Dubai: Holiday homes on Yas Island will cost three to four times more than a normal night when the National Day break overlaps the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in early December. Gulf News checked with two property management companies who say asking prices for race week has doubled this time.
First Class Property Management puts the median asking rate for race nights, December 3 to 5, at Dh4,700 ($1,280). A normal December night otherwise averages at Dh1,150. Friday, December 4, is the most expensive with prices rising to Dh5,000, and the top quarter of homes ask Dh6,000 or more.
The premium keeps rising as dates fill. “On October 1, the six nights from December 1 to 6 were priced 184% above the surrounding dates,” said Luis Santos, Co-Founder of First Class Property Management. “Today the same six nights are around 250% above, and the three race nights more than 300%.” he adds that the “premium keeps climbing as the dates fill.”
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Race week beats last year
Rates for guests who have already booked tell a similar story. First Class records a median of about Dh3,500 a night for race weekend, against Dh1,270 on a normal December night.
bnbme holiday homes see the same direction with lower averages. For the rooms that they manage at Yas Island, bookings average Dh2,490 a night in Grand Prix week, against Dh730 on a normal December night. Last year’s race week averaged Dh1,570. In 2024 it averaged Dh1,455. That is a 59% jump since 2025.
“That’s more than three times the usual rate,” said Shilpa Mahtani, Co-Founder and Managing Director of bnbme holiday homes. She notes the premium over a normal night now stands at 3.4 times, up from 2.5 times last year and 2.7 times in 2024.
Mahtani cautions that early bookers tend to pay more. “We could see the gap narrow as we get closer to the event,” she said.
Same home, a far bigger bill
First Class manages homes on the island, and has data to back the swing. According to them a one-bedroom earned Dh531 a night from December 2 to 5 last year. This year it earned Dh3,771 a night from December 5 to 8. A two-bedroom in the same community jumped from Dh534 to Dh5,317.
The top booking First Class took last year was a two-bedroom on Yas Island. The guest paid Dh15,950 for three nights from December 5 to 8, or Dh5,300 a night. They booked on October 2 through Airbnb. A one-bedroom nearby fetched Dh11,300 for the same three nights. Those homes earn Dh500 to Dh600 a night in a normal week.
This year the top end climbs even higher. bnbme reports five- to six-night stays reaching about Dh10,000 a night, or Dh50,000 to Dh65,000 for the full stay. Some properties ask more than Dh5,000 a night for December 3 and 4.
Bookings run early yet most demand is still to come
About 110 of the 346 Yas Island homes under First Class are booked for the Friday and Saturday race nights. That is roughly a third of the market, against 23% at this point last year. Last year those nights finished above 90% occupancy.
bnbme counts around 20% of active homes booked for each race night, with still six weeks left to go. Bookings surged between October 8 and 15 before easing. Current volume equals about half of last year’s final race-week total.
Trends show that race guests tend to book far ahead. First Class took its earliest race-week bookings last year in August, more than 100 days out, with a second wave in early October. Nights either side of the race fill in the last week, often a day or two before arrival.
Who is booking, and for how long
International fans and GCC visitors take the race nights themselves, First Class reports. UAE residents book the nights around the race. In the third quarter, guests contacting First Class from inside the UAE took 38% of nights, followed by the UK at 15%. Guests from Saudi Arabia, which is the largest GCC market, might see a smaller number this time around due to the on-going crisis and flight disruptions.
bnbme sees Dubai residents playing a bigger role this year. South Africa, Kazakhstan and the UK show the fastest growth among international guests. “Many guests use the event as an opportunity to spend several days in Abu Dhabi,” Mahtani said.
Stay length differs by operator. bnbme says 77% of race-night stays now run four nights or more, against 56% in 2025 and 43% in 2024. One- and two-night stays make up just 8%. First Class keeps a three-night minimum, Thursday to Sunday, and says every race-week booking last year matched it.
Why owners cannot cash in by evicting tenants
Owners cannot pull homes off long-term lets for race week. An annual lease runs its full term, and ending one takes 12 months’ notice. Supply instead comes from second-home owners and empty properties listed for winter. For a home already on the holiday market, the question is only price.
“The three race nights earn roughly what the same home earns in two normal weeks,” Santos said. Mahtani sees strong owner returns. “For owners, it is one of the strongest periods of the year, particularly for well-located properties on Yas Island,” she said.