I had about 19 hours in Dubai between flights, as I was arriving from Colombo and connecting to Brussels. I’ve been to Dubai at least a couple of dozen times, and for this short stay figured I’d try one of the hotels that has fascinated me the most, since it opened last year.
Dubai is the city with the second most SPG hotels in the world, after New York City. While they’ve long had a big presence there, they’ve opened several new hotels lately, including the W Dubai Al Habtoor, and the St. Regis Dubai Al Habtoor, both of which I’ve reviewed.
Last year they opened a second St. Regis property in Dubai. Specifically, the St. Regis Dubai Al Habtoor Polo Resort & Club. A polo club in the middle of the desert? This I’ve gotta see!
What’s confusing about the hotel at first is that you’d assume it’s near the other St. Regis, given that they both have “Al Habtoor” in the name. Al Habtoor City is the name of the development where the the St. Regis, W, and Westin are located.
But nope, this hotel is in a totally different part of Dubai. Actually, it’s sort of in the middle of nowhere. It has the name Al Habtoor because it has the same owner as the other hotel, the Al Habtoor Group. Still, it seems a bit confusing to put Al Habtoor in both of the names, especially when the Al Habtoor Group is developing Al Habtoor City, and this hotel isn’t in it.
Anyway, the rates at the St. Regis Dubai Polo Club are cheap. Even though January is the busy season in Dubai, my rate was only about $180 for the one night stay, and Ford booked this for me through Starwood Luxury Privileges, meaning it came with additional perks. These included complimentary breakfast, a $100 food & beverage credit, a room upgrade, and more (and I could stack this with my SPG Platinum benefits).
Rather than being located along the coast, the St. Regis Polo Club is inland, near Dubai’s Global Village. In other words, it’s in the middle of nowhere. It’s actually pretty convenient to go here from Dubai Airport, since it’s just a 25 minute drive, and you get to skip Dubai traffic altogether (it’s about a 30 minute drive from here to the Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab, etc.
There’s nothing for miles and miles, and then suddenly you see the St. Regis in the distance.
Drive to the St. Regis Dubai Polo Club
The hotel has a striking exterior, and seeing such a perfectly manicured lawn in the desert is quite a sight (and oh-so-Dubai).
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort & Club exterior
There’s a security gate at the entrance to the Polo Resort & Club, as there’s a separate building with villas, stables for the horses, etc. It’s a huge complex.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort & Club exterior
The exterior of the hotel has a cool fountain with some horse statues in it.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort & Club exterior
Not to reveal too much upfront, but let me say that this is the most Dubai hotel ever. I loved it (on one hand), but there was basically no one there, and I don’t really get it. Anyway…
The hotel had a pretty grand lobby, and reception was inside and to the right.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort & Club lobby
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort & Club lobby
I was greeted by the duty manager, and everyone was exceptionally friendly throughout the stay. He explained to me all the privileges included with my rate (he explained my $100 food & beverage credit didn’t include minibar consumption or in-room dining), explained a bit about the hotel, introduced me to the butler, and also told me that I had been upgraded to a Lady Astor suite.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort & Club reception
Past reception and to the left was one set of elevators (there were a couple of sets of elevators throughout the hotel).
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club hallway
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort & Club elevators
I was assigned room 118, located just outside the elevator and to the left.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club hallway
You know you’re getting a nice suite when you have an entrance like this!
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort room exterior
For reference, here’s the hotel’s floorplan (the hotel has about 150 rooms, spread across a few floors):
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort floorplan
The suite was beautiful, and I loved the equestrian-inspired artwork throughout. The room had an entryway with a guest bathroom on the left.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort Lady Astor Suite entryway
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort Lady Astor half bath
That led into the living room, which featured a dining table with four chairs, a living area with a couch and two seats, and a console with a TV.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort Lady Astor Suite living room
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort Lady Astor Suite living room
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort Lady Astor Suite living room
As you can see, the dining table had a lovely welcome amenity consisting of macarons and dates.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort Lady Astor Suite dining table
Near the entrance was the minibar and in-room coffee machine.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort Lady Astor Suite minibar & coffee machine
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort Lady Astor Suite minibar
On the coffee table was a welcome amenity consisting of dozens of pieces of chocolate. Oh my gosh!
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort welcome amenity
The bedroom featured a comfortable king size bed. While I appreciate the thought that went into the balloons on the bed as a “welcome to Dubai,” I did find it a bit odd. I was traveling alone, and at night I wasn’t exactly sure what I was supposed to do with them (just have the whole floor of the bedroom have balloons, or?).
