Great hotel, ONLY if you like a 24/7 party
Jul 3, 2020 Whigs Sterling, Virginia
My husband and I stayed in the W in Muscat and fell in love with the brand there. The hip styling, fun music, amazing cocktails, unbelievable service and pool environment. We should have realized Dubai would be a little bigger into the party scene, since locals can 'buy' into hanging out for the day. So you're surrounded not just by people staying…
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My husband and I stayed in the W in Muscat and fell in love with the brand there. The hip styling, fun music, amazing cocktails, unbelievable service and pool environment. We should have realized Dubai would be a little bigger into the party scene, since locals can 'buy' into hanging out for the day. So you're surrounded not just by people staying in the hotel but young folks looking to show off thong bikinis, flirt obnoxiously, and get super drunk and sloppy. I'm talking vomit in the bathroom sloppy. We couldn't even get chairs where we wanted because the pool, and beach, was always so packed. It seemed very few were there just to relax, have a few drinks, and turn the world outside 'off.' Most were there to turn 'on.' Our balcony sadly overlooked this pool chaos, as well, a mistake we won't make again given the noise. Definitely choose to face the front of the hotel - calm water views and no noise.
Service was also average, not what I would expect, but it was because of the obscene catering to locals. We couldn't sit where we wanted on the beach as some cabanas had an associated cost or spending minimum. Restaurants were very hard to get into, too, as reservations booked up fast. But that's indicative of a big city, get your reservations anywhere in early. Definitely get into Akira Back, delicious and the best service we had in the hotel. The waiter was super nice and a wealth of info.
I will give props to the spa, we had an excellent massage there. They do the spa right at least. The people there were fantastic also.
The bars are gorgeous but extremely loud music - there's no relaxing lounge vibe location for a pre or post meal cocktail.
The rooms, while modern and cool, are so tile and glass textured, and Dark, it made it feel cold, literally and figuratively. It desperately needs more textiles! Rugs, fabrics, soft chairs, something. The bathroom makeup chair was cold plastic, who wants that after a cozy shower??
It was a cool location for taking long walks on the 'boardwalk' going around the Palm, and a central location to Uber around. But we won't be back - it wasn't the relaxing, easy trip we needed.
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