Short Term Rentals in DEC Tower 1, Dubai Marina
Dec Tower 1 is a 21-storey apartment block in Dubai Marina with studios plus one-bedroom and two-bedroom homes, and the first thing to settle is which side of the water you want to wake up on. The Marina's towers surround a canal. JBR next door has 40 towers set directly on the beach. That choice shapes the whole stay. JBR Beach is the livelier of the two sands, with water sports, while Marina Beach is quieter. This tower suits you when you want the canal and the promenade below the building and the sea a short tram ride away.
Floors
21
Developer
Dheeraj and East Coast LLC
Unit Types
Studio-2BR
On this page
- Courts, a track and a pool under one roof
- What is downstairs besides the lifts
- A week in the tower, Monday to Sunday
- Getting in, getting about
- The staff at the desk and the cameras above it
- Evenings along the canal
- An afternoon at the mall
- Clinics, nurseries and the school run
- Across the water to Bluewaters
- How the Marina came to be
- It suits you less if
- If you own here
- Sources
- Frequently Asked Questions
A day inside, from the track to the lifts
Start with the running track and the gym, both inside the building, so an early session needs no taxi and no walk along a road. Tennis and squash share the tower with them. If you play either, you can follow the gym with a game and be back in your flat before the heat builds.
Prefer a class to a machine? Gyms in the district offer personal training and group classes, some with 24-hour access. F45 and The Marina Gym are in Dubai Marina. That gives you options if your routine needs a studio rather than the tower's own gym.
Midday belongs to the pool. A swim in the tower's own pool means no trip to the beach. The basketball court gives you a second option when you are travelling with friends who like a pickup game, and it keeps a group of teenagers busy on a hot afternoon.
By late afternoon the errands are close. Milk and a pharmacy visit need only the lift, because the tower has a supermarket and a pharmacy within the building or its podium. Retail units and cafes or restaurants sit there too, so a coffee on the way home does not mean a walk to the Marina.
Which home for how long
A studio and a two-bedroom bracket the range, so the choice follows the length of your stay. For a month or more, the building adds a business or meeting room. That gives you somewhere quiet for a call when the flat is shared.
Over a long stay, small repairs come up. A reception desk serves the building. Security and CCTV cover it, and maintenance services are provided on site. After a late flight you will be glad of a person at the desk and a repair team a phone call away.
Families with toddlers will notice the day-care or nursery space in the same building. Blossom Marina nursery sits on the Marina Promenade in Beauport Tower. It follows the British EYFS framework.
Flying in, then the road
A taxi from Dubai International (DXB) takes you to the tower in one leg. Uber and Careem cover the Marina well, and street taxis are easy to flag along the Marina Walk and outside the mall, though waits stretch a little on weekend evenings. If you arrive by rail, two Red Line stations sit on the edge of the Marina: Sobha Realty, formerly called Dubai Marina, and DMCC.
The tram has 11 stations. It runs from JBR to Al Sufouh, which is how you reach the beach without a car, and Dubai Marina Mall and Marina Towers are separate tram stops. RTA water taxis cross the canal from Dubai Marina Mall and Marina Walk. Several bus routes run through the area. RTA bus routes also connect to Ibn Battuta and Mall of the Emirates.
The building has parking for residents, which counts for a lot here. Marina roads fill up on weekends and public holidays, and during school hours too. Visitor parking is tight at peak hours. It suits you less if you plan to drive every day, because on busy evenings the tram or a taxi works better than a car.
Outside the lobby: mall, beach, supper
The Marina Walk has more than 600 boats and yachts moored along it, and a long waterside promenade. Dubai Marina has few parks, so that promenade takes the place of green space for jogging and cycling. One grass strip on the way to the Zero Gravity beach club allows dogs on a lead. Small parks and playgrounds run alongside the promenade, and families use them.
District 8 serves modern international cuisine, while Fresh Fish Restaurant and Bob's Fish and Chips cover seafood. Buddha-Bar and the Address hotel offer fine dining with marina views. For a late drink, try Jetty Lounge or Atelier M. The nightlife here mixes rooftop lounges, pubs and beachfront clubs.
For the bigger shop, Dubai Marina Mall covers over 390,000 square feet on four floors and has a Waitrose. Spinneys and West Zone are other grocery options in the area, with Al Maya close behind.
JBR Beach is the closest beach to the Marina and can be reached by tram or on foot, with water sports and sunbathing on offer. Beach clubs such as Zero Gravity and Barasti operate along the waterfront.
A pedestrian bridge links Bluewaters Island to JBR, so you can walk over to Madame Tussauds Dubai. Island Brunch runs there on a year-round listing. AquaFun Dubai Water Park and Adventure Island are in JBR. If you would rather skip the walk, the RTA ferry route FR4 runs from Marina Mall to Palm Jumeirah and Atlantis.
Doctors close by, schools further out
Medcare Medical Centre and Emirates Hospitals Clinic are in the Marina, with Al Zahra Hospital and Saudi German Hospital in Al Barsha nearby. Mediclinic is also within reach.
No schools sit inside Dubai Marina. Emirates International School Meadows, International School of Choueifat in Al Sufouh and Dubai British School Jumeirah Park are named nearby. Raffles Early Childhood Centre on Dubai Marina Walk follows the EYFS framework for children from 45 days old.
Where the canal came from
Emaar planned Dubai Marina as a waterfront community around a 3.5-kilometre man-made canal. Phase I has six freehold apartment buildings. Phase II is a high-rise cluster. The Walk at JBR opened officially in August 2008, after the ground and plaza levels were completed by 2007.
