Looking for somewhere new to go with your dog of a weekend? How about a trip to Hatta?
Things in the Dubai exclave are set to get a lot more dog-friendly as the JA Hatta Fort Hotel is now welcoming four-legged friends and their owners for outdoor picnics.
Set in 80 acres of grounds, the mountainside hotel has plenty of grassy lawns where visitors and their dogs can now enjoy fantastic views of the surrounding mountains and the Hatta Hollywood-esque sign.
Pet-loving community group Flopster has partnered with the hotel to create the space, alongside a special daily Flopster menu that pet parents can order from. The main menu at Cafe Gazebo is also available for visitors to order from.
Every Friday, guests can join a live BBQ with their dogs in tow and special discounts for Flopster members.
There's no weight-limit for doggies, so furry friends of all sizes can enjoy a visit to Hatta's oldest hotel.
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A complete guide to Hatta: what to do, where to stay and how to get there
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The news means that weekenders heading to Hatta with their dogs for trekking and nature-filled walks, can schedule a stop at the JA Hatta Fort Hotel before heading back to the big city.
"So many people go to Hatta hiking with their dogs and there was no option for lunch anywhere with dogs before, so this is ideal for all of those day trips out with the furbabies," Kelly Yeomans from Flopster told The National.
The hotel is not yet dog-friendly in other spaces so overnight stays with dogs are not currently available. However, Flopster is planning to host some more dog-centric experiences at the rustic getaway over the next few weeks.
Go Kayaking with your dog in Hatta
To celebrate the launch of the newest Flopster space, a Flopster Day out in Hatta will take place on March 5.
It is being run in partnership with Hatta Kayak, where dog-owners and their pups can head out on the water in a rented kayak and avail of a 15 per cent Flopster discount.
This will be followed by lunch at JA Hatta Fort Hotel, where guests can order from the Flopster menu. Pups can enjoy complimentary sugar-free treats from Toby’s Treats Dubai.
Pre-booking for the event is not essential, but those interested in going need to register via Flopster's Instagram.
If you're looking for a dog-friendly eatery that's a little closer to home, this bumper list of places to eat in Dubai has some good suggestions for lunch with your pooch.
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'Young girls thinking of big ideas'
Words come easy for aspiring writer Afra Al Muhairb. The business side of books, on the other hand, is entirely foreign to the 16-year-old Emirati. So, she followed her father’s advice and enroled in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s summer entrepreneurship course at Abu Dhabi University hoping to pick up a few new skills.
“Most of us have this dream of opening a business,” said Afra, referring to her peers are “young girls thinking of big ideas.”
In the three-week class, pupils are challenged to come up with a business and develop an operational and marketing plan to support their idea. But, the learning goes far beyond sales and branding, said teacher Sonia Elhaj.
“It’s not only about starting up a business, it’s all the meta skills that goes with it -- building self confidence, communication,” said Ms Elhaj. “It’s a way to coach them and to harness ideas and to allow them to be creative. They are really hungry to do this and be heard. They are so happy to be actually doing something, to be engaged in creating something new, not only sitting and listening and getting new information and new knowledge. Now they are applying that knowledge.”
Afra’s team decided to focus their business idea on a restaurant modelled after the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each level would have a different international cuisine and all the meat would be halal. The pupils thought of this after discussing a common problem they face when travelling abroad.
“Sometimes we find the struggle of finding halal food, so we just eat fish and cheese, so it’s hard for us to spend 20 days with fish and cheese,” said Afra. “So we made this tower so every person who comes – from Africa, from America – they will find the right food to eat.”
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Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
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Initial investment: $500,000 in seed round 1 in 2016; $2.2m in seed round 2 in 2017; $5m in series A round in 2018; $12m in series B round in 2019; $16m in series C round in 2020 and $25m in series D round in 2021
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