Trafalgar Central, International City
Trafalgar Central is a 10-storey apartment building in International City, developed by Fakhruddin Properties. It holds 160 homes in total. The mix runs from studios to three-bedroom apartments. Ten storeys stand taller than the low-rise buildings that make up most of the district, and the range of homes inside makes the building usable for a solo traveller on a work trip and for a family on a long holiday, because the same lobby serves both.
It suits a longer stay better than a quick one. A supermarket sits within the building or its podium. Cafes or restaurants share the site, so the shopping and the first coffee happen without leaving the compound. It suits you less if you want a beach, a skyline view or a night out on foot. International City has over 22,000 residences. Most are studios and one-bedroom apartments in low-rise buildings, and the pleasures of living here are practical ones.
Developer
Fakhruddin Properties
Unit Types
Studio to 3-bedroom apartments (around 160 units)
Area
Central Business District, International City, Dubai
On this page
From the supermarket to the roof, in the order a day runs
The day starts at the supermarket, which makes breakfast simple. Buy bread and fruit downstairs and eat it on the way back up. A cafe or restaurant on the same site covers the morning coffee when the kitchen is still empty, and the whole first hour of the day happens inside the compound.
By mid-morning the gym comes next. The swimming pool follows once you have finished, and a long swim before lunch is a simple way to beat the heat. The jacuzzi is the natural stop for tired legs after a long flight or a long day of meetings.
In the evening the sauna and the steam room take over. The roof or deck area gives you air once the heat drops. A long stay turns these into a routine, which is the real reason to choose a building with a full set of facilities rather than a bare block of flats that has only a lift and a lobby.
Studio to three-bedroom, for a week or a season
A studio is a single room that holds the bed, the kitchen counter and the desk, so the bed, the desk and the counter are all within reach and nothing needs a second trip. It suits one person on a work trip, or a couple who spend the day out. A one-bedroom puts a door between sleeping and living. A two-bedroom suits two couples or a family. The three-bedroom is the one to look at for a group staying a month or more, because the extra bedroom lets each pair of travellers keep a door of its own.
Away from the building, Target Gym and V Fitness are gyms inside the community, as is Fitness 360, and Cleopatra Swimming Academy is mapped as a pool in the district. If your stay runs past a month, a second gym gives you a change from the machines downstairs.
For a longer stay, the building behind the apartment matters nearly as much as the apartment itself. Maintenance services are provided at the building, and a reception desk takes the deliveries. Parking for residents is on site, and security with CCTV cover watches the entrance. None of these lines will win a prize, but a month is made of them, and a building that gets them right is easier to live in than one with a longer list of amenities and slower answers when something breaks.
Landing at DXB and finding the road
From Dubai International Airport (DXB) a taxi takes you in one leg to the building. The reception desk is the first stop, and parking is there if you arrive by hire car. Weekday peak-hour traffic on the roads around the community is congested, so a midday or weekend arrival is easier than the rush hour.
International City sits between Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road (E311) and Al Awir Road (E44), the two highways that frame it. Interchanges 5 and 6 on Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road give cars access between the highway and the community. Whichever way you come, the two highways do most of the work, and the interchanges are the part of the drive that asks for attention.
International City has no Dubai Metro station of its own, so the metro is reached by road or bus. RTA bus routes from the community connect to Centrepoint and Etisalat metro stations, and on to Al Nahda.
Dragon Mart and the weekly shop
Dragon Mart is the district's big draw. Starbucks, Chili's and Le Pain Quotidien have outlets inside it. Al Warqa Q1 Mall is mapped as a shopping mall in the district too, which gives you a second place to spend a hot afternoon when Dragon Mart is more of an outing than you want.
Carrefour has a hypermarket inside Dragon Mart 2 for larger grocery shops. Smaller convenience stores in the clusters include LuLu Express, New West Zone and Growth Mart. The supermarket in the building handles the top-up shop between them.
Dinner and the lake
Ammas Restaurant and Golden Finger Restaurant are in the France cluster. Malabar Restaurant is in the Persia cluster. Dyar Al Sham Restaurant and Warsan Mandi are mapped as restaurants serving Arab food, so a dinner in the district does not have to mean a trip out to the malls.
Al Warsan Lake is surrounded by landscaped greenery, with paths used for evening walks and jogging. Paris Children's Park is in the France cluster. It makes a short outing for a family. Among the shared facilities are a basketball court and a kids' play area.
International City has ten clusters themed on countries, from England and Russia to Morocco and China. The country clusters echo the architecture of their namesake countries and surround the Central Business District. Many buildings in International City accept pets, and the clusters have walkable paths, which makes an evening loop around the blocks a low-effort way to end a day.
How the district began
Nakheel Properties founded International City, with incorporation dated 10 July 2004, to provide low and medium-cost housing. The community covers about 800 hectares in the Al Warsan area of Dubai and is divided into multiple phases.
Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary and Mushrif Park are outdoor day-trip options outside the community.
Friendship Cafe is in the China cluster. Smaller local cafes and shisha lounges are spread across the residential clusters.
Clinics and schools, then prayer
Aster Medical Center International City is the community's named medical centre. Life Pharmacy and Aster Pharmacy have branches across the district, and so does Amber Pharmacy, including inside Dragon Mart 1 and 2.
GEMS Modern Academy is inside International City, which matters on a long family stay when the school run would otherwise cross the district. Chubby Cheeks Nursery is in the Russia cluster and follows an EYFS curriculum.
The Cabin Mosque is in the Persia cluster. Masjid-e-Noor is in the England cluster, and Sheikh Abdel Hameed Masjid is in the Spain cluster.
If you own here
The holiday home permit is tied to each unit, and every unit is added separately on the Holiday Homes System portal. A No Objection Certificate from the developer is part of the permit application where it applies. Royale Stays manages homes for owners from a management fee of 15%, covering furnishing, photography, pricing, check-in, guest communication and maintenance. To see how we run a home in this district, read about managing a furnished home in International City. If you are comparing blocks nearby, look at Sannat Residency and Equiti Apartments.
Sources
Sources: Nakheel, Better Homes blog, Bayut area guide, Property Finder area insights, Wikipedia, Gulf News, Bayut.
Questions