WESTERN influence is as strong in Dubai as in any Middle Eastern state. There are few language problems because English ranks alongside Arabic as the language of commerce. Of the total population of 529,000, around three-quarters are expatriates, mostly from India and Pakistan. Some 90% of the total workforce comes from Iran, the Far East, Europe, India or Pakistan.

Opportunities for jobs in Dubai's 157 hotels are plentiful. An additional five hotels at four- or five-star level are expected to open in the next five years, all to be staffed primarily with foreigners as it is not customary for members of the local community to work in hotels. Most local women are not allowed to work.

Most hotels are wholly responsible for the welfare of their employees. This extends to arranging work permits and the flight out to Dubai as well as regular visits to their home countries, furnished accommodation, and insurance and medical care.

While you are not going to make your fortune, employment packages tend to compare favourably with UK hotels, largely because they are tax-free and include accommodation.

A typical salary for a front of house manager in a Dubai hotel is £12,000-£18,000, while a chief engineer commands £18,000-£30,000, and a PR manager normally earns between £12,000 and £16,000.

While Dubai's streets are clean and crime-free, the country's laws are strict. For example, a man and woman cannot live together if they are not married and no-one is allowed to drink alcohol in a public place other than in specially licensed premises. Non-compliance could lead to a court case, imprisonment, or expulsion from the country. However, the strict drink restrictions do make hotels focal points because most have licences to sell alcohol.

Stealing invokes stiff prison sentences, littering the street gets you a £100 fine and showing the soles of your feet in the company of locals is a major social gaffe. If you resign from your job, as a foreigner you must leave the country and cannot re-enter or take another job for a further six months.

While Dubai offers a comparatively gentle introduction to life in the Middle East, cultural differences and attitudes can be frustrating. If, for example, you make an appointment, it is rare to have anyone arrive punctually. Moreover, at any meeting at least 15 minutes must be spent in social chit-chat and drinking tea before getting down to business, according to Arabic custom. Getting straight to the point is considered rude.

Someone who has experienced life in Dubai first-hand is 29-year-old Christine Goldsmith, a gregarious Liverpudlian who had not worked abroad before she became a PR manager at Dubai's new five-star hotel, the Royal Abjar.

Her previous job was as training manager for the Regent hotel in London but, keen to gain overseas experience, she took a job with Abjar Hotels International four months ago.

It was a country she had only experienced once previously, on a short holiday. Trained as a chef at Colquitt Technical and Nautical College, Liverpool, she began her career as a waitress at the Forte Posthouse, Heathrow (now Forte Crest), before moving up the ladder to handle guest relations for Forte in London in 1989 and then become a training and development manager.

Her Royal Abjar employment contract includes a tax-free salary, a fully furnished one-bedroomed flat in staff quarters behind the hotel, and a return ticket home once a year. Like everyone else, she works a six-day week with only Fridays off, but with 30 days paid holiday a year. Apart from the difference in weekends and the tax-free salary, this varies little from her conditions in England.

Four months into her job, Goldsmith rates her mother and cornflakes top of her "most missed" list, followed by rain, Liverpool, Eastenders and Brookside.

Goldsmith says she enjoys both the country and the job, but lists loneliness, cultural differences, a tight-knit, intrusive expatriate community and the intense heat (up to 48ºC) among the negative aspects. Positive factors include warm winters, sea, sand, adventure and among the best duty-free shopping in the world.

She adds, however, that she would never go out alone at night. "The men like European women and they take opportunities to try to get to know you. But they're no danger. I probably wouldn't have gone out alone to nightspots in London either," she adds.

"The great thing about Dubai is the lack of crime. You can leave your front door wide open and have no fear of a burglary. That's a joy.

"However, there can be frustrations with language barriers, because you deal with so many people of different nationalities. But I have learnt to be more patient and diplomatic. You must understand the Arabic culture to respect their way of life and their attitudes."

Opened just over a year ago, the 282-bedroom Royal Abjar is the first five-star hotel in the new and privately owned Abjar International Hotels group. Its opulence and unusual architecture has created a flurry of interest in Dubai. It has 238 executive bedrooms, a Royal suite, two presidential suites, four de luxe suites, 19 parlour suites, 18 junior suites, and six restaurants and bars.

Goldsmith acknowledges that her PR role differs from the equivalent position in the UK. For example, she also organises press attendance for companies holding promotions at the hotel. It is also easier to interest the local media because almost everything takes place in hotels.

Another expatriate, front office manager Ian Lillie, joined the hotel industry because he wanted to travel. He has been at the Royal Abjar for five months, having previously worked as front of house manager at the London Metropole. He stashes his tax-free salary in a Channel Islands bank account but he hasn't yet investigated the tax implications for when he returns to the UK.

He maintains his National Insurance payments to ensure he qualifies for adequate health care and a state pension when he returns. He is also paying into a private pension scheme in the UK.

Lillie says he does not miss London commuting, the crime and the weather. In Dubai he starts work at 7.30am and ends "at whatever time it takes to finish", but his days off can be filled with sand skiing, dune racing, camel riding, golfing or deep-sea diving. o