Ok - I`ll start by saying the hotel isn`t "bad"......it just isn`t all that good, in my opinion.

The first hurdle was finding the hotel - taxi driver didn`t have a clue, and had to phone a few people to find out where it was; even though we had the address written down, ready for him. Not the most auspicious start, really.
The hotel is situated midway along a sidestreet - there are plenty of local shops, supermarkets, metro station etc. all within easy walking distance.
We`d just disembarked a cruise; it was approx 10.00 a.m. when we arrived. We fully expected that the room wouldn`t be ready, but we wanted to drop the luggage off, then go explore for a while. So we were somewhat surprised to be told our room (117) was ready! Wow, that`s a promising start.
Sure enough, the room was ready - clean enough, little kitchen with all you need for a few days (except the food). The only "problem" was that we couldn`t get into the room with our keycard - we had to get maintenance to let us in for the first two days....apparently the keycard machine broke down! The hotel had a ready answer for this......we were moved next door, into 116.
So, now we get to the things you "need to know" regarding the rooms:
1. All the electrical equipment supplied in both our rooms was 2 pin, european plugs.
2. All the sockets in the room were british 3 pin. You need an adaptor, but probably the exact opposite of the ones you normally take!
3. There were bedside lights on the tables; but, in room 116, there isn`t a socket within reach of one side off the bed - and the other side is a bit of a stretch to the nearest socket.
4. The supplied kettle was leaking onto the base - took it to the maintenance guy, who apparently "mended" it ......by making it leak more than it did to start with. After a bit more arguing with the young girl at reception (who we`ll get back to later), another kettle was provided.
5. The "double room", as is often the case, is 2 single beds pushed together. What surprised me was they were individually made; i.e. as 2 single beds.
6. The "view". This is probably the worst issue, aesthetically speaking. The windows have, in all likelihood, never been cleaned. You`ll need to open the window, to know whether its light or dark outside; and all we could see was the back of an equally dirty building, 6 metres away across an alley.

***** The "restaurant"*****
We (luckily) chose not to eat there the first night. The hotel don`t have their own kitchens - the food is carried across the alley from the indian restaurant next door (breakfast, lunch and evening meal). Apparently, the first night was a very poor choice of 3 "things", unidentified, which were supposed to be served hot, but weren`t. By way of apology, the management offered a free transfer to Mamzar beach the next day.
The breakfasts weren`t bad (but I usually only have cereal, toast and coffee - difficult to mess up). There were "hot" options, which changed daily - all I can say is they looked nice enough.

Reception - specifically staff attitudes.
We saw three reception staff during our stay. The young girl mentioned above, a youngish guy and an older man. The young man was pleasant, polite, helpful, friendly. The older man was "alright"; but the young girl. I`m not sure what to say, to be honest, other than "avoid if at all possible".
There is a rooftop pool. But there is limited sunbed space; a wall so high you can hardly see any of the view; and it was closed off for most of our stay.
Would I return to this hotel? Not if I had a choice. I`d have given it two and a half stars perhaps.

I have just returned from this Hotel and I would not rate it anymore than a two star hotel,we stayed in the Arbain Park Hotel which was a 3 star hotel on 18th December 2011 and it was certainly of a higher standard than the Al Manar.
The standard of food for british people was not acceptable and generaly no checks had been done prior to you moving into the room,my son had three different room before he managed to get a hot shower .If you want to enjoy your holiday do not book Faulty Towers which is a correct description for this Hotel.

Sadly , this hotel is not geared up for the british/europeans . It wan`t as good as some previous reviews had stated .
Rooms were very shabby , not cleaned to a decent standard & nothing worked -from bedside lamps to the kettle , to an iron .
If you wanted anything , ask ! to be fair , the staff DID make an effort , but it`s obviously a lack of training . Managers on front desk were a bit hit & miss . one was good , the other useless .
Food was not very good ,we got by for breakfast , but ate out for the rest of the day .
On a positive note , it was close to the airport , so useful for the 8 am flight home .

The hotel was difficult to find as the taxi driver was uncertain of locations within Dubai ( as usual in Dubai!!). Once there we were dealt with efficiently and politely. The room was clean and neat. We used the hotel as a transit stop and found its location convenient for access to the airport. The area around the hotel is not well provided for if one wants to do some shopping but using the metro and taxis make up for that.
The restaurant is good, with efficient service and menu. Would recommend the hotel.