Raffles The Palm Dubai

AMAZING! There is nothing I van think about which has not been perfect! The restaurant Le Jardin has plenty of food and breakfast lasts until 11am. Dinner varies 3 times a week, I have not been able to taste all the different food! The pool…. I was flashed by the size and view, the service is amazing, ice-cold water is served and if you want additional food or drinks you can order it via your mobile phone and a call-button. We have spend almost every day in the gym: great opportunities with various options, a personal trainer who is giving you great advices and helps whenever you wanted to try something new. But wait until you get to see the jazz bar… the sound, the drinks (they know how it‘s done!!) and smoking cigars is allowed. It felt like heaven, the service is AMAZING, everywhere and everyone is very very friendly. But the very best part of the hotel is it‘s unique view and exclusively placing, no skyscraper close by. For my wife and myself it has been a fantastic time out of our regular busy life. Thank you everyone at the Raffles, we LOVED staying with you!! Read less

My wife and I have recently returned from a 7 night stay at Raffles The Palm, here's our thoughts. On arrival the staff on the door welcomed us warmly and took our luggage for delivery to our room. We were shown to the check in desk where we were checked in, this process seemed very rushed (despite us being the only ones checking in) we were offered no refreshing towels or welcome drinks (as is the norm at every luxury hotel we have ever stayed at). When the process was complete, we were given our keys and pointed in the direction of the lift (again at other hotels we have been personally shown to our room). When we got to our room (Raffles Club Palm View) we were amazed by it's sheer size and opulence. This is the largest (non suite) room we have ever had the pleasure of staying! The furnishings and decoration are excellent quality. The bed was huge and one of the most comfortable on which we have ever slept! We had a great balcony overlooking the pool and the palm. The room was extremely quiet, we never heard any noise from the pool area or even the hallway outside. As we had arrived quite late, we decided to head straight to bed. The following morning, we headed down to Le Jardin for breakfast, we were found a seat straight away, but we both commented as to how busy and chaotic the place felt. Staff were very professional and courteous, but did appear to be quite stretched. We decided to head to the pool after breakfast, on our way past the pool bars we were approached by a member of the pool team and shown to some available sun loungers (these are very comfortable), we were then given an ice bucket with four 330ml cans of still water and told that any further water would be chargeable!! We have stayed in luxury 5 star hotels around the world (Inc Dubai and others in the UAE) and have never been charged for water around the pool! (Costs for additional water and soft drinks are very expensive £7+). We found staff around the pool a little hit and miss, some days they would show you to available sunbeds and sort towels/water etc without asking, other days they would be stood around and we needed to approach them for clean towels and water. The pool itself is very refreshing and is the perfect temperature, I think our biggest gripe was there was no adults only pool... During our stay there were lots of children using the main pool, some of whom didn't understand personal space and would happily splash and crawl all over you screaming and shouting whilst you are trying to relax.... An adults only area/pool would definitely be a huge benefit to those wanting to relax! As we were staying in a Club Room we had access to the Raffles Club which offered additional dining/snacks/refreshments in the Club on the 6th floor. We tried to head up here on our first day... We didn't seem to be able to access the 6th floor even using our room key in the lift. A call to the front desk to be told, you need to use a different lift (no explanation of how to find said lift). We headed down to the front desk to ask and we're told which lifts to use (in a different area to those to our room), so we headed up. We were met by Ruben at the Club and warmly welcomed. As we walked in we were shown to a table for afternoon tea, this was very pleasant and the staff were very attentive. On leaving we asked Ruben a few questions about the Club and our room, he sat us down and thoroughly explained many things about staying in a club room, much of which I believe should have been explained at check in at the front desk. We were given a contact card for our butler (again never even mentioned at check in), however we never met or even spoke with him/her. After our first morning, we decided to take breakfast in the club lounge as it was a far more civilised affair and again all staff at breakfast were excellent. We enjoyed afternoon tea and a light lunch on a couple of occasions during our stay. We headed up for the Sunset Aperitivo on the evenings where we were expertly looked after by the excellent Shehan. After the first evening he anticipated our needs and ensured we had everything we needed and thoroughly answered any questions or queries we had. During our stay we ate at Blüthner Hall, Piatti and Matagi and found the food all to be excellent. Our personal favourite was Matagi, this isn't just a restaurant it's a dining experience! On our first visit we were looked after by Apanla, despite being fairly new to the role, she was very professional and friendly and she ensured we thoroughly enjoyed our meal! The housekeeping team did a good job of keeping the room clean, however the times at which housekeeping visited seemed to get later each day... On our first day, we returned after lunch to find the room serviced, on other days we were often disturbed around 4:30pm when we were getting ready to head up for evening aperitifs. On the whole we really enjoyed our stay at Raffles The Palm, but it was the little things that a luxury hotel brand with a reputation for excellence should be getting right every time that just took a little of the shine off. Read less