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort Lady Astor Suite bedroom
The bedroom had a chair in the corner and then a wall mounted TV.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort Lady Astor Suite bedroom
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort Lady Astor Suite bedroom
The master bathroom was connected to the bedroom, and featured double sinks, a large tub, a walk-in shower, and a separate room with a toilet and bidet.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort Lady Astor Suite bathroom
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort Lady Astor Suite bathtub
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort Lady Astor Suite toilet & bidet
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort Lady Astor Suite shower
Toiletries were from Remede, as you’d expect at a St. Regis.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club Remede toiletries
The suite had a huge, lovely balcony with seating for about a dozen people. It was a perfect Dubai winter day, so I spent a bit of time sitting out here.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club Lady Astor Suite balcony
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club Lady Astor Suite balcony
The room had a view of the UAE’s greenest lawn (I’d call it a polo field, but I never actually saw any horses), and you can see the villas in the distance.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club Lady Astor Suite views
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club Lady Astor Suite views
Overall I thought the room was top notch. In-room Wi-Fi was fast, and the room was in pristine condition. My only complaint was that the room had timed lights, which is so annoying. I was in the shower and the lights went off completely because I guess it didn’t sense movement, so in the pitch dark I had to try to find the light switch.
As is standard at St. Regis properties, the hotel offers butler service, so I ordered a complimentary coffee in the morning prior to my flight (unfortunately I left too early to partake in breakfast, which only started at 7:30AM).
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club coffee from butler service
I spent some time in the afternoon exploring the hotel. Probably the hotel’s most beautiful venue is Andalucia Restaurant, which is the hotel’s Mediterranean restaurant, located in the atrium.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club Andalucia Restaurant
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club Andalucia Restaurant
Down the hall from that is Taperia, the hotel’s tapas restaurant. I had considered that for dinner, but it looked a bit too much like a sports bar for my liking.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club Taperia Restaurant
There was a beautiful courtyard in the hotel, where I ended up sitting for a bit.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club courtyard
Then the hotel’s lobby bar is the Equestrian Lounge, which also has some outdoor seating.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club Equestrian Lounge
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club Equestrian Lounge
Then there was the St. Regis Polo Bar, as well as a pool table.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club pool table
The hotel has a Bentley shop, though it was closed.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club Bentley Shop
In terms of the hotel’s other features, it had a large outdoor recreation area, including a main pool with a swim-up bar, a hot tub, and a kids pool.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club pool
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club pool deck
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club hot tub
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club pool
Then there was a ping pong table, chess set, playground for kids, tennis courts, etc.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club table tennis
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club chess
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club kids play area
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club tennis courts
The hotel’s gym is located inside the Remede Spa (guests get 50% off treatments, by the way, so treatments were actually quite reasonably priced). The gym had modern equipment, though was on the small side, and had no natural light.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club gym
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club gym
I ended up meeting a friend for dinner, and we decided to eat at The Grill Pit, which is the hotel’s signature Argentinian restaurant.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club The Grill Pit Restaurant
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club The Grill Pit Restaurant
The food was alright, though to be honest I didn’t think it was great, at least not at the prices they were charging. I try to avoid red meat (which may have been my issue), so I had the fish. It was beautifully presented, though the taste was only alright.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club The Grill Pit Restaurant dinner
Per the server’s recommendation, my friend had the baby goat. It was sort of painful to even watch him eat it, as a former vegetarian of many years.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club The Grill Pit Restaurant dinner
St. Regis Dubai Polo Club bottom line
Let me start by saying that all the staff I interacted with were exceptionally gracious and accommodating, and the hotel is physically beautiful.
Before I stayed here I asked myself “who stays at a polo club in the UAE?” The answer is no one, I think. The hotel was deserted. I felt like I was in the twilight zone. Over the course of my time at the resort, I think I saw maybe a dozen other people. The restaurants were consistently empty. All the public areas were empty. I was excited when I saw two other people at the pool.
The UAE royal family is known to be into polo, though aside from that, it doesn’t seem like there’s a whole lot going on here. I didn’t see horses or polo players the entire time I was here, but maybe rather only five European couples who I assume were there the same reasons I saw (because a St. Regis for under $200 per night seems like a bargain). I could see if the royal family hosted a polo tournament here it could be really popular, but I’m not sure how that will create year-round demand.
Ultimately this hotel isn’t that far from Dubai, but given the great hotel options all over the city, I don’t really get what market they’re going after with this hotel. It seems to me more like a vanity project intended to appeal to the royal family than anything else (then again, that describes quite a bit of the UAE).
What a strange, strange (yet very nice) hotel…
Anyone have a different take on this hotel than I do?
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