Dubai: Residents of Karama are losing sleep over noisy nightclubs with several tenants in buildings close to hotels telling XPRESS that the cacophony is affecting their sleep.
“It gets worse during this time when the partying is more intense around midnight. The noise affects us even more in winter because our ACs are off most times.
“The disturbance doesn’t die until the wee hours,” said an irate resident of a second floor apartment overlooking the President Hotel. \
The popular three star hotel near Karama Metro station has at least two nightclubs that are open till 3am and cater to Indians and Filipinos.
“Sometimes the energy is so high it shakes the furniture in our homes. I have seen my daughter’s study table (her room is closest to the nightclub) tremble often,” said another resident.
Daniel Bera, manager of Maharlika Cafe, a popular watering hole for Filipino and East European expats in the hotel, refutes the allegations. “We’ve been operating for years but no one’s come to us with this complaint. We have adequate soundproofing as required by any standard nightclub,” he said.
Less than half a kilometre ahead lies the Karama Hotel, another popular night-time haunt. It houses the Kremlin, a Russian nightclub with live band, Kara-OK! Lounge, an Asian karaoke club playing rock n’ roll to the latest Korean/Chinese chart toppers, Tantra Club, a discotheque and Ratsky, another Fillipino hotspot for clubbers with a live DJ and band. Residents say all of them operate until three in the morning, creating a ruckus on most nights.
When the clubs close down there’s a huge crowd outside waiting for taxis. “There’s constant chaos because of the long line of waiting taxis,” said an Indian living in an apartment behind the hotel.
Indra Thayil, general manager of the hotel said, “We have never received any complaint from nearby residents on this [noise] issue.”
No comment was available from the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, which issues licences and permits for hotel establishments, including nightclubs.
