Been in Al Ain for a week for work and to my surprise it’s so much better than Dubai. It’s less than two hours drive from DBX where you can also see the desert and the city is smaller, less crowded, cheaper. I am used to Dubai, where taxis are getting hard to find, the traffic is appauling and accommodation are getting expensive. Al Ain is a good compromise, it looks similar to a smaller Dubai, but much more compact to walk around and experience. Like more UAE cities you will find the same shopping opportunities same as Dubai and hotels are the same standards as in Dubai but way cheaper.
People there were friendly, English is spoken widely like in the rest of UAE. There’s also gardens, museams, zoo. People I was with took me on took of a hill where the Emir lives and the view as you go there is amazing and also hot spring are available down the valley.
There’re couple of bars inside hotels, but as the rest of the UAE being muslim same as Dubai you don’t go there to get wasted.
I was really impressed with Al Ain, that I am planning to go back next year with my parents since they have never been in the Middle East as a softer, less frantic version of Dubai.