I had umpteen questions as a mum of a 15 month old going to a new country would...so here are some answers that will hopefully help others!

Firstly this is NOT an adult's only hotel, although if your children like to run around and play loudly in the pool then you are better off in either Arabian Court or The Palace of the resort. All the kids staying at the hotel were impeccably well behaved and would sit nicely on the sun loungers reading, or swim nicely with their parents. Our daughter is of an age that she doesn't understand to be quiet when she needs to be and so I found it a little awkward at times but just removed her from the surroundings so as not to annoy anyone else. She was desperate to crawl everywhere, and the staff were absolutely fantastic with this and her. They completely understood what she wanted and catered to her perfectly. They were fantastic with her and made us feel so welcome, especially if she played up at any point.

Swalha, Fikri, Regina and Nicholas were specific staff that my daughter became very fond of as they played with her at every quiet opportunity, but saying that, ALL the staff in the Residence were fantastic. Every night I requested a small jug of full fat milk for night time and morning bottles and it was with me within minutes. We kept it cool in the mini bar which worked out well. There are plenty of choices at breakfast, from cereals, fruit, breads, pastries, and then a hot dishes menu. The kids menu had good variation (chicken, burgers, fish fingers, grilled fish or pasta, all with a choice of sides) and we got a shock when they arrived as they were huge! Afternoon tea was the perfect touch to the holiday - plenty of strawberries for our daughter and lovely assortment of teas, cakes and fancies.

The Kids club based in Arabian Court is great. Under 4's need to be supervised by their parents but seeing she was so young I was happy to watch her play with the other kids. Incidentally I think you can hire a babysitter to sit and play with them instead but I never asked about it. There are lots of activities for them and different ones catered for different ages. Only shame was that it was open at specific hours and couldn't make use of it in between these times which would have been good.

The swimming pool was really great. One side was mainly in shade from the palm trees, the other side became busy very quickly! But this was fine with us as the shade was better for our daughter anyway. The first couple of days the pool was cold but then towards the end it was lovely and warm so I suspect they may have had problems to start with the heater. Never-the-less it was perfect for us (top tip, I took stacking cups for her to play with in the pool - a definite bonus and kept her quiet for ages!)

The room - we were in a standard room and there were plenty of places to put the cot as it was a fantastic size. After night number 2 we realised that the best place was in the bathroom (!) as we could close the door and she was asleep within seconds without peering over the cot to check we were still there every 5 minutes. The toilet has a separate door and the bathroom was huge so no need to feel claustrophobic or bad! Obviously a suite would have been better but not with the prices over Xmas / New Year!

If you need any nappies or baby 'things' whilst you there, the hotel will get whatever you need. If you'd prefer to shop for it yourself then take a trip to the Dubai Mall (about a 20 minute cab ride) where they have Mothercare, Waitrose and any other English store you could possibly think of!

New Year's eve gala dinner for the children was fab - huge buffet dinner for them. We hired a babysitter from the hotel (they only use their staff that you see every day so you become very comfortable knowing they are the ones sitting). She sat in our room whilst she slept and we attended the adults gala (this was fab!) and made us very relaxed. All in all we had the most incredible holiday and will definitely be returning next year (and we have never gone back to the same place twice!).

Walked in with dry skin from 2 weeks in Dubai... walked out with buttery skin and squeaky clean! This is the ultimate body exfoliation!

The relaxation room for the Hammam (there is a separate one for the spa upstairs) has fruits and water. Say yes to the tea they offer after your hammam - comes with dates that are such a nice treat. I did not stay on property, but you can have a light lunch outside on the property after your treatment. I was told that you could also take a boat to the Other One and only across the water for lunch at the restaurant 101 (I did not have enough time to do that). Keep in mind that the Hammam alternates days/times for men only and women only.

We have just returned from a repeat visit to the hotel. The staff as usual, very professional and friendly. Rooms spotless and service second to none.

Dining Room best food- otherwise other restaurants in Arabian Court and Palace ordinary. Take a torch to read the menus. Lighting very poor in the other restaurants.

Completely spoilt this visit by the Party Boat outside. We were driven off the beach on more than one occasion in the afternoon and there was no relief by the otherwise quiet pool. In fact we had to shut our doors in the afternoon to escape the worse of the "thud thud" of music. Most times the boat sailed off to other parts by 8pm providing a welcome relief. However we were kept awake one night until 2am by the noise.

It is such an incredible shame, because otherwise it would have once again been a perfect holiday. Until this problem is dealt with, we will certainly not go back.

This is one of my favourite hotels in the world. Impeccable service, you don't know anyone is there just until that moment when you think of something and it's like they read your mind and it's done!
I was on honeymoon so it was nice not to have to suffer anyone's kids, but then when you wanted a little more happening you can pop next door! We will definitely be back here!