Wozza2404

Not unless you're upgraded to a room that comes with access, which is in no way guaranteed.

Raffles

We would have crossed with you. I agree with everything you say. We got zero upgrade as Diamond, as hotel full, and got the same view of the substation. I threw a wobbly and after two days we were moved to a room, same size, overlooking the Burj.

(I have been here in February and got a suite upgrade as Diamond so it is purely down to volume of people.)

There were a LOT of annoyed guests who thought that paying $1000 per night meant they should be able to get a beach chair, since the hotel doesn't have enough loungers to go around. Not an unfair complaint in my view ....

The rooms are very high quality - far better than IC Festival City for eg where I am now. Can't argue with that. Food quality is not great compared to, say, Madinat. The bottom line, however, is that the hotel and its facilities are simply too small to cope when it is full. You are paying $1000 per night but have to join a long queue to get a breakfast table, and when you get one your chance of any coffee arriving before you've finished your meal is slim. We have spent over 100 nights at Madinat Jumeirah at super-peak periods over the last decade and I can honestly say we have never failed to get beach chairs where and when we wanted them - albeit having a 2km beach gives them an advantage .....

For reference, I bought a pile of HH points which, due to 5-4-4, took the cost down to $320 per night instead of the $1000 for cash.

If you were going to pay, stay at Jumeirah Zabeel Saray which is an indentical position on the opposite side of the Palm but is better run. Madinat Jumeirah is still 50x better than both.

flieduk

That sounds a bit of a cheek. How have Hilton not picked up on this?

So the property can rename their Executive Lounge a “Pearl” Lounge and dodge the obligation to provide diamonds access to it?

Surprised more properties haven’t jumped on that bandwagon.

saaveraward

All Waldorfs with a lounge, to my knowledge, operate in that way and do not grant automatic access. See Rome Cavalieri.

rjn21

Lounge access for diamond members is only applicable at Hilton, Conrad and Double Tree flagged properties. Not WA.

They do give full breakfast in the main restaurant for the member +1 staying in the same room.

Snick

With the right persuasion you can get continental or full breakfast (Waldorf Astoria) served in the room for 2 with gold/diamond.

Adding to the above comments on the beach area, they’re short on staff and the personnel is doing their best. At their beach cabana where the drinks are poured, only 1 staff member was taking care of everything creating a backlog at peak times.

As fellow member mentioned above, the experience must be different in off peak periods but it’s no excuse for the poor experience this holiday season.

flieduk

It also makes no sense from a business point of view.

If during peak time customers can’t order from your establishment, then you’re losing income. Much more income than the expense of paying for additional staff.

flieduk

I’m surprised that your reputation didn’t precede you.

im not saying that you would angle for better treatment but I’m surprised your status wasn’t picked up by the hotel to ensure your stay went smoothly.

You sure you weren’t overshadowed by a group of Instagram/Love Island influencers...?

yurtripper

Regular readers of HFP will know that Raffles tends not to pull a DYKWIA on his hotel stays. I forget which hotel it was, but there was a review he did in the second half of 2020 where he was given one of the worst rooms in the hotel as a top tier elite. Most of us here would have kicked up a fuss but he said nothing and took one for the team

On the other hand, you have those TPG wannabes and people who wave laminated copies of the T&Cs under the nose of the FD clerk if they don't get a suite upgrade for themselves and their giraffe.

CanaryWharf

I stayed at the WA Palm Jumeirah in November and had a miserable stay this time. It was very disappointing, especially since I spent a week at the hotel in early 2019, and really enjoyed it.

The hotel completely lost all of its charm and warm atmosphere, and it felt clinical. Staff were indifferent and service very slow, especially at the pool/beach. Breakfast had poor quality food and staff was struggling to keep up. Limited options for F&B as only their fine dining restaurant was open for the evening. This was in November, I am not sure if things changed in the meantime.

Upon check-in, I was told I was upgraded as a Diamond member. It turned out they gave me the same room category I booked just with a bit nicer view and access to the Pearl Lounge. Which would have been somewhat acceptable if the Lounge was actually open - but at the time of my visit it wasn’t!

yerffej201

do they upgrade diamonds to suites here?

pazza2000

Generally speaking no, I believe it’s very rare.

stargold

Last time I stayed (late 2020) they were offering complimentary dinner for two at Lao or Heinz Beck with a free drink, as well as two hours of free flow drinks in Serafina Lounge, in lieu of the Pearl Club lounge. It actually almost made the rate worthwhile by the sheer amount of free stuff being thrown at us, even though I am not a fan of the hotel.

(I must note however that I booked a Club room (cheap corporate rate) rather than a standard room. Perhaps it's different between paid Club room vs. Diamond upgrade)

GratefulSmile

Is this pretty empty now during Ramadam?

I was at the Conrad the other day and occupancy there was 24%
Equally Hilton Al Habtoor the other week was 28%

Wozza2404

High end leisure hotels tend to do well over Ramadan - and the Conrad at WTC and Hilton Al Habtoor wouldn't be classed as high end leisure. I'd imagine the WA is a fair bit busier than both of those, and will almost certainly be offering nightly big dinner deals for Iftar.