One & Only Royal Mirage - The Palace

We stayed at the One and Only Royal Mirage for 2 nights at the end of our stay in Dubai earlier this month. The property itself is beautiful, peaceful and has the wow factor. For the best part, the service is also spot on. There is nothing in the vicinity of the hotel- the mall of the Emirates is about a 15 min taxi ride away and there are some restaurants a 5 min tax ride from the property but other than that not much else. The rooms are well appointed, luxurious and extremely comfortable. Most also have a balcony. The spa is housed in a separate building within the grounds of the property for which there is a buggy to whizz you over. The facilities are fit for a Queen and make the whole experience a tranquil one. The facilities are also free for hotel guests to use. I had the signature massage and my Therapist definitely had magic in her hands- so relaxing and amazing use of pressure. whilst we had a wonderful experience of staying at this property, there were two instances which particularly stand that mean we would not return to the property. On my first day, when returning from using the spa, there was no buggy available and as it was dark I wasn’t confident in walking back to my room on my own, I had to wait nearly 25 mins for a buggy. I had to ask several times as to how long it would be and I was told a few mins each time. Apparently there was only one buggy that was in service, the other had broken down. When the gentleman did finally escort me back, he dropped me to the wrong part of the hotel and when I corrected him, he raised his voice and said I had told him I had given him the wrong information! As our flight was early morning we asked in room dining to pack us a breakfast for us to carry to the airport. In room dining came to our room in the evening asking what we wanted and we listed this. However, in the morning the food turned up on a trolley as opposed to packed! They had clearly not understood our instructions and not only had they delivered the breakfast incorrectly but also with the wrong food items as well. We didn’t have time to eat this and therefore had to leave it all behind. I then asked if I could grab a few items from the breakfast buffet and was told it wasn’t open yet. So although we had paid for breakfast, we were unable to have this. In the end, I asked if I could use the toaster to make myself some GF toast and was told that the breakfast was not open yet and therefore I would need to self-service myself which I did. As I said, a beautiful property with luxurious facilities but the above two instances mean, I would not return. Dubai has a plethora of beautiful, luxurious hotels with service to match! Read less

Upon arrival at the hotel, our luggage was taken, and we waited for 15 minutes before being informed we were in the wrong building. They returned our luggage and left us to find our way, with the valet staff eventually guiding us. At the palace, we were assisted and told we’d receive a 20% discount at a restaurant, which was later denied, requiring us to discuss it again with the reception. When we arrived at our room, we found luggage belonging to other guests already there. I had requested a special touch for our anniversary, and while we received strawberries, it fell short of previous memorable celebrations at other hotels. Both pools were extremely dirty. Definitely a staff shortage, and the pool service was the worst we’ve experienced. We requested more water for the room, but it never arrived. Overall, this stay was disappointing and forgettable. Read less