When it comes to travelling, Miguel Maestre knows what he is doing and there is one luxurious item he never gets on a plane without.
The Spanish-Australian chef and television personality tells news.com.au he swears by an eye mask to fall asleep quickly – but not just any eye mask, a massage eye mask.
“You know how people on a plane put an eye mask to cover their eyes, when you see mine, mine is like the Puff Daddy version of that,” he laughed.
Maestre says he steps off a long-haul flight feeling like he has had a facial.
“I get so easily distracted with anything. When I’m on the plane, I put my headphones on and put on the eye massage … Oh my God.”
He was sure to wear it this year when he flew to Dubai to co-host the new travel show Luxury Escapes: The World’s Best Holidays on BINGE and Foxtel.
Maestre has made a habit of stopping over in Dubai with his family on the way to Europe, where the highlight is an epic water park his kids are “in love with” – but this time, he was able to experience a different side of the luxurious city.
He explored Dubai’s souks for the first time, including the famous Gold Souk and Spice Souk.
Maestre said unlike his co-host, Australian actress Jane Hall, he loves to haggle for a good deal.
“Jane was like really embarrassed,” he laughed.
“I love a good negotiation. The best deal is the one that you close, so I had the best time.”
He stressed the practice was not rude or offensive.
“They love it, they’ve got business in their blood. They love to negotiate,” he said.
“I highly recommend it to anyone, go to the markets, buy something fun. Do the bartering with the locals.”
Maestre said you can’t go past the Gold Souk, which is one of the largest gold markets in the world.
“It’s just an old part of Dubai without the fancy cocktails. You get that different kind of luxury. It’s like a real authentic experience,” he said.
But Maestre and Hall didn’t visit Dubai without getting a taste of modern luxury too.
They stayed in Atlantis The Royal, which only opened this year, and the famous chef said it was like nothing he had ever seen.
“They have a Nobu restaurant in the pool,” he said. “The place was out of this world.”
While Maestre said some of the best meals he had were at Jaleo by Jose Andres, a Spanish restaurant where they cook wood-fired paella in front of diners, and Ariana’s Persian Kitchen, which he says was “really really posh” – it was something much more simple that came to mind as the best food he ate there.
“Dubai people make the best hummus in the world,” he said, adding it was made with tahini paste and chickpea purée.
Maestre also stayed at Babs al Shams, a luxury desert resort about 45 minutes from Dubai.
There he dined under the desert stars at Al Hadheerah.
“There’s all these people like belly dancing and people riding horses and re-enacting scenes from the history of Dubai,” he explained.
“You are sitting down in this restaurant and in front of you, there’s this crazy stage. I mean dinner with a show, I’ve never seen dinner with a show like that.”
While they were out in the desert, Maestre and Hall went driving (as passengers) through the dunes.
“Jane was like slow down, slow down and I was like go faster, go faster, and it was one of the funniest things we’ve done,” he said. “There was so much adrenaline in the activity.”
Maestre confirmed he didn’t get behind the wheel while in Dubai but he did ride a camel.
“You’re just walking in the street [out the front of] a coffee shop [there’s] a Rolls-Royce, a Lamborghini and a Ferrari and Maserati. If you get yourself a hire car you’ll be scared to park and scratch any of these cars.”
Miguel Maestre and Jane Hall’s episode of Luxury Escapes: The World’s Best Holidays airs October 10 on BINGE and Foxtel