Yes, indeed Sparky was ready to jump at the Jebel Hafeet idea, he said he had never been there...
Le Mercure Hotel is in fact on top of the mountain, with beautiful views, outdoors sheesha parlour, swimming pools with slides (too cold, guys, forget it!) and BBQ buffet on the weekends. It's five stars.
I would not think they go down less than AED 120 per person even for a group rate, but the value would be excellent for taste, location and setting. However, as someone pointed out, many members are students and would rather blow 120 on petrol than food.
The other possibility for food is a traditional Yemeni place that serves an entire meal for under 30 - including soup, salad, veggie dish, fish or mutton (cooked in a BBQ pit!) and spicy sauce. It's delicious, filling and excellent value - but we'd be sitting on plastic chairs. It's also not on top of the mountain, but downtown.
There are of course other options, even a quick shwarma on the go, if need be.
I've contacted a friend who says it's no big deal to get official approval from authorities, since the Harley boyz always do that for their Jebel Hafeet runs. Apparently, what happens is they assign 2-3 patrol cars to accompany the motorcade. LOOOL
While this could be a cool idea to have the cops actually escort us around, and would definitely help make sure everyone behaves
, I think we need to talk about this angle more before making any serious enquiries.
If we ask and then are refused, we'll definitely have to go underground; and if we ask and are approved, then we definitely will be very visible and under control...
I may be host, but I follow the club's lead - the membership needs to decide.