FAQ

Questions we get asked

If yours is not here, the team answers the phone.

Booking a stay

Is it cheaper to book here than on Airbnb or Booking.com?: You are booking with the company that operates the apartment, so the rate carries no platform service fee on top. The price quoted at checkout is the price charged.
Are these apartments licensed?: Yes. Short-stay accommodation in Dubai requires a holiday home permit from the Department of Economy and Tourism, and in Ajman from its Department of Tourism Development. Our homes are permitted, which is what makes your stay legal as well as ours.
Who will I actually be dealing with?: fäm Living, throughout. We furnish, clean, maintain and host every apartment with our own team, so the company you book with is the company that meets you and the company you call if something is wrong.
How does check-in work?: Someone meets you at the apartment, hands over the keys and shows you around. We do not use lockboxes or door codes as standard.
What do I need to bring to check in?: A passport for each adult guest. The UAE requires guests in licensed holiday homes to be registered with the authorities, and that registration is done from your passport details.
Why is there no price on the listing until I enter dates?: Because a nightly rate without dates would be a number you could not book at. Rates move with season, demand and how long you stay, and the total includes fees and taxes. Entering dates produces a real quote instead of an estimate.
Can I stay for a month or longer?: Yes, and the nightly rate falls substantially as the stay lengthens. Monthly stays include furniture, utilities and Wi-Fi with no lease, agency fee or Ejari registration.
Is there a minimum stay?: It is set per property rather than across the board, and the search results show it before you book.
Do you take a security deposit?: Yes — on a nightly stay, as standard, there's a refundable AED 1,000 deposit at check-in. A monthly stay of 30 nights or more carries a refundable AED 5,000 deposit instead, collected before you move in. Nothing extra is charged when you book. Our terms set out the details.

