A place to stay in Deira, not a postcard of one

68 serviced apartments on 2A Street, in Al Muteena — the part of Deira where the souks, the Creek and the metro are all close enough to walk to before dinner.

Every apartment has a kitchenette and a king bed, and most have room for a sofa and a table as well. That matters more than it sounds: guests who stay a week here are not living out of a suitcase in a hotel room, they are cooking their own breakfast and doing their own washing.

The front desk is staffed around the clock, and it flexes. Flights into Dubai land at unhelpful hours, and the answer to "can I check in at 3am" is almost always yes if you tell us in advance. That is the thing guests write about afterwards more than anything else.

There is no spa, no gym and no rooftop pool. What there is, is space, a kitchen, free parking, free WiFi, and someone at the desk whatever time you arrive.