Darksun

GVA

mpeterson78

Heads up to anyone with a Points Advance booking here...you're gonna want to finalize your booking before March 5th otherwise you'll have to pay the new Cat 8 rate.

GUWonder

If wanting to see things in the city of Dubai, then just better to stay in the city on the days/nights when doing things in the city and spending the Al-Maha time doing/using what the resort offers without going into the city. The commute back and forth just for a day trip may be ok, but if the plan ends up being or is to do multiple day trips into the city, I would just stay in the city.

nldogbert

I do echo what the others have pointed out about using Al Maha as base to explore or get into Dubai
- it's a waste of time
- traffic into the city and out can be a nightmare based on the different hours of the day

I would just divide the stay into 2 - staying at Al Maha and the rest for the city. Even with your own car, it is not the most convenient thing to do. The only maybe logical one is if you want to do a few hours at some of malls on the outskirt of the center - like the Outlet Fashion Mall or the Dragon mall. Even for this I would still think it is a waste to drive in/out of Al Maha since it does take some time just to get back onto the tar roads.

Cheers!

farnorthtrader

Keyser

i've stayed at this property twice & i also travel to dubai about a dozen times a year so am quite familiar with both the city & the resort....i would definitely not want to use the al maha as a base for exploring dubai....there are many good cat 5 properties in dubai (the grosvenor house would be a great example & in my opinion one of the best cat 5 properties in the world) which would cost 35k points per night....breakfast would be included in the rate & i would not restrict myself to dinner at the hotel when in dubai....there are many great places to eat, which i'm sure the op would end up doing in any case if they came into the city....so the extra cost of staying in dubai would only be 10k points, saving them the 4+ hours they would spend on the road....

the al maha is not the type of place i would use to just come back & sleep at night....the charm of the resort is to spend time in it....3 nights is more than enough for this place....

RebeccaC

I am intended to book this hotel before March 5th. The problem is that we have two kids. Does anybody know about whether the hotel will accommodate a family of 4 in one room? I called the hotel and they said the maximum can stay in one room is 3 persons. It seems odd not allowing a family to stay together.
Anybody get similar experience? Much appreciated!

SeeTheLights

Lobonomnom

The (2 bedroom) Royal Suite and Emirates Suite fit 4 people. The (3 bedroom) Presidential Suite fits 6 people. Unfortunately they are not available for award redemptions.You would either need to book 2 Bedouin Suites with points or pay the cash rate for one of the larger 2-3 bedroom suites. Also, you don't mention their age, but children under 10 are not allowed at Al Maha.

The rates listed on the Marriott website (cash and award) are for 2 adults. Additional people in each room will cost 1600 AED (~435 USD) per night.

RebeccaC

Thanks a lot for the information. I will have to get for two rooms then.... Can we book for two rooms but stay in one room?

btonkid12345

I just stayed there a few nights with a close friend and was never charged once for still water in the restaurant (which came out of a large, sealed Al Ain brand plastic bottle - they leave a few large and medium sized bottles of this brand in your room daily). Sparkling water was chargeable, though.

You can also order to your suite. The setup in the suite is quite amazing, it's like they bring the full restaurant setup to you. A lifesaver our first night, to just order off a menu and it all shows up perfectly shortly after.

I went with my gay BFF as my BF was unavailable. Met some other MR Plats from the US who could tell my friend was gay and it even came up in lighthearted conversation.

Not sure whether the local staff could tell or not. Either way, the staff was insanely gracious and so nice to us - consistently. He and I slept in 1 king bed and no one batted an eye.

I would not be worried at all. It is a luxury resort and the GM is Dutch and quite available in the lobby. He's a very nice gentleman and the staff emulate his luxe professionalism.

I wasn't charged for still once. 31 is correct for sparkling, as is 27 for diet cokes. A Peroni was the 500 mL on draft and it was 49 AED.

The avocado smoothie is so good and all the juices/smoothies are included during breakfast - no extra charge. Try them all as they are wonderful.

Other pro tip for food: We met the Executive Chef and he is formerly from the Burj Al Arab. He is a true professional and the food was excellent. We also met the F&B Director - also super professional, super nice, super hospitable. Everyone who works there, including management, love the guests and are happy to speak to you.

I have some Middle Eastern descent and asked the Chef if he could make a local specialty for our last day's lunch - the Chef went above and beyond and made a 5 course lunch including handmade local desserts. It was stunning and delicious and all the guests were super envious of our clearly-not-off-the-menu food spread at lunch that day.

Finally, you can order more than 1 appetizer or more than 1 dessert. We were never charged for the extras [but we offered to pay every time; we also slept through at least 1 meal service one night]. Then again, we had one of the original/best Guest Relations Coordinators, and she commented at the end that the staff appreciated that we treated them very nicely, too, and they knew us both by name and not just suite number.

Yes. They don't care where you actually sleep, especially given most of the suites are secluded. You can let a family of gazelles sleep in your other suite - one of the babies almost wandered in our front door the first night when they were setting up the room service dinner! :P

This hotel is the experience of a lifetime. Don't think about it or worry about anything - just book and go. You will love it. And I am not easily impressed.

Happy

I find it strange to only look at the so-called value, rather than a far more logical AND comfortable way to explore / enjoy a new place.

It does not make any sense to use Al Maha as a base to explore Dubai other than the perception on "getting the $ value" more than the 0.07c per point obsession.

The dirve back and forth is NOT practical even with your own rental car.

Inside Dubai high end properties are not expensive whehter by $ or by points even if one's "priority" of a trip to a new place is somewhat twisted, staying at Dubai for the 2 days to explore / enjoy Dubai would not break the budget.

btonkid12345

One other thing. I was surprised by how well the AC worked in the suite we had.

I went when temps were in the 80s max in fahrenheit, but thats still warm for me.

Setting the AC to 16C and cranking the fan to max actually made the room ice cold and I had to turn the fan down and the temp up a bit!

But even stuck in your suite, the view and pool are gorgeous.

Lots of European hotels could learn from Al MAHA - if they can build strong AC systems in the middle of a desert, European hotel agents need to stop excusing their crappy AC systems that barely work.

Flying Lawyer

Europeans are not that keen on ice cold hotel rooms. So why should a hotel with an anual average of 90% European guests invest for the few who love to sit in a refrigerator? Our climate is modest, we do not see minus 40 in winter and plus 50 in summer, so we have AC for a modest climate. Al Maha is different, they need AC anyway and they need aircon that can deal with 45° C outside - something we hardly see in Europe,