My son who served a year in Iraq, went to Dubai on vacation (the Army gave him a week off and sent our soldiers there) and he said it was as modern as any American city and was treated well.
In the 90’s when I was traveling there 6 to 9 times a year. There were private clubs that allowed drinking and allowed women to dress in western clothes even bathing suits, sometimes they even let the clubs import ham, but that was sporadic. No Muslim was allowed in them. In fact, nobody from a Muslim country was allowed in. Even the taxi driver had to drop you off at the gate.
No mention of Israel was allowed in magazines or newspapers. You couldn’t get into the country with an Israeli stamp on your passport. You couldn’t bring a Bible into the country.
It wasn’t Qatar or Saudi Arabia or Yemen but it was far from a free society. Although it was very modern looking and if you had money everyone was nice.
Glad it changed that much.
Dubai is very heavy on promotion in this country right now for the past months, especially on the travel/entertainment channels.