I end up passing through the UAE quite a bit, given that it’s a hub for Emirates and Etihad. On the surface it’s also a great hotel market, as there are lots of reasonably priced luxury hotels. If you visit in summer you can even stay at an incredible five star hotel for the same…
Continue reading: My Terrible Luck Reviewing New Hotels In The UAE…
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Do these properties change that much after rebranding? I think the reviews would still be useful.
Would suggest you try The Oberoi Dubai this time around. They also have a resort property outside Dubai, Al Zorah Resort in Ajman. Both are very very good.
Try the new Jumeirah beach hotel Ben. It’s a recent renovation and a report would be great
Maybe if they relaxed their visa requirements a bit with more countries like a visa-on-arrival or visa-free for 7 or 15 or 30 days to encourage and entice more vacationing tourists to make their gateway cities like Dubai and Abu Dhabi a more attractive long layover destination, it will most likely help make their hotel market more sustainable/viable for the long term.
How about Jumeirah Etihad Palace in Abu Dhabi, which is right next door to that mysterious Grand Hyatt?
I think it says more about the UAE hotel market than about your good/bad luck...
Lucky, it suddenly struck me to ask you if you ever run into familiar crew by pure chance, without prior arrangement? Just curious.
The QE2 is a great experience. I know it’s not a chain hotel but still worthwhile checking out: https://www.dsw-photo.com/Travel/One-Night-On-The-QE2
A friend writes of Dubai: "Hotels are one of the main investment tools of UAE sheiks. If one is not yielding as much profit as expected, they’ll quickly move on to another, or something else. Also, the current economic downturn is spooking a lot of investors in the area."
Best hotel in Dubai, manzil downtown hotel on sh Mohammed Bin Rashed Boulevard, professional and v friendly staff, unique rooms design and exellent breakfast buffet.
Lucky. What is your favorite marriott property in Dubai? It'll be my first visit on a 24hr layover and wanted your opinion. Thanks!
A potential new business model for Lucky - collecting fees from UAE hotels just for staying away from them. A 2-in-1 VIP pack: No stay and no mention 🙂
@ Jerry -- Here's an Emirates Palace review from previously: https://onemileatatime.com/emirates-palace-abu-dhabi-review/
Oliver, which passport you have? Who needs a visa for UAE? I've had visa-free acess for the past 6 years... Judging by your name, you should have visa-free for 30/60/90 days...
Hi Ben,
All the SPG properties you stayed at were owned by the Habtoor family. They switched to Hilton during the Marriott / SPG merger. There are more than worthy arrivals to the Marriott family - Viceroy Yas is now Marriott linked, Bvlgari, Aloft and W at the Palm... But in all honesty, go to desert resorts. If you fly in on Emirates or Etihad, you'll have a free chauffer ride. Then again, where is your review of Burj Al Arab, The One and Only, Armani Hotel, Grosvenor House....
Would love a review of Yas Hotel - Autograph or W, who cares? - as I'm considering staying there later this year. Even if it rebrands, they're not going to replace the entire staff so I feel a review of it would still have merit.
And if not the courtyard, you should have a look at the Beach Rotana, it's right next to the Abu Dhabi Mall, and it's been running for quite a few years now. There aren't much reviews online but it's a great place, their website isn't that great though.
https://www.rotana.com/rotanahotelandresorts/unitedarabemirates/abudhabi/beachrotana
Hey Ben - I just thought of something: I had some Etihad miles, left over from a cancelled trip, that were about to expire, and used them for a stay at Burj Al Arab. It wasn’t the world’s greatest use of miles, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It was certainly better than using Ultimate Rewards points, even with the 1.5 cents/point I get with the Sapphire Reserve. Maybe you could finally do the full Burj Al Arab review that you’ve been reluctant to do because of price.
BTW - in the process of figuring out what to do with those expiring miles, I found that, OCCASIONALLY, using Etihad miles — transferred from Amex — requires fewer points than if I used the hotel chain’s program. They are certainly a way to use miles to stay in hotels — like Burj al Arab — that are otherwise not available using points.
Stayed at the Yas 4 weeks ago. We came off a cruise and our flight did not leave for 18 hours so used points. They gave us an early check in and upgraded to a very nice suite overlooking the track where cycling was taking place. Three different free shuttles run all day from hotel to the mall,and the beach and other hotels.Mgr sent up fruit basket late in day. Ate at Italian restaurant in hotel which was good (not excellent). We left a wake up request with front desk and they called at appropriate time. I was so dozy that I failed to put phone back on base. Three minutes later a bellman was ringing the door bell to make sure we had not gone back to sleep.Worst part of the stay was having to check out at midnight to head to airport. Highly recommend it and the location
Ben
The three hotels you mentioned are all owned by Habtoor Group and management passed from Mariott to Hilton. Hence the rebranding. It isn't reflective of a UAE market in general.
