Ladies' night in Dubai: Tuesday, and the fine print

Dubai has more ladies' nights than any city in the region and Tuesday is the night, with a substantial Wednesday overflow.

The offer is competitive enough that the standard is high: three complimentary house drinks is common, some venues run to unlimited within a set window, and several pair the drinks with a discounted food menu rather than leaving you to eat afterwards. Because every licensed venue is inside a hotel, the offers cluster in hotel bars and rooftops, and the quality difference between them is mostly the quality of the room.

What to read before you go. The window is the important number: most offers run from around 8pm to 11pm or midnight, and the crowd arrives at the end of it, which means the last hour is the busy one and the first is the comfortable one. The list is house pours — the cocktail on the menu photograph is rarely on it. And several venues apply the offer only to seated tables in a specific area, which is worth asking about at the door rather than discovering at the bar.

One cultural note for visitors: dress codes here are enforced, and more strictly at the rooftop venues than the pubs. Checking the venue's stated code before leaving saves an argument in a lobby.

Offers rotate seasonally, and summer versions are usually more generous than winter ones because the competition is for a smaller crowd.