Casa Duna is small. One apartment, two owners, one mission: run a holiday-home agency on Yas Island the way we’d want one run for us — honest pricing, real people on WhatsApp, and a stay where everything just works.

We’re Muhammad and Ramey Maarraoui — two brothers raised between Abu Dhabi and the rest of the world, with deep ties to both. Muhammad’s a doctor in training, Ramey runs the day-to-day operations. Casa Duna sits beside our other lives, and that’s the whole point: we’re owner-operators, not a property management company outsourcing your stay to a call centre.

Why we started this

The Yas Island short-term rental market is dominated by two kinds of host: massive property managers who run 50+ units and treat every guest like a ticket number, and absentee landlords who hand off the keys and disappear. Neither serves the actual guest experience.

We wanted to build the version of “Yas Island holiday home” that we’d want to stay in ourselves. That meant: walk-to-everything location, fully equipped kitchens, fast WiFi, real-time WhatsApp replies, and a host who’s a 10-minute drive away if anything goes wrong. We bought the first unit at Water’s Edge, listed it, hosted 100+ stays, and pulled in a 5.0 Superhost rating without a single bad review.

What we actually do

• Host the Canal View 1BR — our flagship apartment at Water’s Edge. Every booking, every message, every check-in is handled by us personally.
• Curate partner stays — a small set of owner-operated apartments from owners we know and trust. Same brand standard, same WhatsApp team, same direct-booking discount.
• Write the Yas Island guides — the 14-post blog you see on this site isn’t outsourced content. We eat at the restaurants we recommend, walk the routes we list, and update them when we change our minds.
• Answer WhatsApp ourselves — not a chatbot, not a call centre, not an agency. The number on this site rings my phone.

What’s next

We’re slowly adding inventory — Canal View 2BR is in the pipeline for 2026. The partner program is also growing: if you own a Yas Island holiday-home apartment and want it run by a small, local team that actually cares, apply via the partner page or WhatsApp us directly.

We’re not trying to be the biggest holiday-home brand in Abu Dhabi. We’re trying to be the most-loved one for the people who actually stay with us. Five years from now, Casa Duna is 10 apartments, all on Yas Island, all walking distance to something worth walking to, all run by people who answer their own WhatsApp.

The credentials, briefly

• DCT-licensed holiday home operator · Licence PER25000250
• Registered company: CASA DUNA PROPERTY MANAGEMENT — L.L.C. — S.P.C.
• Superhost on Airbnb · Guest Favourite · 5.0 from 100+ stays
• Listed on Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Holidu — direct rate always 10% cheaper
• Located: Water’s Edge, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi (the building behind Yas Mall and Ferrari World)