Sunshine Residences, Dubai Silicon Oasis
Sun and Sand Developers developed Sunshine Residences, a small building in Dubai Silicon Oasis that holds 40 homes in total. The homes are studios and three-bedroom apartments, with nothing in between, so the building suits either one traveller or a full family. This guide starts with the scale of the place and what a small building does to a stay, then your first two days and the facilities for each kind of trip. After that come the roads and buses, and the streets around it.
Developer
Sun and Sand Developers
Units
40
Unit mix
Studios and 3-bedroom apartments
Area
Dubai Silicon Oasis, Nadd Hessa
Forty homes and a roof deck
Forty homes is a small number for a district built from large blocks, and it shapes everything inside. Lifts are rarely crowded, and the roof or deck area is shared by far fewer people than a tower of several hundred. Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO) itself is a self-contained, mixed-use free zone that combines housing, offices and leisure in one area, so the building sits inside a place built to be lived in.
Studios and three-bedrooms are far apart in size, which tells you who the building is for. A studio is the base for a solo trip, and a three-bedroom is the base for a family or a group of friends. With a mall, a hospital and a lake path inside one authority-run community, a stay here suits you if you want to stay put, with a car for trips out.
The first forty-eight hours
Dubai International (DXB) is the airport you land at. Taxis and private cars are the convenient ways in and out of DSO, given the limited direct metro coverage. A taxi from arrivals to the door in one leg is the simplest start after a flight.
The reception desk is the first stop inside the entrance. It serves all 40 homes. Security and CCTV cover the premises, and parking for residents is part of the building if you arrive by car. For a building of forty homes, that is a short route from taxi to sofa.
A supermarket sits within the building or its podium, and retail units on site mean the first errand does not need a trip. For a bigger shop, Cedre Shopping Centre serves daily grocery needs, and Souq Extra and Silicon Central Mall cover wider shopping and dining.
Facilities, by who is travelling
A solo traveller in a studio gets the most from the gym and the pool, and the jacuzzi rounds off the evening. Together they make a quiet routine for a working week. All three are within the same grounds as the front door.
A couple on a short stay can add the sauna and the steam room. They suit the end of a hot day, and they turn a free evening into a spa night without a booking elsewhere.
If the gym downstairs is not enough, Nitro Gym is in Apricot Towers, and Gym Nation is on the top floor of Souq Extra Mall. Several ladies-only gyms exist in the community as well. A building of forty homes can only hold so much equipment, so a second gym is worth knowing about on a long stay.
A family in a three-bedroom has the play area for children. It gives younger children somewhere to go that is not a pool. With three bedrooms to share, the adults get a quieter evening too.
Someone working from the apartment can take a break on the roof or deck area, away from the desk and the screen. Maintenance services are provided at the building, so a faulty appliance during a month-long stay is handled on site.
Buses and roads, without a metro
You will not find a metro station here. Bus lines X25 and 365 serve the area, with stops in walking distance of key hotels and residences, and a bus stop stands outside Silicon Central. Centrepoint on the Red Line is the nearest station.
Bus 320 links Centrepoint metro station with DSO, the usual metro-to-DSO bus link. The community has more than 20 bus stops spread through its streets, even though it has no metro.
Sheikh Zayed Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Street (D54) is a few minutes by car, and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road (E311) is not far behind. Emirates Road (E611) is the link to the northern emirates.
Evenings and errands
Spinneys and Carrefour Market serve the community, and a Spinneys stands inside Cedre Villas. A Carrefour Market with an in-store bakery and a butcher is in Binghatti Terraces. Al Maya Supermarket is in Silicon Gates 1. That covers the small daily buys.
Foodings Restaurant is in Emirates Tower Residence 1, and My Govindas is opposite Silicon Oasis Mall. Chili Ways is in the Silicon Central food court. Hotel restaurants and bars add a second tier of dining.
Relatives visiting from abroad can stay at Radisson Blu Hotel Apartments, a four-star serviced residence. Dubai Safari Park, IMG Worlds of Adventure and Global Village are the attractions people combine with a DSO stay, and a car makes them easy.
Parks and coffee
Community Park and Lake Park, which has a running track, are the main parks. North Park sits near Cedre Villas. Central Park offers jogging and cycling, along with children's playgrounds.
Costa Coffee and Starbucks operate in DSO's shopping centres. Casual restaurants cover Indian and Lebanese food.
A hot afternoon indoors
Silicon Central Mall has more than 30 dining outlets, including a food court with a wide mix of cuisines. It keeps Fabyland and Total Ninja running year-round. Families get indoor options in the hot summer months.
Medi Family PolyClinic is in SIT Tower and Symbiosis Medical Centre is in Cedre Villas. Fakeeh University Hospital sits in neighbouring Academic City, so you go next door for a full hospital.
GEMS Wellington Academy and Indian International School are in the community, as is Vernus International School, which teaches an American curriculum up to Grade 5.
How DSO began
Dubai Silicon Oasis was set up by the Dubai government as a free-trade zone in 2003 and opened in 2004 as a hub for innovation and technology. Dubai Digital Park, set up in 2018, is described as Dubai's first integrated smart-city project.
What to weigh
It suits you less if you want large-building services such as a long list of pools and courts, because forty homes means a modest set of facilities. A bigger neighbour may fit that wish better. Traffic also builds up at the main entrances and exits of DSO in the morning and evening peaks, on Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road and the Dubai-Al Ain Road. Dunes and Silicon Gates IV are two other Dubai Silicon Oasis buildings with their own guides.
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. Dubai requires a DET holiday home permit for each unit before it is listed, and every apartment needs its own permit. Our page on running a Dubai holiday apartment sets the ownership side out.
Sources
Sources: Bayut area guide, betterhomes, Bayut, Property Finder blog, Property Finder, Wikipedia, Houst, Propsearch.
Questions