Checked in for a one week stay in the beginning of April after a recommendation from one of our friends.
First impression was that the lobby was quite nice, well furnished and clean. The porter and reception staff were curteous and our luggage was handled with care.
The rooms were exactly the same as the pictures on their website suggested, with a nice comfy bed, tile/stone floor and the usual furnishings. The room and bathroom were both clean and the bathroom featured a bath/shower combo. Complimentary tea/coffee available on the desk and minibar stocked with the usual (non alcoholic) drinks. Room was nicely air conditioned with thermostat to set temp/speed. Everything seemed to work and had no complaints about any of the fixtures. Shower gel/soap dispensers filled and working in the bathroom. Safe in the cupboard for valuable storage.
Housekeeping would make rounds every morning to clean the room and replace towels as needed, staff always very polite and worked efficiently.
Breakfast from 7-10AM, consists of an open buffet with a chef on hand to cook eggs to your liking and everything else on platters to your liking. Catering staff on hand to set the tables for you and pour tea/coffee. Also very polite and helpful.
The hotel grounds are beautifully landscaped and are a sight for sore eyes. After a long stressful flight the sight of palm trees gently swaying in the wind and a gorgeous golden beach was amazing. The resort beach itself seems to be cleaned regularly and rubbish seems to be blissfully missing unlike most public beaches. Sun loungers with covers in abundnace and a towel counter next to one of the two main swimming pools dispenses towels according to your need. There is no lifeguard on duty on the beach but a flag system is in place to warn of dangerous conditions. Beach bar serves refreshments and food by the main pool which was of good quality and the drinks were cold.
Pools were also clean, jacuzzi was pleasant and the general areas around the hotel well kept.
There are a number of food outlets in the hotel including an italian restaurant (didn't eat there), a buffet (Al-Bahar) and a seafood restaurant (Casa Samak), the Rumours cafe and the Merhaba cafe in the lounge (open 24/7 apparently). The buffet at Al-Bahar was quite tasty, included a wide variety of main course dishes, salads and deserts, including a gorgeous hot chocolate pudding which was well worth having a second helping of.
Casa Samak had very friendly waiting staff and some very tasty seafood dishes, which with a generous helping of starters, drinks and a filling main course came to about 25-30 GBP per head. The cafes were nice for some quick drinks/snacks and we had no complaints about them. The residents of the resort when we were staying ranged from the very young to the elderly, with a healthy number of families with children. There was a nice relaxed atmosphere and it was definitely child friendly, with our two really enjoying the stay and asking us to stay "just a few more days" as we were checking out...no wild parties to talk of and most residents seem to be from well off, educated backgrounds.
There are a large number of russian tourists at the resort due to the hotel having some kind of agreement with Russian tour operators, there is also a german presence with some of their tour operators in the hotel too.
One of our kids has a nut allergy and the staff were very accomodating of this and made sure to handle all dishes with care, and a nut free birthday cake was freshly made at short notice on the evening of the younger's birthday.
Overall, we really enjoyed our stay at the Hotel and would definitely recommend it to anyone thinking of visiting. The staff are extremely helpful, curteous and friendly. The hotel is very clean, the beach is stunning and the rooms are comfortable. A tour agency "arabian explorers" operates from the ground floor and can arrange for safaris and other tours. A shuttle bus operates at regular intervals, and you could easily spend the whole time in the hotel without leaving the grounds and enjoy your holiday. Internet access is 50DHMS per hour or 100DHMS per day via the hotel room. If you plan to travel regularly into Dubai, think of something closer as the hotel is quite a distance away, coupled with the sometimes heavy traffic in and out of Dubai, and it leads to some long trips in the car/taxi.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC