Highlight of checking in...was offering us dates in a beautiful wooden box. Unusual and gave a taste of being in the Arabian peninsula. Not much else in Dubai has retained a feeling of the area. Beautiful architecture ....The hotel is beautiful and although new, it does try to capture the feeling of the history of the land. Expensive but worth the splurge.

Brilliant hotel, fantastic staff, great services, brilliant location... Couldn't say more!

Last stayed here 2 years ago, and must say standard not as good as last time. However perhaps our stay was affected by our arrival and first night.

We stayed in one of the executive rooms as we like the facility of using the lounge. Upon arrival in the complimentary limo (that comes with the exec room), we were asked 3 times if we had stayed here before.( Compare this with the Baynan Tree Maldives where had just arrived from, where everyone knew we had stayed 9 years ago) Poor PR IMO. The lady who took us to our room, should not have been allowed near guests to my mind, in contrast to the rest of the staff to be fair, who were more than helpful.

The room was nice as expected from our previous stay, but we were unsure of the location as it seemed to be over a bar area. We elected to see how the first night went, and wished we had said something at the time, as we kept awake till 2 am by the loud music. Why oh why are the placing premium rooms above loud bars. My wife went to the lounge and advised we would like to be moved the next day. Fortunately the said lady was not there and the staff we're courteous and understanding.

During the next day however we had to deal with said lady and were not getting much info about our move, so we went to the main reception to Guest Relations to get some more info about which rooms they could possibly move us to, which turned out to be a room on the sme floor but with twin beds or a room on the 3rd floor. We elected for the third floor and in the end were very happy with the move as it was very quiet, and near to their second lounge, which is much larger but allows children. This did not concern us as being school time, not many children were staying, so it was relatively peaceful. This lounge seemed better run than the 5th floor lounge. One of the staff Fotima was unbelievable with guests and especially any children in the lounge.

Overall if it was not for the location I would not stay again. Our stay at the start of the trip at the Park Hyatt was far superior, but the beach location of the Al Qasr, only just wins us over

Where to start ? Dubai is amazing - literally! The England cricket team were rubbish. The weather was cold with a biting wind. The Al Qasr just couldn't be faulted. Immaculately clean. Fantastic food. Unbelievably well trained and impeccable staff. Just be ready for the cost of food and especially drinks