Letting us run your property

Do I need a licence to rent my Dubai property short-term?: Yes. A holiday home in Dubai has to be registered with the Department of Economy and Tourism and permitted before it can take a single guest, and operating without one carries fines. We hold the operator licence and register your unit under it, so you do not apply yourself, deal with the portal, or renew anything.
Is my apartment eligible to be a holiday home?: Usually, if four things hold: the title deed classifies it as residential (not a hotel unit), the building or community accepts short stays, your sale or developer agreement does not rule them out, and, if you rent it, the landlord agrees in writing. We check all four for your unit before anything else is spent.
How much do holiday home management companies charge in Dubai?: Across Dubai, management fees are usually quoted as a share of what the property earns, and the range is wide because the work is not the same from one unit to the next. We do not publish a single number, because a studio in Business Bay that is already furnished and a four-bedroom on the Palm that needs fitting out are not the same job, and a headline rate that ignores that is a rate you would end up arguing about later. Tell us the building and the unit and we will put the fee, and exactly what it covers, in writing before you commit to anything.
Is the management fee negotiable?: Yes. We agree terms per property rather than putting everyone on the same contract, and the number moves with the building, the size of the unit, how much setting up it needs and whether you have more than one. That is also why it is a conversation rather than a price list.
How and when do I get paid?: Into your account, against a statement that shows what the property earned and what it cost, so the figure is never a number you have to take on trust. You can see bookings, occupancy and statements yourself in the owner portal at any time. The payment schedule is set out in your management agreement so there is no ambiguity about when money arrives.
What is the minimum contract length?: We keep terms flexible and agree them per property rather than forcing everyone onto the same commitment. Whatever we agree goes into your management agreement in writing, including the notice period, so you always know exactly how to end it and what it takes.
What should I check in a holiday home management contract?: Six things, in writing. What the fee is calculated on, and what is charged on top: cleaning, linen, platform fees, onboarding. Whether repairs are passed on at cost or with a markup, and above what amount you approve them first. The minimum term and any penalty for leaving. The notice period and who holds the holiday home permit when you go. How many nights you can block for your own stays. And what you will see: every booking and statement in an owner portal.
Can I still use my property myself?: It stays yours. You set the house rules, you block your own dates whenever you want them, and you can see every booking on your unit. Blocking dates in the owner portal takes them off sale everywhere at once, so there is no risk of a guest arriving on a week you wanted.
Is short-term letting better than an annual lease in Dubai?: Usually, and not always. A holiday home can out-earn an annual lease substantially in a strong building, because you are pricing by the night against demand rather than fixing a figure for a year — but it carries costs a lease does not, and a quiet season shows up in your income where a lease would not move. It depends on the building, the layout and the season, which is why we quote from what comparable units actually earned rather than from a rule of thumb.
Which areas of Dubai do you manage?: Business Bay is our largest concentration and we operate across Dubai, as well as on the Ajman coast. That includes Downtown Dubai, Palm Jumeirah, City Walk, Dubai Marina, JBR, Dubai Harbour, Emaar Beachfront, Bluewaters Island, Dubai Creek Harbour, Dubai Hills, JLT, JVC and JVT. If your building is one we already run units in, we can usually tell you what comparable homes there are achieving before you decide anything.
Who handles the guests, the cleaning and the maintenance?: We do, end to end: listing and pricing, guest vetting and communication, in-person check-in, housekeeping between stays, linen, restocking, and coordinating maintenance when something needs fixing. You are not the escalation point at midnight.
Does my property need to be furnished first?: No. Furnishing is handled by fäm Interiors, our own interior design company, so an empty property and a tired one are both a starting point rather than a problem. We will tell you what the unit needs in order to perform, and what that costs, before any work begins.
How do I rent out my flat in Dubai as a holiday home?: Five steps: check your building allows holiday homes, get a holiday home permit from the Department of Economy and Tourism, furnish the flat for guests, photograph and list it, then run it day to day or hand it to a licensed operator. We do all of it after a free consultation, and you keep the ownership and the income.
Do you manage several units, whole floors or whole buildings?: Yes. We run portfolios, full floors and whole buildings for owners and developers, including build-to-rent stock, under one agreement with one statement covering every unit. Each unit can be let by the night, the month or the year, whichever suits it.
How do I choose a holiday home management company in Dubai?: Check four things before you sign. That the company holds a holiday home operator licence and will register your unit under it. Who actually does the work: its own team for check-in, cleaning and maintenance, or subcontractors. How the fee is charged and what it covers, in writing. And what you will see: a statement per stay and access to your calendar. Ask to speak to the person who would run your unit, not only to sales.
What is the best holiday home company in Dubai?: The best one for you is the one that is licensed, runs your unit with its own team and shows you every booking and payout. fäm Living is a licensed holiday home operator and the holiday homes company of fäm Properties: we register the unit under our licence, furnish and list it, price it night by night, look after every guest with our own team and pay out against a statement, with every stay in the owner portal. Compare any company on those points, in writing, before you sign.
Do you offer apartment and rental property management in Dubai?: Yes, as holiday home management, also called vacation home, vacation rental or short-term rental property management. We take on your apartment, register it as a holiday home, furnish it if needed, and run it for nightly and monthly guests: pricing, listings, check-in, cleaning, maintenance and a statement per stay. If you want a single tenant on a yearly lease instead, that is classic property management, and fäm Properties in the same group handles it.
What is short let management in Dubai?: Short let management, also called holiday let or holiday rental management, is running a home for guests who stay from a night up to a few months instead of a yearly tenant. In Dubai that means a holiday home permit from the Department of Economy and Tourism, then listing, pricing, guest registration, check-in, cleaning and maintenance. fäm Living does all of it under its own operator licence, and you keep the ownership.
Is fäm Living a short-term rental company in Dubai?: Yes. fäm Living is a licensed short-term rental company in Dubai, registered with the Department of Economy and Tourism as a holiday home operator. We run apartments and villas for owners for nightly, weekly and monthly stays, and handle the permit, listings, pricing, guests, cleaning, maintenance and payouts. You keep the ownership.
What is a holiday home operator in Dubai?: A company licensed by the Department of Economy and Tourism to run homes for short stays on behalf of their owners. The operator registers each home for its holiday home permit under its own licence, lists it, looks after the guests and pays the owner. fäm Living is a licensed holiday home operator, and you keep the ownership.
Do you manage villas as holiday homes?: Yes. We take villas as well as apartments, including villas on Palm Jumeirah. A villa needs more than an apartment: pool and garden care, longer cleans between stays, firm limits on guest numbers and careful screening so the house stays quiet for the neighbours. We handle all of it with our own team.
I live outside the UAE. Can you run my Dubai property?: Yes. We hold the holiday home permit, the keys and the day-to-day, and you see every booking, statement and payout in the owner portal from wherever you are. When you visit Dubai, you block your dates and the home is ready for you.
My home is with another holiday home company. Can I move it to you?: Yes. We look at your current agreement with you first: the notice period, who holds the holiday home permit and what happens to bookings already taken. Then we plan the handover dates so the home spends as little time off sale as possible, register it under our licence, and start running it with our own team.
Is fäm Living part of fäm Properties?: Yes. fäm Living is the holiday homes company of fäm Properties, so an owner deals with one group for buying, selling and leasing a property and for running it as a holiday home or a monthly stay. If a yearly tenancy suits your unit better, fäm Properties can handle that instead.

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