My very first visit to Dubai - a love affair is born!
June 7, 2004
Mum and Dad had been in Dubai a year earlier and I was desperate to go and it was nice to go with Mum and Dad too, if I'm honest.
We shopped lots, ate lots and sunbathed lots. Mum and Dad bought me a beautiful white gold and diamond ring as a congratulations for finishing and getting my degree. If they'd realised I was going back for another year of uni they might not have done that!
So we had our time in Dubai and then it was home for graduation, and ten days later I was passing through Dubai airport again, this time on my way to China, and very nervous!
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Heaven!
This is one of the BEST hotels I've ever stayed in. The One&Only group are amazing, and we've stayed with them in the Maldives and Mauritius.
Dubai is obvuiously a major city, and a lot of the hotels look like bog standard city skyscrapers, and from what I've seen of a lot of them, the room could be in London, Paris or New York.
The Palace is different. There is a very Arabic feel throughout the property, including the other hotels on site - The Arabian Court and The Residence at the Royal Mirage.
We've stayed here three times, and twice in the Gold Club. The rooms are the same as the standard rooms, but you have access to the Club Lounge, where you can have Continental breakfast, complimentary drinks all day, afternoon tea (which has sandwiches, cakes, pastries, tea and coffee, and special treats which change each day), and sundowner cocktails and canapes from 7 - 8pm. It's great value - you also have a dedicated reception area, and taxis come to a special entrance so you don't have to walk right through the hotel.
The staff are amazing - they are so professional, and some of them who've been there for a while remember us from visit to visit, and they all know your name from check-in. They are very helpful at the Gold Club reception, and will happily book tables, pulling strings if needs be!
The entire hotel is immaculately presented - the gardens are perfect, the pool is always clean and there's lots of sunbeds. If you're in a suite, you get a gazebo at the pool - I always prefer to be in the sun though! Mark's previously been upgraded to the Royal Suite (I wasn't with him) when he met a Sheikh with a share in the hotel - he'd mentioned how impressed he was with the property and when he got back to his room he was escorted to the Royal Suite for his last night, all his stuff had been moved and he was set to go! Mum and Dad have TWICE been upgraded to an Executive Suite, I've never got upgraded, but that's probably because Mark always asks for a specific room in the Gold Club.
The hotel restaurants are great and it's easy to get to the city or to another hotel for a change too. Breakfast is served in Celebrities and Olives. You can have lunch at the pool bar or in Olives or the Beach Bar and dinner is available at Tagine (Morrocan food), Olives, the Beach Bar and Grill and Celebrities. You can also eat at the restaurants in the other hotels on site - the Dining Room at the Residence is particularly good. We used to like Eau Zone but the last two meals we've had weren't as good - it's a European-Arabic fusion restaurant. Nina at the Arabian Court is a favourite with Mark, but it's not my kind of food - Moroccan-Indo-European type stuff: it was too spicy when I went with Mum and Dad! There's also the Rotisserie which Mum and Dad say is good but we've not been.
The Beach Bar and Grill at the Palace is my favourite, the steaks are great, as is the fresh seafood. It overlooks Palm Island, which did have a lot of building work going on but you could never (really) hear it.
It's always easy to get a taxi, either outside the main entrance, or at the Gold Club they just call for one and it's comes to the Club entrance. There's a little paper shop just off the lobby selling sweets, toiletries, newspapers and magazines as well as hotel souvenirs - some of the stuff is so beautiful!
Then there's the Spa - it's centre piece is an Oriental Hammam which is AMAZING! The Spa is a Givenchy establishment, and the massage we had was fab - they'll alter the pressure as you ask, and the relaxation area was beautiful. The problem is you feel so sleepy afterwards we nearly missed our dinner reservation!
There's also an Arabian Adventures tour office just off the lobby - handy for booking your Dune Safaris!
It's about a 10 - 15 minute drive to the malls in the city centre, and the IBN Battuta Mall is about a 10 minute drive (if that) in the other direction.
