Funny. I was showing the kids the property on google earth and said we could walk or take a buggy. They both said, "let's take the buggy!" immediately.
I may move my booking to inside the main hotel (versus the summer villa). Rooms seem comparable, and my wife likes to just take the lift to get to the club, not have to walk to another building. Indeed, it does feel more integrated when we are in the same building.
It is great to have three-day cancellation for a Christmas season trip!
Note that a) the club is not great in Al Qasr anyway and b) each of the DAM villas have a very pleasant open bar session every evening in the communal courtyards. This is a lot nicer than having a drink in the lounge.
MUCH nicer having your pre-dinner drinks in the DAM summerhouse than in the club - we used both but preferred the villa option, as did the children (who would get bought their own hot chocolate in silver jugs which they thought was the height of decadence - and probably is actually now i think of it!!) to drink whilst we enjoyed our champagne etc.
Buggies are very easy and quick to get around in - we like walking and would walk to breakfast most mornings for example (and don't forget you also have the option of getting the boats which we tended to use to get to dinner as it was always a lovely start and end to the evening), but if you ever need a buggy they are with you almost immediately (except in pouring rain) and you can reach everywhere (even the furthest away Jumeirah Beach or Burj restaurants) in a few minutes.
The club lounge was nice enough and convenient (and good selection of nibbles etc) but i really don't think you need to be accommodated right next to it to utilise it, in my opinion.
Note that a) the club is not great in Al Qasr anyway and b) each of the DAM villas have a very pleasant open bar session every evening in the communal courtyards. This is a lot nicer than having a drink in the lounge.
Agree! Much nicer having pre-dinner drinks in your own lounge area in the DAM summer houses. Club floors in main hotels are not to be compared.
Thank you for the continued feedback. I really appreciate it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raffles
Note that a) the club is not great in Al Qasr anyway and b) each of the DAM villas have a very pleasant open bar session every evening in the communal courtyards. This is a lot nicer than having a drink in the lounge.
Their club is bad? Is that by US standards or Gulf standards (which tend to be quite high....RC Bahrain or IC AUH for example)?
Quote:
Originally Posted by cadogan1
MUCH nicer having your pre-dinner drinks in the DAM summerhouse than in the club - we used both but preferred the villa option, as did the children (who would get bought their own hot chocolate in silver jugs which they thought was the height of decadence - and probably is actually now i think of it!!) to drink whilst we enjoyed our champagne etc.
Buggies are very easy and quick to get around in - we like walking and would walk to breakfast most mornings for example (and don't forget you also have the option of getting the boats which we tended to use to get to dinner as it was always a lovely start and end to the evening), but if you ever need a buggy they are with you almost immediately (except in pouring rain) and you can reach everywhere (even the furthest away Jumeirah Beach or Burj restaurants) in a few minutes.
The club lounge was nice enough and convenient (and good selection of nibbles etc) but i really don't think you need to be accommodated right next to it to utilise it, in my opinion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vuittonsofstyle
Agree! Much nicer having pre-dinner drinks in your own lounge area in the DAM summer houses. Club floors in main hotels are not to be compared.
May I ask three more summer house questions:
1-Do they set up a little mini bar area each evening in the courtyard? Is this a 6-8pm sort of thing?
2-For breakfast, would we need to walk to the main hotel?
3-Are there pools in each summer house compound? I can't tell from G Earth.
All of the Arabian summer houses have their own pool (shared between 3 other summer houses but in 7 weeks spent in DAM i don't recall ever seeing anyone else a the pool whilst we were there so feels very private) but only one of the gulf summer houses complexes has the pool (the others are all very close to the main Al Qsar pool).
You can take breakfast either in the restaurant by the pool at Al Qsar or in Mina a'salam or in the main restaurant in Al Qsar - we tend to rotate for variety although probably like the pool restaurant best for breakfast. You can walk, take a buggy or take a boat depending on which summerhouse you are in and which restaurant you are going to.
