Dukes The Palm Dubai Hotel

We had a lovely stay for my birthday with my boys. They even sent a celebratory dessert up to my room. Stephanie at reception helped make everything feel special, and the service was outstanding. The beach was clean and calm, with great service there too. We also enjoyed the heated pool, which stayed open late. Our room was really spacious and had two balconies. The hotel smells gorgeous, and there's a mall just across the street.

The room situation was awful. Unless you pay a lot to upgrade, rooms are tiny. We came as a family with children, including a disabled child, and they still squeezed four of us into a cramped room with hardly any space to walk. When we asked to move to a somewhat larger one, they said it would cost another £300 or more. The connecting door between rooms meant we could hear the neighbors clearly whenever they spoke loudly. Beds were uncomfortable, and the room got hot unless you kept clicking the air-conditioning button to make it work. The keys barely worked either, so we had to visit reception every day to reactivate them, and an engineer had to fix the door tap-in system. Half board included a limited choice of drinks at breakfast, though the food was decent. At dinner there were no drinks at all, not even water. A small bottle cost £6 inside the hotel, or we had to keep going to the mall to get water. The only water supplied was two small bottles after room cleaning. The coffee station had a kettle but no coffee, milk, tea, or anything else. There was no water at the beach or pool unless we paid 30 AED, or £6, for a small bottle. The walk to and from the hotel was very long. We weren't allowed to bring our own food, snacks, or drinks to the pool, and security around the pool and beach confiscated them. The elevator could take five to ten minutes to arrive, and there were no regular stairs to use instead. This was nowhere near five-star quality, maybe two stars at most. If you want to spend nine hours a day by the beach or pool with no entertainment and no complimentary water, this might suit you. It wasn't for us.

Our guests were very pleased with the rooms, views, food, and service during the week-long conference we hosted at Dukes The Palm. The hotel felt comfortable and welcoming, and worked well for both meetings and time to relax. Alondra and Ramesh were attentive, professional, and ready to help throughout the week, which kept everything running smoothly and without stress. We'd gladly return and are already looking forward to next year.

The beach and pool were a real pleasure, and the staff at Ula restaurant and the beach bar were friendly, attentive, and always happy to help. The spa treatments were excellent and reasonably priced too. It's not a large standalone spa, but the therapists were professional and the treatments made it worthwhile. I especially liked the Executive Lounge. It was a quieter place to eat away from the busier dining areas, and the pastries were delicious, much better than the main buffet options. The package also included excellent coffee there. Lattes and cappuccinos at bre