Hi, Kish here to talk about the Dubai shopping centers…

The minute I heard of Dubai’s reputation as the shopper’s paradise, it came as no surprise to me and I knew that all my friends would want to get there right away!

Being a shopaholic, I try to time my visit to back to Dubai to coincide with the Dubai shopping festival so I can take advantage of the best prices available and enjoy what the city has to offer.

And in the instance when I can’t make it during the shopping festival, I often head to one of the many Dubai shopping centers. I have to say that it is never an easy decision for me as I wonder which shopping mall to visit since there are so many of them.

What I have managed to do over the years is to group the shopping centers in Dubai into 4 categories.

They are as follows: the glitzy, the glamorous, small and cozy, and then last but not least there are the traditional souks.

I usually visit a few from each time I head back to Dubai. The glitzy malls like the festival city, Deira city center or the BurJuman are very large malls.

These malls have some of the best in-house entertainment events ever to be held inside a mall.

Some of the very best in designer wear can be bought at these malls, as most of them have more than 300 shops, each stocked to the rafters with the very latest and the best.

If you are looking for a complete makeover then the BurJuman is the place for you. This mall seems to have almost everything under its roof, from Ralph Lauren to Mango and it’s always too big for my pudgy legs to carry me all the distance.

The next kind of malls, the small and the cozy are my favorites, not too big or too showy, just perfect. This reads like a Goldilocks story doesn’t it? Well, don’t worry, I do not have the three bears hunting after me nor do I have golden tresses. Anyway these small malls are just perfect to do the shopping from, with café’s and restaurants; they make the perfect base for anyone to kick start off their shopping spree.

Some of the small malls that I visit are the Lamcy plaza, the Jumeirah plaza as well as the Jumeirah center. I visit the Lamcy plaza since that seems to be the only shopping center to be open on Friday, but my visits to the other two malls are more or less a result of hearing about some of the great bargains that are available there.

The small malls are certainly worth visiting, allowing you to take in everything that is for offer there. In this way, you need not spend countless nights worrying about whether you had missed out on the deal of the century or not. It can be good psychologically no?

The Dubai shopping centers would not be the same if it were not for the presence of some traditional souks. These souks provide the very best quality when it comes to local Dubai merchandise, be it gold or diamonds. Remember the song, “Diamonds are a woman’s best friend”, well, visit the souks and you will end up with a lot of those friends in your handbag, all for very cheap!

Side fact: Dubai diamond jewelry is up to 60% cheaper than Europe. Now that is just insane!}

Goldilocks or not, I always have a terrific time shopping in Dubai at the time of the festival and plan to do so for the years to come. It can be one of my many annual vacations looool!

There are certainly many Dubai shopping centers with each mall trying to outdo the other, making these large malls seem like a runaway advertisement. Dubai is indeed a shopper’s paradise and more or less a husband’s nightmare lol. But then again ladies, the last part is for us to manage efficiently, what do you think?

And if you are the type to rather shop from the comfort of your own home and avoid getting out in that rush, crazy traffic and the hot Dubai sun, then definitely consider shopping online at Dubai's largest online shopping mall. I have seen amazing bargains here every time I have visited the site.