Drinks are served for a couple of hours each evening - think it's is 6-8pm but cant exactly recall. The butlers ask what you'd like and then keep topping you up - no proper bar set up as such, but they bring you whatever you'd like plus some nuts etc to nibble on, so it's not like the club offering but it's a lovely start (or for us with the young children sometimes the finish!) to the evening! I always had a few glasses of champagne, my husband would tend to have wine or gin and tonics and the children loved their hot chocolates. It was always fun meeting a few other guests as well.
The club would offer the same drinks plus a more comprehensive array of finger food - and the food was always very nice but personally we felt the choice of restaurants in the hotels and in the souk are so good it seems a shame to fill up on the food presentations and not enjoy the dining options outside of the club. We did go for tea there sometimes if the children got hungry early (cakes and sandwiches, and tea - no alcohol served in the daytime), but that was it really.
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The club would offer the same drinks plus a more comprehensive array of finger food - and the food was always very nice but personally we felt the choice of restaurants in the hotels and in the souk are so good it seems a shame to fill up on the food presentations and not enjoy the dining options outside of the club. We did go for tea there sometimes if the children got hungry early (cakes and sandwiches, and tea - no alcohol served in the daytime), but that was it really.
I'd agree with this. You need to remember that there are apparently 70different places to eat and / or drink in the Madinat complex (albeit that includes Starbucks etc) and that's before you start with the Burj, Jumeirah Beach Hotel etc.
All of the Arabian summer houses have their own pool (shared between 3 other summer houses but in 7 weeks spent in DAM i don't recall ever seeing anyone else a the pool whilst we were there so feels very private) but only one of the gulf summer houses complexes has the pool (the others are all very close to the main Al Qsar pool).
You can take breakfast either in the restaurant by the pool at Al Qsar or in Mina a'salam or in the main restaurant in Al Qsar - we tend to rotate for variety although probably like the pool restaurant best for breakfast. You can walk, take a buggy or take a boat depending on which summerhouse you are in and which restaurant you are going to.
Drinks are served for a couple of hours each evening - think it's is 6-8pm but cant exactly recall. The butlers ask what you'd like and then keep topping you up - no proper bar set up as such, but they bring you whatever you'd like plus some nuts etc to nibble on, so it's not like the club offering but it's a lovely start (or for us with the young children sometimes the finish!) to the evening! I always had a few glasses of champagne, my husband would tend to have wine or gin and tonics and the children loved their hot chocolates. It was always fun meeting a few other guests as well.
The club would offer the same drinks plus a more comprehensive array of finger food - and the food was always very nice but personally we felt the choice of restaurants in the hotels and in the souk are so good it seems a shame to fill up on the food presentations and not enjoy the dining options outside of the club. We did go for tea there sometimes if the children got hungry early (cakes and sandwiches, and tea - no alcohol served in the daytime), but that was it really.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raffles
I'd agree with this. You need to remember that there are apparently 70different places to eat and / or drink in the Madinat complex (albeit that includes Starbucks etc) and that's before you start with the Burj, Jumeirah Beach Hotel etc.
Thank you both for the info. I will stick with what I have at present then based on these and prior posts.
Dubai - How to find a great deal on a 5 star hotel
Hi fellow travelers,
I am a travel noob and trying to learn the ins and outs of how to find the best deals starting with a hotel for a 2 day stop over in Dubai. It will also be the start of our Honeymoon so I want it to be really special! Any advice on good hotels and where to look for the best deals would be greatly appreciated!
Hi slats70 and welcome to FT! We've got a fine recent thread on Dubai on this forum. It's full of up-to-date information, so I am going to move your post to that thread.
I am a travel noob and trying to learn the ins and outs of how to find the best deals starting with a hotel for a 2 day stop over in Dubai. It will also be the start of our Honeymoon so I want it to be really special! Any advice on good hotels and where to look for the best deals would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
There is also a dedicated thread on getting deals at Jumeirah hotels, who run many of the top Dubai beach hotels.
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