-bedroom marketed with a Burj Khalifa view through Allsopp&Allsopp, and a separate vacation-home operator, Higuests, running its own bookings under the building's name, independent operators already active here, none of them Royale Stays. That is a genuine, external signal of live demand, not a hopeful assumption. Royale Stays' own managed Downtown Dubai portfolio shows one-bedroom apartments earning in the region of AED 130,000 to AED 175,000 gross a year, per the Downtown Dubai Airbnb rental income data.
Because Zaafaran 2 is developed by Emaar rather than Vida, the site's only confirmed prohibited brand for short-term letting, there is no policy reason apartments here cannot be run as licensed holiday homes. Royale Stays runs the full operation for a fee starting from 15%, covering furnishing, photography, pricing, check-in and guest communications, with a single monthly statement covering revenue, fee, costs and net transfer. Owners ready to move forward can submit their property for a free earnings estimate.
Income context reviewed by Chris Veinbaums, DTCM-licensed operator.
Questions