Emerald Residence, Dubai Marina
Seven storeys and forty-four homes make this a small address in a district with more than 200 residential towers. Emerald Residence was developed by Vakson Real Estate, and the plans run from two bedrooms up to four, with three-bedroom homes in between. There are no studios and no one-bedroom flats. The building is aimed at families and groups rather than solo travellers, and it suits a stay of a week or more better than a night.
Developer
Vakson Real Estate
Storeys
7
Units
44 (2-4BR)
Completed
2006
On this page
- A small building with a desk and a camera
- From the gym to the garden
- Three or four bedrooms for a month
- Landing at DXB and finding the door
- When the Marina roads fill
- Getting around by rail and by water
- How the Marina began
- Masjid Al Rahim and the Willow nursery
- If someone feels unwell
- Waitrose and the weekly shop
- Across the bridge to Bluewaters
- A wet afternoon and a dry one
- Pier 7 and the beach clubs
- What to weigh before you book
- If you own here
- Sources
- Frequently Asked Questions
A small building with a desk and a camera
Forty-four homes share one reception desk. Security and CCTV cover the building, and parking for residents sits in the same block. Maintenance services are provided on site as well, which matters when a stay runs past a weekend. That suits a family of four, or two couples who each want a bedroom door and a bathroom.
From the gym to the garden
Start in the gym, which is inside the building, then move to the sauna and the jacuzzi while the morning is still cool. By late morning the swimming pool for residents is the better place to be. Landscaped gardens give the afternoon somewhere shaded to sit, and children get a play area of their own. Cafes or restaurants on site settle the coffee question without a trip across the Marina.
In the hot months the pavement along Marina Walk is a poor idea at noon. The pool and the gardens then become the whole afternoon, and the play area keeps younger children busy while you stay close. A building with this much inside it earns its keep in July.
Three or four bedrooms for a month
Larger plans earn their space over a month. A two-bedroom suits a couple with a child, while the three-bedroom and four-bedroom homes give a bigger family or a group of friends a room each. Space matters more than the view. F45 and Go Eclipse are among the gyms elsewhere in the district, with Wellfit another, so a change of routine is easy in the third week, when the gym in the building has become familiar.
Landing at DXB and finding the door
Land at Dubai International (DXB) and the plain way to the building is one taxi leg from arrivals. Uber and Careem cover the Marina well, and RTA street taxis are easy to flag along Marina Walk and outside the mall, though waits stretch a little on weekend evenings. A reception desk serves residents at the door. Parking for residents sits in the building, and each Marina tower has dedicated resident parking. Visitor parking is available but tight at peak hours, so a friend arriving by car on a Saturday night does better to take the tram or a taxi.
When the Marina roads fill
Marina roads fill up on weekends and public holidays, and again during school hours, so those are the busiest times to drive. Marina Walk and the surrounding streets get crowded at peak hours, for pedestrians as well as cars. If you plan to drive, you will find that public parking is limited in many parts of the Marina and that paid public spaces fill quickly, especially near the waterfront. A car with a resident space in the building can stay put on those days.
Getting around by rail and by water
The water counts as transport here. Route BM1 links Marina Mall with Marina Walk. The RTA ferry route FR4 runs from Marina Mall to Palm Jumeirah and Atlantis, which makes a half-day out that needs no car.
Sobha Realty and DMCC are Red Line stations. The tram shows Dubai Marina Mall and Marina Towers as separate stops, next to the Dubai Marina stop itself. Several bus routes, among them 11A and 27, are listed as serving the Marina alongside the Metro.
How the Marina began
Emaar designed and built Dubai Marina around a man-made canal, which began taking shape in 2003. Phase I has six freehold apartment buildings called the Dubai Marina towers, and Phase II is a high-rise cluster. The Dubai Tram opened in November 2014.
Masjid Al Rahim and the Willow nursery
Masjid Al Rahim is a prominent mosque in the area. It seats up to 2,000 worshippers. Willow Children's Nursery follows British EYFS. It sits on Marina Al Seba Street and takes a Reggio Emilia approach. Playgrounds are dotted through the district, and one grass strip on the way to the Zero Gravity beach club allows dogs on a lead.
If someone feels unwell
Medcare Medical Centre and Emirates Hospitals Clinic are in the Marina, along with King's Marina Medical Centre. Saudi German Hospital in Al Barsha is the nearby hospital named for emergencies, and Al Zahra Hospital sits in the same district.
Waitrose and the weekly shop
Waitrose has a branch in Dubai Marina Mall. Spinneys and West Zone are other grocery options in the area, with Al Maya as well. Supermarkets, banks and pharmacies cluster toward the east end of the Marina, so the weekly shop is one stop and not three. The cafes or restaurants on site cover breakfast on the days you do not feel like leaving the building.
Across the bridge to Bluewaters
A pedestrian bridge links Bluewaters Island to JBR, so the island can be reached on foot. Madame Tussauds Dubai opened there in September 2021, the first in the Middle East.
A wet afternoon and a dry one
Dubai Marina Mall has high-street brands, restaurants, a supermarket and a pharmacy under one roof, and it covers 150,000 sqm of retail and entertainment space. Children already have a play area at the building, so the mall is a change of scene and not the main event. On a dry day, the Marina Walk has more than 600 boats and yachts moored along it, and a long waterside promenade for walking.
Pier 7 and the beach clubs
Pier 7 has seven restaurants on seven floors. Beach clubs such as Zero Gravity and Barasti operate along the Marina and JBR waterfront. The nightlife mixes rooftop lounges with pubs and beachfront clubs, among them Jetty Lounge and Atelier M.
JBR Beach is livelier, with water sports. Marina Beach is quieter. Kite Beach is known for kitesurfing. You can take a beach picnic to The Beach at JBR, and the Dubai Tram links the Marina to JBR so a car is not needed.
What to weigh before you book
It suits you less if you want a park on the doorstep. Dubai Marina has few parks, so the Marina Walk and promenade take the place of green space for jogging and cycling. Peak-hour traffic is the other trade-off. Entry and exit points are few. Families with older children should also note that Dubai Marina has nurseries for young children but no major K-12 schools inside it, so older children travel to nearby areas. Marina Tower has its own guide on this site, should another block suit you better. Princess Tower is covered in a separate guide too.
If you own here
A tenant applying for a Dubai holiday home permit needs a no objection certificate from the landlord, while owners can apply directly. Royale Stays manages homes for owners at a management fee from 15%. The service covers furnishing and photography. It also covers pricing and check-in, plus guest communications and maintenance coordination. The wider picture for the district sits in our write-up of the Marina for owners.
Sources
Sources: Bayut area guide, What's On, betterhomes, Roads and Transport Authority, Property Finder blog, Khaleej Times, ServiceMarket blog, Bayut, The National, Emaar, Engel and Voelkers area guide, Wikipedia, Bhomes school guide, Gulf Business.
Questions