Courts, a track and a pool under one roof
Few towers of this height carry as many ways to burn off a morning. The pool and the gym come first. The sports side is the unusual part: a tennis court and a squash court share the building with a basketball court and a running track. Tennis at eight and a swim before lunch need no taxi.
If the in-house gym is not your kind of session, F45 and The Marina Gym are both in the district, and squash and badminton courts sit at Marina Promenade. Joggers and cyclists share the Marina Walk with walkers, so a long run can start from the lobby and finish by the water.
What is downstairs besides the lifts
A supermarket and a pharmacy sit within the building or its podium, and so do retail units and cafes or restaurants. The first shop for milk and water needs only a ride in the lift. Cafes on the podium give you a breakfast near the lobby when you do not feel like walking anywhere.
There is also a business or meeting room, which gives you a quiet corner for a call when the flat is shared. Families will notice the day-care or nursery space in the same building, a small convenience when children are young.
A week in the tower, Monday to Sunday
Start the week on foot. The Marina Walk promenade runs along the water for about seven kilometres, so a lot of daily movement happens on foot between home and the cafes. Midweek, the bigger grocery run goes to Dubai Marina Mall, where Waitrose has a branch. Spinneys and West Zone are other options in the area. By Friday you will want the beach: JBR Beach is the closest, reachable by tram or on foot. On the last evening, Pier 7 stacks seven restaurants over seven floors at the water's edge.
Getting in, getting about
A taxi from Dubai International (DXB) takes you to the tower in one leg. Uber and Careem cover the Marina well, and street taxis are easy to flag along the Marina Walk and outside the mall, though waits stretch a little on weekend evenings. If you arrive by rail, two Red Line stations sit on the edge of the Marina. They are Sobha Realty, formerly called Dubai Marina, and DMCC.
The tram has 11 stations. It runs from JBR to Al Sufouh, which is how you reach the beach without a car. The Dubai Marina tram stop connects with the Sobha Realty Metro station, so a rail arrival and a tram leg to the tower fit together. A water taxi route links Marina Mall with Marina Walk and crosses the canal in a way no road can.
The tower has parking for residents, which counts for a lot here. Marina roads fill up on weekends and holidays, and during school hours too. Visitor parking is tight at peak hours. On busy evenings the tram or a taxi works better than a car, though a car still helps for weekend trips and the big grocery hauls that a weekly shop turns into.
The staff at the desk and the cameras above it
A reception desk serves the building. Security and CCTV cover it, and maintenance services are provided on site. After a long flight you will be glad of a person who can take a call about a jammed lock or a dripping tap.
Evenings along the canal
Mama Zonia and Papas Dubai are among the places to eat in Dubai Marina, with City Social for a late table. For breakfast, The Scene and Carluccio's are around Dubai Marina Mall and the Marina Walk. Dinner ends with a short walk home.
An afternoon at the mall
Dubai Marina Mall is linked to the five-star JW Marriott Hotel Marina and has four levels with about 140 stores. It also has a children's play area, which makes it the easy answer to a hot afternoon. When the heat drops, walk back along the water, where more than 600 boats and yachts are moored along the Marina Walk and the promenade beside them is long enough to fill an hour.
Clinics, nurseries and the school run
With a pharmacy in the building, small errands are covered before you leave home. Medcare Medical Centre and Emirates Hospitals Clinic both operate inside the Marina, and Al Zahra Hospital and Saudi German Hospital in Al Barsha are nearby.
Families should know that no schools sit inside Dubai Marina, so the school run is a drive each way. Blossom Marina nursery sits on the Marina Promenade in Beauport Tower and follows the British EYFS framework. Small parks and playgrounds run alongside the promenade, and families use them in the cooler evenings.
Across the water to Bluewaters
Ain Dubai is a 250 metre observation wheel on Bluewaters Island. The island sits across the water from the JBR beachfront. A pedestrian bridge links it to JBR, so you can walk over after a morning on the sand. If you would rather skip the walk, water taxi route BM3 runs from Dubai Marina Mall to the island.
Beach clubs such as Zero Gravity and Barasti operate along the Marina and JBR waterfront. Dubai Water Sport Academy offers banana boating and windsurfing near the Marina beach. That suits a day when you want more than the pool.
How the Marina came to be
Emaar designed and built Dubai Marina around a man-made canal, and it began taking shape in 2003. Phase I has six freehold apartment buildings. Phase II is a high-rise cluster. Much of the skyline you see from a Marina balcony belongs to that second wave.
It suits you less if
It suits you less if you want quiet. Peak-hour traffic around the main exits and limited public parking are the plain costs of living in the Marina. Noise near The Walk and The Beach adds to them, and tourist crowds swell in the busy season. Older towers also carry higher service charges, a point worth weighing if you are buying.
With over 200 residential towers, the Marina has a deep supply of apartments, so it pays to compare. Marina Gate and Ocean Heights have their own guides on this site. Skyview Tower is another to set beside this one before you decide.
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. Many Marina towers provide resident parking, but public parking is limited, so visitor parking is worth checking per building. 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. Our guide to Dubai Marina for owners covers the district in more detail.
Sources
Sources: Wikipedia, Engel and Voelkers area guide, What's On, Gulf News, betterhomes, Bayut area guide, Bayut, Khaleej Times, ServiceMarket blog, The National, Bhomes school guide, Ain Dubai, Gulf Business.
Questions