The hotel opened in 1997, was renovated in 2007 although to me it still looked the same as it probably did when it first opened. Like many older 5 star hotel all over the world it has kept its 5 stars but can not compare to a brand new 5 star hotel like the Sofitel Dubai The Obelisk where I had stayed a few days before and which is also in the Accor chain.
There was no porter outside the hotel so I had to struggle up the steps at the front entrance with a heavy suitcase which didn’t put me in the best of moods. I went to reception and got a friendly greeting from Eliza. As a gold member of the Accor Live Limited loyalty programme, I was given an upgrade. After enquiring about the price of a suite, I agreed to pay a little extra when Eliza offered me a good price for it with a free breakfast to be served in the room. The night receptionist Michael also kindly extended my reservation at the same rate with the same late checkout.
The porter appeared and took me to my suite. It was comfortable but very old. There was a separate area with a door leading to a cupboard and luggage rack. There was a step down between the bedroom area and the living room so I hoped I wasn’t going to break my neck during the night if I needed to go to the bathroom which was by the entrance. There was a TV on the bedroom side of the wall but no TV on the other side where the couch and armchairs were. A 5 star hotel should have a TV screen on both sides like at the new Grand Mercure across the road where I’d stayed the night before and which was definitely more luxurious.
The bathroom was old too. There was a bidet but no handheld bidet shower attached to the toilet which I really missed as I have got used to using it from spending so much time in the Middle East. It would definitely solve the world’s toilet paper problems during the Covid crisis if more people installed it. There was a bathtub with an overhead shower in it but no handheld shower which was really inconvenient too and showed how old the hotel was. I would have preferred a walk-in shower. There was a fridge and sink on the other side of the hall but the minibar was closed due to Covid.
I always ask for an extra sheet on my bed as I usually get too hot with the duvet. A housekeeper called Sanjay from Nepal brought it up. I just expected him to leave it on the bed but he remade the bed for me to put it under the duvet which I appreciated. He also made sure I had all the extra towels and toiletries I needed.
I had to work online for a few hours and sat on the sofa which sagged and seemed like it dated from the opening of the hotel but I was more comfortable sitting there than at the desk in the bedroom.
Later on I went to the gym which also seemed a bit old but actually had all the equipment I needed for a decent workout and most of it was Life Fitness which I like. The gym was long and narrow and the machines were spaced out. There was a squash court at the end and a small free weight area to the right. There were hardly any people there which was nice but there was also no-one around to give me a towel.
After the gym I went to the swimming pool which was not very big and was a strange shape with 6 sides to it so not suitable for swimming lengths. I estimate the longest length to be approximately 18-20 metres. The pool at the Millenium across the road is much bigger and the rooms and suites are almost the same as the Mövenpick. Since the occupancy rate of the hotel was only 23% due to the Covid crisis, there weren’t many people there and none of them were in the water because it was too cold. A lifeguard told me that engineering had been informed and would increase the temperature so I decided to wait until the next day for a swim.
In the evening I went down to the lobby about 9pm. It was deserted. I wanted to use my free drink voucher and you are usually able to have a soft drink, a beer or a glass of wine and if you’re staying at the Sofitel you can have a cocktail. At reception they told me I could have the drink in the Gazebo lobby lounge but the girls there told me they didn’t serve alcohol in the lobby and sent me to the bar at the Roda Grill. The waiter there then sent me back to the lobby. The girls invited me to have a seat and went off to the bar then came back and said I couldn’t have wine with my voucher. I was getting really annoyed so they went back to the bar and told me I could have a glass of wine but needed to go to the bar. I went there and saw a big group of men smoking so went to sit in the restaurant area which was almost empty and finally got my glass of wine with some peanuts. I didn’t stay there for dinner as there was a very limited menu. The only other restaurant open that night was by the pool which I didn't fancy so I went out.
When I was getting ready for bed I saw that there was no socket next to the bed but luckily I always travel with an extension cable as I usually play chess on my laptop before going to sleep but then I discovered that the socket was connected to the 2 bedside lamps, a lamp on the wall and the hall light. I unscrewed the 3 lightbulbs but had to leave the hall light on which was really irritating, just another example of how old the hotel is.
The next day I consulted the breakfast menu which had 3 choices and ordered breakfast in my room after choosing the options I wanted. It was soon brought up on a trolley by room service and included pineapple juice, Bircher muesli, fresh fruit, a cheese and mushroom omelette with a sausage, a hashbrown potato triangle, a tomato and some mushrooms, a basket of pastries but only one small pack of butter, tea in a flask and a jug of cold milk for the tea. The breakfast was definitely up to standard. There was also a kettle if you wanted to make a cup of tea yourself.
It was back to the couch for another 6 hours as I had to work. A housekeeper called Emma from Kenya did my room and did a great job except that I couldn’t find my comb the next day and supposed she had thrown it away.
In the evening I went to the hotel restaurant Hibachi which was open that evening. I was first of all told that I couldn’t sit at the live cooking station tables although the place was nearly empty as you had to reserve in advance. I ordered some wine which took ages to arrive and the food took even longer. The chef was having a leisurely chat with some men at the only other occupied table on my side of the restaurant while I was slowly dying of hunger.
I finally got my food 40 minutes after arriving at 9.25pm. I had clearly told the waiter that I didn’t like spicy food but he had obviously been too busy chatting to people too and hadn’t passed on the message so when I bit into the long awaited salmon temaki it was far too spicy for me. By this time I was going up the wall. I managed to get some non-spicy food and on the way back to my suite the Gazebo supervisor Lolita very kindly gave me a free pecan tart to take to my room. Thankfully the rest of my bottle of wine arrived promptly, probably because I told the waiter he wasn’t going to get his tip until I got my wine, and I enjoyed the rest of the evening sitting on the couch watching a film on my laptop although it would have been nice to have been able to watch TV.
The following day Sanjay came back to clean up my room and did an excellent job although nobody could find my missing comb. I went back to the gym then went to the pool which was nice and warm and had a good swim all by myself until sunset. I went to the female changing rooms to have a shower there but despite running the shower for over 5 minutes there was no hot water. It was really annoying to have to put my wet swimsuit back on to go back to my room to have a shower.
Despite all of the above I actually felt very comfortable in my suite and enjoyed the pool and gym but there are so many places to stay in Dubai that I’m not sure I will return, in fact my next stop when I get back to Dubai this weekend is at Le Méridien next door which has a 25 meter pool where you can swim lengths..
