Reehan 7, Downtown Dubai
Emaar developed Reehan 7, a block of studios and one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom homes in the Reehan cluster of Old Town. Old Town is the pedestrianised, low-rise quarter of Downtown Dubai, built in a traditional Arabic-inspired style at four to seven storeys. Yansoon, Zaafaran, Zanzebeel, Kamoon and Miska sit around it. If you are bringing children, the facilities below matter more than the view.
Developer
Emaar Properties
Units
Studios, 1, 2 and 3-bedroom apartments
Area
Reehan, Old Town, Downtown Dubai
On this page
- The pool, the barbecue and the play area
- Which size of home for which stay
- A wet afternoon, and the school question
- Working from Old Town
- Reception, cameras and a repair call
- From arrivals to the Old Town lane
- The bus stop at South Ridge
- The Red Line and the covered bridge
- The ground before the towers
- Old Town among the towers
- A table on the Boulevard
- Burj Park at the end of the day
- Abra boats on Burj Lake
- Spinneys and the pharmacy
- Souk Al Bahar and the fountain
- It suits you less if you want a tower
- If you own here
- Sources
- Frequently Asked Questions
The pool, the barbecue and the play area
The building has a swimming pool and a barbecue area, with a play area for children beside them. For a family that is a whole afternoon without leaving the block. Children head for the play area while you stay near the water. When the heat drops, the barbecue area turns the same spot into dinner. Nothing here needs a long walk between one thing and the next, so a parent can keep the children in sight from the water, from the barbecue area and from the bench beside the play area, and the whole routine fits into a single afternoon before the evening begins.
Which size of home for which stay
Studios and one-bedroom apartments in Downtown suit single professionals, while larger units suit small families or couples. Here the range runs to three bedrooms. A studio suits a few nights alone, since there is little to look after and the pool and gym are inside the building. A three-bedroom is the choice if the whole family is travelling and everyone wants a door to close.
A wet afternoon, and the school question
Rain is rare, but a games room in the building covers the hottest hours of a summer day. Past the front door, KidZania and Play DXB inside The Dubai Mall give children role-play, interactive games and virtual reality.
On a longer family stay, the question becomes nursery and school places. Downtown has several nurseries that follow the British Early Years Foundation Stage framework and take children from a few months old.
Working from Old Town
Residents have a gym inside the building, and there are cafes or restaurants on site. That gives a working day a rhythm: the gym before the first call, then a coffee downstairs between two others, and no commute at all for the hours in between. Downtown sits on Sheikh Zayed Road between DIFC and Business Bay, so business visitors stay beside the financial district and the office towers.
The Dubai Mall metro station on the Red Line is a regular commute for people working in DIFC and Business Bay. If your meetings are on the other side of Sheikh Zayed Road, you can do without a car for the week. If you do hire one, parking for residents is part of the building.
Reception, cameras and a repair call
A reception desk serves the block, and security and CCTV cover the building after dark. That counts when you come home late from the Boulevard, because the desk and the cameras mean the entrance is never unattended after dark. Maintenance services are provided at the building, so a tap or a cooling unit does not become a project. Parking needs a thought in Downtown. Most residential towers in Downtown give one or two spaces per unit, and visitor parking near The Dubai Mall is tight at weekends.
From arrivals to the Old Town lane
Dubai International (DXB) is 19.8 km from the building. Expect about 20 minutes by road. Downtown has direct access to Sheikh Zayed Road and Financial Centre Road, so the last leg is a single taxi ride from arrivals. The wide boulevards end at the Old Town lanes, and the cab stops at the edge of the cluster.
The bus stop at South Ridge
The nearest bus stop, South Ridge Tower 1, is 0.08 km from the building, so the first leg of any trip begins almost at the door. Route 27 runs to the Gold Souq. It also stops at Dubai Mall. Feeder buses such as the F13 serve the Dubai Mall metro station and the area around it.
The Red Line and the covered bridge
The Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall station is 1.55 km out. It is a Red Line stop on a raised viaduct beside Sheikh Zayed Road. Financial Centre and Business Bay are the neighbouring stations. The station is not immediately adjacent to the mall. A covered, air-conditioned Metro Link Bridge leads on to Dubai Mall and the rest of Downtown, which makes a July errand a cool one.
The ground before the towers
Before 2000 the land under all of this was known as Umm Al Tarif. Emaar revealed the Downtown project in 2003. It began as two developments, with the Opera District and Downtown Views added later.
Old Town among the towers
Outside Old Town, high-rise contemporary towers dominate Downtown Dubai's skyline and streets, so the low roofs here are a change of pace. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard carries restaurants and cafes along with hotels and residential buildings, and it has pedestrian pavements along its length.
A table on the Boulevard
Leila, a Lebanese restaurant, occupies Claren Tower 2 on the Boulevard. Al Hallab Bab El Bahr serves coastal Lebanese food at 29 Boulevard. A night out here is a walk along the pavements to the table and the same walk back, with the low roofs of Old Town waiting at the end of it.
Burj Park at the end of the day
Burj Park is a landscaped island park. It looks across to Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Fountain. It is the green space nearest to hand, though a modest one. Downtown has fewer large parks and open green spaces than suburban areas such as Arabian Ranches or Dubai Hills.
Abra boats on Burj Lake
The water transport stop at Al Wajeha Al Maeyah MTS is 0.79 km from the building, and an evening abra boat ride on Burj Lake runs in front of Burj Khalifa. The Dubai Fountain plays on the same water. A floating boardwalk on the lake is a cheaper way onto the water than the boat.
Spinneys and the pharmacy
Spinneys is 0.27 km from the building, the shop for the first evening. Supercare Pharmacy is 0.53 km away and the Medx clinic 0.81 km, so a headache or a sore throat is a short errand rather than a trip across the city. Mediclinic is the nearest hospital. Mediclinic Dubai Mall opens daily. Hours run from 8am to 8pm, with a day surgery unit and family medicine.
Souk Al Bahar and the fountain
Souk Al Bahar is 0.62 km from the building, and its restaurants face the Dubai Fountain. Several cafes inside The Dubai Mall look onto the fountain as well. Walk there on the first evening.
It suits you less if you want a tower
Business Bay is next door. It is largely a commercial district set along the Dubai Water Canal, whereas Downtown is built around Burj Khalifa and The Dubai Mall. If you would rather stay in a tower than a low-rise cluster, Boulevard Point is one of the residential towers of Downtown, and it has its own guide. For the whole district, there is a separate guide to Downtown Dubai for owners.
If you own here
Royale Stays manages homes for owners from a management fee of 15%, covering furnishing, photography, pricing, check-in, guest communication and maintenance. Our Airbnb management guide for Downtown Dubai sets the district out from the ownership side. Miska 2, Reehan 8, Yansoon 3 and Zaafaran 2 have their own guides.
Sources
Sources: propsearch.ae, betterhomes, Emaar blog, Bayut, Property Finder blog, Savills, Wikipedia, Mediclinic Middle East, Khaleej Times, Gulf News.
Questions