There's not much in the way of budget accommodation in Dubai. Cheap guest house style accommodation that is common in Asian destinations does not fit in with Dubai's grandmaster plan of being a luxury holiday and shopping stop-over hub.
There are some hostels in Dubai, the UAE YHA, though it's not in the most convenient location.
There are budget accommodation options available, but booking online is generally not possible. Most of these places don't even have a website, let alone booking facilities, and their contact details are via a yahoo address.
If you are looking for a guest house in Dubai they can be found in the Deira and Bur Dubai area (the Dubai Creek area). I found a number of places that had single room accommodation for 150 UAE Dirham (about $40 US) .
These guest houses are spread out all over the city as well, so it's not like you can turn up in an area and look around, like in Khao Sanh Road in Bangkok or Colaba in Mumbai.
To find a cheap hotel in Dubai try HotelsCombined which compares multiple hotel booking websites at once.
More links on Dubai travel can be found in the Dubai Travel Guide and UAE Travel Guide.
i don't know which area this pic was clicked, i guess bur dubai… nice post!
You just give me an idea where to stay with my budget on hand. I am getting ready for my Dubai trip this year. I've read a lot of blogs about great destinations. Indeed your article add something for me to do. Thanks. By the way, I am a natural food enthusiast and would like to taste something new every time I travel. I also heard from my Lebanese friends that Filful Beirut is opening in Dubai. Iwant to squeeze this in my schedule. Do you have any good recommendation for a 3-day travel?
Always perform some research first and looked for online deals and promos. When I stayed in Al Habtoor Polo Resort in Dubai, I phoned the hotel and asked for some deals. Lucky me, I was provided. I was able to stay in their private villa with pool for just AED 2500 on weekdays.