Coffee making facilities
A 15 minute taxi ride from the Airport. Airport pick-up or drop off arranged if required for 50 Dhs (taxi is about same price)
Wifi for rooms excellent and very good value for 20 Dhs per 24 hours.
Clean and Quiet Room.
Hotel can arrange trips (dune bashing/desert safari), if required.
We opted for a quiet room and were given a room facing the Souk. One can pay more for a Creek view but you may also get to hear the traffic. Room was fairly large with a walk-in closet. Sofa and table adjacent to a double bed with plenty of room to move around. Certainly felt relaxed when chilling between trips. Shower was above the bath and was powerful and hot.
It’s walking distance to the Gold Souk, Spice Souk and the small shops that sell everything. Supermarkets are just behind the Hotel for any items forgotten or required. There is also a shawarma stall here that serves fantastic snacks should you fancy the local foods instead of the restaurants. MacDonalds and KFC outlets are also close should folk have kids or prefer to stick with something known to them.
This is also one of the few hotels I’ve stopped at where the minibar prices are affordable. Eg 2 Dhs for a can of coke (40p.) This is less than the selling price in most shops.
Buffet breakfast is varied and catered for both Western and Asian tastes. Plenty of tables meant you didn’t feel crowded in addition to breakfast times between 06:00 – 11:00. This is particularly good for late risers that prefer a brunch.
Booked a trip to the Burj Khaliff online and emailed the receipt to reception for printing. It was waiting for me downstairs and was no trouble to them. Another plus.
Note: if you do want to visit the Burj Khaliff tower then it’s only 100 Dhs per person to book online in advance (though you need to specify a date and time.) Try to book as far in advance as possible as it is usually fully booked. You can of course pay 400 dhs per person and go anytime as well.
The Hotel doesn’t have a pool or gym. Once you see the beaches at Jumeirah then you will realise that this hotel doesn’t need them, unless you are stopping in Dubai for a couple of weeks. Perhaps then it would be beneficial to draw breath and chill for a day. Dubai certainly has enough going on to keep you entertained. If you are only here for a week then this hotel is ideal for such a break.
We had an early pre-6am rise to leave and the Hotel offered to bring us a breakfast prior to us leaving. How many hotels would offer that?
How to conclude? Is there anything I would do to improve this hotel? Answer is No, I couldn’t fault it and would certainly recommend it to others.
- Riviera Hotel Dubai
