stargold

Currently staying at the JWM (the Ren is my usual preference between the two, but it's a long stay and the corporate rate was much better at the JWM). A few observations/tips:.

* Hotel is really quite surprisingly busy, considering it's not a resort hotel. I see a lot of tourists and business travellers from overseas, particularly from the US.
* The lift situation is even worse than before, with the 4-people limit due to distancing. I've heard complaints of waiting up to 20mins, and some angry people started to just ignore the capacity limit after waiting for too long.
* The best location for the room seems to be Tower A (where the lounge is), and highest possible floor (50+). Tower A allows you to go straight to the lounge, and having a very high floor helps to mitigate the lift situation somewhat, as you're already in the lift when you're going down before it makes further stops on lower floors where the lift is already full and people can no longer get on.
* Lounge is open and operating as normal. I haven't yet made it to the Happy Hour, but breakfast is pretty unremarkable.
* Took some effort to get a suite for my stay - standard room is fine for a short stay, but I was keen to have something a bit more spacious for my 2 weeks here. Suite is generously sized and overall pretty nice, but the mattress feels a little worn out like it's due for a change.

For my corporate rate (<100USD per night before taxes), it's great value, but I still prefer the rooms in the Ren by some margin.

stargold

Sheraton Grand used to be great when it first opened (which I think coincided with the launch of the Sheraton Grand branding) but, similarly to the Conrad down the road, took a fairly sharp dive in quality in just a few years. In my last visit a couple years ago, service anywhere outside of the club lounge was pretty terrible, and the place just felt like it has become a cheap package holiday type of hotel. Add the nightmare that is the driveway to the hotel in the evening peak, and it all starts to get too frustrating quite quickly.

CALMSP

After receiving my upgrade to a suite that had no view other than the building 20 feet outside my balcony, I kindly requested to be “downgraded” to this amazing corner room on SZR. The sole reason why I picked this hotel! Four Points SZR

Pool was good on the 43rd floor......sun came out about 13:00 each day.



Daily complimentary breakfast.

Lounge on 43. Very busy, reservations necessary.


just a few quick pics of my stay two weeks ago at 4PSZR

Wozza2404

It's a crew hotel. All BA Crew are put up here, and I've seen loads of other airline crews checking in as well. Couple that with the fact that leisure travel is banned across most of Europe, and it makes sense that the Downtown business hotels are the ones that are busy.

Lifts have always been a nightmare here but 20 minutes waiting is insane.

HHQX888

UK is not more in Europe , rest of Europe don't have ban on travel to UAE, Mexico or Zanzibar.

BellmanFord

Ended up staying for 7 nights at the Element Al Jaddaf, and took advantage of a cheap rate there (~149AED/$41USD per night before taxes). Some of my thoughts:

• Property opened in December 2020, despite this, it felt cheaply built with paper-thin walls (could hear both the highway and my neighbors)
• Breakfast pastries were consistently fresh and warm and the staff proactively kept everything fully stocked
• No status recognition at all during check-in/out
• Gym was on the smaller side, but good variety of new machines - never saw more than 1 or 2 others using it
• The rooftop pool area was quite full during the day with swimmers and sunbathers
• The surrounding area is still under construction, with a handful of other hotels and some small stores being the only things around. The hotel is about a 5 minute walk from Al Jaddaf Metro station and a ~25 minute Metro ride to Downtown Dubai or a 10-15 minute taxi ride

Overall, pretty generic Element and only worth staying if you need to be in the Al Jaddaf area or are willing to deal with the geographic inconvenience in exchange for the cheap rates.

LovetoTravel83

Planning to stay at the new St. Regis Dubai in a couple of months. We have a stopover coming from MLE and thought it would be great chance to try the new place out.

pazza2000

A little niche, however if anyone knows if and when the Le Meridien Mina Seyahi club lounge reopens, please do let us know here.

unknown786

Where did you end up staying? We are planning a trip in Octover - 2 adults, 2 kids (9 and 6) and a baby - so have similar requirements!

pazza2000

Recommend the Westin Mina Seyahi or Le Royal Meridien

honzeek_cz

The Jungle Bay is good addition to both properties when staying with kids.
Compared to January, it was much busier during breakfast, but lounge at Westin was surprisingly quieter. Also they required to pre-book space in Kids club for max 1hr (can stay longer if capacity permits) and was told you are not allowed to leave the property during that time.

DXBPlat

No kids under 12 allowed in lounge at RM. Either go to Westin or Meridien Mina Seyahi - even with lounge shut you can go to Westin lounge to compensate.

jwahl

I used to really like the Westin Mina Seyahi but with the construction in front of the beach, it has lost lots of appeal. And I also faced severe noise issues during the last stays from various bars on site...Wont return anymore, even if the water park addition is great for the kids.

pazza2000

Yeh fair assessment, it’s loosing a lot of its view. Has that construction finished yet? The Le Meridien MS next door had that noise even worst, if you can only imagine (hence why it’s prob still a Cat 5)

Ijones027

Same question