Other than New York, Dubai is the city with the most Starwood properties in the world. Their footprint there continues to expand quickly. I just recently reviewed the new W Al Habtoor City, and the St. Regis, both of which were great.
Well, what I hadn’t realized is that a second St. Regis is about to open in Dubai. Personally this interests me for a couple of reasons:
- I go to Dubai quite often, so am very familiar with the hotel market and the city as a whole
- This will make Dubai the second city in the world to have two St. Regis properties — the other city is Abu Dhabi, which has the St. Regis Abu Dhabi, as well as the St. Regis Saadiyat Island
The new St. Regis Dubai Al Habtoor City Polo Resort & Club is scheduled to open on February 15, 2017.
St. Regis Dubai Polo Resort & Club
This hotel seems to be part of the part of the new Al Habtoor Polo Resort & Club.
As you can see based on the below map of SPG properties, the new St. Regis is a bit out of the center of town (it’s #14 below, which I put a red box around). While it’s removed, it’s only about a 10 minute drive to Sheikh Zayed Road, so it’s not that inconvenient.
The renderings of the new hotel look beautiful.
I’m not familiar specifically with this new development, but based on the overall concept, I could see myself staying here. I don’t think this is an ideal place if you’re visiting Dubai for the first time and just want to sightsee, but if you’re a repeat visitor to the UAE and want a change of landscape, looking over polo fields might actually be a nice thing, as it’s not often you see big patches of grass in the UAE.
The new St. Regis is a Category 6 SPG property, meaning a free night costs 20,000 Starpoints. However, it looks like as of now they haven’t loaded inventory for any standard rooms.
While I suspect rates will continue to drop (especially as standard rooms are made available), the rates at this hotel aren’t too bad. I see rates of under 1,000AED (~270USD) per night, which isn’t bad for a pre-opening rate. It’s certainly much more reasonable than what the St. Regis Dubai was trying to charge pre-opening.
Bottom line
It’s interesting (though perhaps not that surprising) that the only two cities in the world with two St. Regis hotels are both in the UAE. Furthermore, the hotels are just opening about a year apart. The new St. Regis Polo Resort will be a bit out of the city, but will provide a different landscape than most other hotels. I certainly look forward to checking out this hotel the next time I’m in Dubai.
So as others said, 10 mins to SZR is not going to happen even without any traffic. Surely it won't be easy to get a cab especially in off-season.
It's in the middle on no where, I guess the nearest 'attraction' would be Global Village. For everything else, be prepared to ride a cab for at least half an hour.
Yea this one isn't a 'quick' 10m ride really :p
It technically might be 10 mins to szr without traffic but that's more a function of the Dubai layout.
It's intended as a destination in itself for equestrian purposes. Same owner as the property you recently reviewed.
Would it blow your mind if I told you a 3rd St Regis is also opening at the base of the palm? Around 2019 realistically (along with a second W on the west palm about a year earlier)
Hahahaha. The rendering has no resemblance to present reality. I was stuck right there in a traffic jam on E611 just a few hours ago and was wondering what the fancy new building in the middle of nowhere was supposed to be. Guess I know the answer now.
If you thought Al Habtoor City was remote with nothing nearby, this one will surpass that by far. It is conveniently located to the ENOC truck stop and KFC/McDonalds drive thrus on the highway though.