mecabq

I've explored the Dubai Voco a bit more and must say I agree with bhrubin's characterization as weak. The room is pretty elegant, with a comfortable bed and large shower (with a bathtub inside) with horizontal jets and acceptable pressure though not a rain shower overhead. Aveda wall dispensers with a bar of soap. One positive is the coffee service: in-room filter coffee is rare in Dubai; here they have a filter bag of coffee (like a large teabag) and a kettle, along with a Nespresso-type machine and individually wrapped cookies.

I mentioned that the room is tiny. The length of the bed takes up almost the whole width of the room. Although the furnishings are nice, the layout is not optimal. The room has a lot of master buttons for the lights, which work well and the lighting is better than average overall. AC is very finicky. I set it to 24C all the time, but it always was cooler.

The F&B is uninspired, with a pricey contemporary Indian restaurant (not sure I want to pay AED 100-130 for starters at this hotel), semi-buffet (dinner is a narrow selection of standard soup and salad with choice of a main course, very basic offerings like mixed grill, pizza, pasta), and a Lebanese night club, like a million others in Dubai, that opens at midnight. Bar on the top floor is basic too. There is a small infinity pool on top of the parking garage (typical in this neighbhorhood) with decent views but it's surprisingly dumpy.

The front desk service is surly, almost like they're trying for the aloof vibe that is fashionable these days. Bell service is good though. I have experienced several small annoyances that are typical in the region but not like the "luxury" that they promise. The list of restaurant opening hours on the TV is totally wrong, as are the messages in the elevators, as is the list of TV channels. They didn't deliver the advertised happy hour, saying instead that they had a "new promotion." The TV and VOIP phone were inoperable for hours, which they blamed on the dreaded "system upgrade" (this was in the afternoon and evening hours not overnight).

Spire benefits are minimal, though that is an ICHG issue and they seem to comply with the T&C. Not sure why they didn't give me access to the Club Lounge (I mislabled this as Executive Lounge above). I don't recall ever being denied access to this at an ICHG group hotel (other than an InterContinental of course) that had one.