Since you’re talking about Abu Dhabi, you should try out the Courtyard By Marriott it’s right next to the World Trade Center Abu Dhabi, you’ve never reviewed it, it’s pretty new and it has a great location.
https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/auhcy-courtyard-world-trade-center-abu-dhabi/
I did the unthinkable (for this blog) in February and stayed at a hotel where the "points" I earned don't really do me much good - the recently renovated Address Hotel at the Dubai Mall. (You earn Emaar points but they aren't that useful to an occasional visitor to the UAE.) I wanted the location which to me is perfect for a non-beach property - walk through Bloomingdales directly to the Dubai Mall and the Metro (albeit after a longish walk). Stayed on the Club floor which had excellent food presentations - enough for a full meal in the evening, not just appetizers - and very large and well-appointed rooms, if a bit bland for my taste. The service was impeccable from beginning to end, everyone from the valets to the club lounge concierges to the waiters in Karat off the main lobby. Cannot recommend it highly enough, and a reminder to me that stepping outside the Marriott-Hilton-Hyatt echo chamber can be really refreshing on occasion.
I stayed at the Rosewood Abu Dhabi recently and had a fantastic stay. Not a points hotel, but you can book with Amex FHR and get some good benefits that way. It's a beautiful property and the service was exceptional.
Why in the world would you spend time in the UAE?!
So many better places to live.
And enjoy.
Hey Ben, I think you have the pics reversed for the two former STR properties.
I’m not sure your story has credit. It’s a little misleading as Al Habtoor de-flagged the polo club hotel and the 3 pack ( Westin, St Regis and W from managed MARRIOTT to franchised Hilton hotels but these 3 hotels are all the same location and joined in with many shared facilities so of course with 1 change, comes major change but it’s not a frequent.
Also, the Yas hotel was changed from Viceroy to MARRIOTT. It will be a W after it has been renovated to be one so in the meantime it operates as the Yas Hotel (autograph collection) until it is made a W.
I think Jamie is asking about the Five Palm Jumeirah Beach Hotel — if I’m understanding that correctly, we stayed there in August. I think being in our 40s and not wealthy or surgically augmented, we weren’t quite the target audience but it was a nice property and we enjoyed the beach there. Here are some more notes on it: https://www.reddotbluedot.com/blueblog/2018/10/14/travel-basics-for-dubai-united-arab-emirates
Ben, like the guy mentioned above and like Ive said before, you should review the recently renovated Jumeirah Beach Hotel. Very popular oceanfront resort, with a prime view of the Burj Al Arab, will definitely bring clicks and interest from outsiders looking to stay there.
@Amy the Five Palm is extremely hot right now, great nightlife, very insta worthy hotel. Its on my list.
@Amy just to clear things up, Five Palm Jumeirah and the Jumeirah Beach Hotel are completely different hotels. The wave-shaped like hotel is the JBH, in front of the Burj. The Five Palm is the one with the funky triangular shaped terraces on the Palm.
Stay at Ceasars Bluewaters or the new Mandarin Oriental - I'd love to see your thoughts!
Watch yourself in the UAE. Do not say anything controversial . They seem to be arresting a foreigner every week for some misdemeanor that in US or Europe would not be a problem. I do not like UAE any more and as someone said in this blog, there are lots of excellent hotels elsewhere
Why not leave reviews of hotels in the UAE to those of us, who live here and stay at these hotels every weekend? :)))
In some situations, it’s better to earn points (by booking a superior non-points hotel with a card that had a hotel spend bonus category) than redeem points
Hi Ben,
Thanks for the interesting take on the market. Allow me to add some context for readers.
The three properties you mentioned in Dubai,
St Regis polo, St Regis Dubai, and W Dubai were all owned by the same owner Al Habtoor who had a contract with Starwood. When Marriott bought Starwood it came with contractual changes that made no sense in an increasingly competitive market.
Furthermore, they didn't just rename the hotels, they reflagged it as Hilton properties (save for the polo resort)
The W is now a Curio Collection, the Habtoor Palace is a reinvigoration of the LXR by Hilton Brand.
The Yas Island Hotel Autograph collection was previously a Viceroy, which has completely left the UAE market and the autograph is a placeholder until renovations are completed, W is an iconic brand they will certainly stamp their print the right way.
Hope this context explains a bit to readers new to the UAE or planning a visit. It's a dynamic city that changes and grows with the tides and is not a sign of anything less or more.
Billy Bob , I can believe you but it's not gonna be for the same prize you pay for 8 times a week UAE , but a lot more , believe me ...
Ben, it looks like the Grand Hyatt is accepting reservations again?! Who knows what's going on.