Just to update this. I stayed here for one night, originally booked four;
* The decor of the hotel is stunning. From the moment you arrive it’s clear a lot of effort has been put into every aspect.
* The location is excellent for Dubai Mall. You can walk, but the hotel is an island of a nine lane road on the one side and a six lane the other side (sound proofing is just OK - road noise is present in the room). At the current time the front of the hotel has an uninterrupted view of the creek, but there is a building plot in front of the hotel which will eventually block this off.
* The pool area is beautiful but in the winter only receives sun for around 2-3hours per day in the early morning. Some really nice furniture, loungers, day beds and hanging chairs. There is a bar, restaurant and shisha service.
* The lobby is small, but has a cool vibe to it, and leads to the restaurant. The outdoor dining area has a really beautiful mosaic fountain.
My stay here was a shambles, but I think it could be an isolated incident. I arrived at the hotel at 3pm. The junior suite I booked was not ready. There was no upgrade and I had to prompt for drinks vouchers - they gave me 4 in the end. They asked for extra time to clean due to the COVID procedures. I went up to the bar to have some drinks and snacks. The service was slow, one guy on his own but only four customers. He was really friendly when he came over but I had to go the bar each time I needed something.
The room was ready an hour and 45mins later. On arrival at the room it was stiflingly hot and stank of cheap air freshener. All surfaces had sticky marks, even those high touch point areas such as handles. The window had child’s hand prints all over it and the bathroom was covered in splashes and marks on the walls. I emailed the GM who, even though she was on holiday, replied almost instantly and sent a senior member of the team to the room with the housekeeping manger. They tried their best with the service recovery.
We went for dinner whilst they tried to clean the room again. Dinner was excellent and the service very, very good. On arrival back at the room there were still cleaning issues but I decided that I didn’t want someone back in the room again. After a bad nights sleep due to the air con not firing out cool air, the plugs by the side of the bed not working and the road noise making things worse I decided to check out.
The quality manager was horrified that I was leaving and you could see how much she wanted to avoid this situation but I think it was best to cut our losses on this one. They refunded my non-refundable remaining nights and later my stayed night. They did charge for dinner and we have an issue with another credit card charge which they are investigating currently.
Still waiting for a decent IHG hotel in Dubai.