And that's my summary of the Palace - in a word, SPECTACULAR! Everything about the hotel is amazing, the staff would ben over backwards for you and the food and ambience tops it all off. It's expensive, but worth ti - you get what you pay for. Highly Recommended.
Dubai is obvuiously a major city, and a lot of the hotels look like bog standard city skyscrapers, and from what I've seen of a lot of them, the room could be in London, Paris or New York.
The Palace is different. There is a very Arabic feel throughout the property, including the other hotels on site - The Arabian Court and The Residence at the Royal Mirage.
We've stayed here three times, and twice in the Gold Club. The rooms are the same as the standard rooms, but you have access to the Club Lounge, where you can have Continental breakfast, complimentary drinks all day, afternoon tea (which has sandwiches, cakes, pastries, tea and coffee, and special treats which change each day), and sundowner cocktails and canapes from 7 - 8pm. It's great value - you also have a dedicated reception area, and taxis come to a special entrance so you don't have to walk right through the hotel.
The staff are amazing - they are so professional, and some of them who've been there for a while remember us from visit to visit, and they all know your name from check-in. They are very helpful at the Gold Club reception, and will happily book tables, pulling strings if needs be!
The entire hotel is immaculately presented - the gardens are perfect, the pool is always clean and there's lots of sunbeds. If you're in a suite, you get a gazebo at the pool - I always prefer to be in the sun though! Mark's previously been upgraded to the Royal Suite (I wasn't with him) when he met a Sheikh with a share in the hotel - he'd mentioned how impressed he was with the property and when he got back to his room he was escorted to the Royal Suite for his last night, all his stuff had been moved and he was set to go! Mum and Dad have TWICE been upgraded to an Executive Suite, I've never got upgraded, but that's probably because Mark always asks for a specific room in the Gold Club.
The hotel restaurants are great and it's easy to get to the city or to another hotel for a change too. Breakfast is served in Celebrities and Olives. You can have lunch at the pool bar or in Olives or the Beach Bar and dinner is available at Tagine (Morrocan food), Olives, the Beach Bar and Grill and Celebrities. You can also eat at the restaurants in the other hotels on site - the Dining Room at the Residence is particularly good. We used to like Eau Zone but the last two meals we've had weren't as good - it's a European-Arabic fusion restaurant. Nina at the Arabian Court is a favourite with Mark, but it's not my kind of food - Moroccan-Indo-European type stuff: it was too spicy when I went with Mum and Dad! There's also the Rotisserie which Mum and Dad say is good but we've not been.
The Beach Bar and Grill at the Palace is my favourite, the steaks are great, as is the fresh seafood. It overlooks Palm Island, which did have a lot of building work going on but you could never (really) hear it.
It's always easy to get a taxi, either outside the main entrance, or at the Gold Club they just call for one and it's comes to the Club entrance. There's a little paper shop just off the lobby selling sweets, toiletries, newspapers and magazines as well as hotel souvenirs - some of the stuff is so beautiful!
Then there's the Spa - it's centre piece is an Oriental Hammam which is AMAZING! The Spa is a Givenchy establishment, and the massage we had was fab - they'll alter the pressure as you ask, and the relaxation area was beautiful. The problem is you feel so sleepy afterwards we nearly missed our dinner reservation!
There's also an Arabian Adventures tour office just off the lobby - handy for booking your Dune Safaris!
It's about a 10 - 15 minute drive to the malls in the city centre, and the IBN Battuta Mall is about a 10 minute drive (if that) in the other direction.
And that's my summary of the Palace - in a word, SPECTACULAR! Everything about the hotel is amazing, the staff would ben over backwards for you and the food and ambience tops it all off. It's expensive, but worth ti - you get what you pay for. Highly Recommended.
The Palace at Dusk
The View from the Lobby Balcony
The Entrance to the Palace
The Lobby
The Ceiling of the Lobby
The Courtyard laid out for Iftar
The Entrance at night
The Palace at night
One of the nooks in the Lobby
