Jul 3, 2023, 7:02 am
Grosvenor House, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Dubai [Master Thread]
Sep 27, 2021, 1:48 am
#482
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: KSA
Programs: Marriott AMB, Skywards Gold
Posts: 3,737
Oct 7, 2021, 2:39 am
#483
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: YVR
Posts: 1,081
Anyone have recent experiences with getting complimentary airport transfer when upgraded to a suite (whether it be plat upgrade or SNA upgrade)?
Reading posts from a few years back, it seemed to be a YMMV situation, was wondering if anything has changed.
Reading posts from a few years back, it seemed to be a YMMV situation, was wondering if anything has changed.
Oct 7, 2021, 5:29 am
#484
Join Date: May 2009
Location: UK
Posts: 3,951
Interested in the answer to this also
Oct 7, 2021, 6:27 am
#485
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: KSA
Programs: Marriott AMB, Skywards Gold
Posts: 3,737
SNA upgrade yes, normal upgrade no.
Oct 7, 2021, 7:18 am
#486
Join Date: May 2009
Location: UK
Posts: 3,951
Oct 7, 2021, 1:40 pm
#487
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: KSA
Programs: Marriott AMB, Skywards Gold
Posts: 3,737
However, I would suggest to burn your SNA elsewhere given that GH is always likely to upgrade you given the high number of suites they have.
Oct 11, 2021, 11:02 am
#488
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: YVR
Posts: 1,081
One interesting note from my recent stay.
Apparently as Titanium member you get breakfast in restaurant included, separate from welcome gift choice. Would have though getting breakfast in restaurant would mean loss of the 1000pts/box of dates.
Didn't see this mentioned elsewhere in this thread, but if I missed it... Then nothing new to report
Lastly, being my first time at GH, I can definitely say that while the hard product may not necessarily be comparable to some other luxury hotels, the service/soft product was superb.
Apparently as Titanium member you get breakfast in restaurant included, separate from welcome gift choice. Would have though getting breakfast in restaurant would mean loss of the 1000pts/box of dates.
Didn't see this mentioned elsewhere in this thread, but if I missed it... Then nothing new to report
Lastly, being my first time at GH, I can definitely say that while the hard product may not necessarily be comparable to some other luxury hotels, the service/soft product was superb.
Last edited by pentiumvi; Oct 11, 2021 at 11:10 am
Nov 9, 2021, 5:16 am
#489
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Munich, Germany
Programs: Bonvoy Titanium, Hyatt Explorist, LH / *A Gold, BA Bronze
Posts: 51
I just completed a 7 night stay (we were in tower 2 on 10th floor). Overall, the experience is still as good as it used to be 7 years ago when I was last in GH - not much has changed really, for better or for worse.
We ordered an airport pick-up before we arrived. I wouldn’t do this again honestly, as we could not find our contact person in the arrivals section, so I ended up calling the hotel who called the contact person at the airport to call me. I was just looking for a seamless experience with no stress, but that did not work out. Next time I will Uber which is also 30-40% cheaper …
They let us check in early at around 9am and they upgraded us to a premier suite despite being fully booked and despite declining my suite night awards a couple of days beforehand - which I think was very nice.
The premier suite has a bed room and a living room with a spacious bath room and a guest bath room which is nice as that implies two toilets. The interior architecture is timeless (marble floor with dark wood and chess board design), but the hardware is indeed a bit dated but not yet over the edge. Luxury hotels in Germany for example have started to have Dyson hair dryers which gives more of a luxurious feeling than GH with the hair dryer that is 5 years old, but it didn’t bother me too much. Bathroom amenities have unfortunately changed from Bulgari to a brand called Byredo which I have never heard before and the bottles feel cheap and not really luxurious (the shampoo was so bad that my girlfriend decided to buy a head & shoulders in the shop on the opposite side of the street).
Other than that, we had a good view of Skydive Dubai landing in front of us. Being on level 10 we did hear the traffic a few stories below quite significantly, but still managed to sleep and the quality of sleep was very good (good mattress).
As I have Titanium status, we could access the lounge on Level 5 which is really nice and has a breakfast offering until 11am, afternoon tea from 2pm to 4pm and dinner drinks from 6pm to 8pm (all alcohols included for free in these two hours). The hotel as well as the dinner happy hour attracts plenty of Russian and British guests - particularly the latter dressing up a lot for these drinks. It feels overall very British.
For laundry, I do recommend to use the Royal Monarch laundry in the shop on the other side of the street. They turn around in 24-36 hours at a third of the price of GH and they deliver to the hotel room if you tell them your room number.
Two things are a bit less nice about this property: 1) The breakfast restaurants are overcrowded, often with screaming kids. We tried once (they have good Indian food selection at Sloanes), but went to the lounge for breakfast every day thereafter. 2) The beach and pool experience is underwhelming - we went to Royal Meridien which is the partner hotel with beach access, but they have far too few chairs for the beach and also the beach is fenced off after 20m which feels like swimming in a pool that happens to contain ocean water. Service was neither nice nor helpful in trying to find a chair and just told us to come back some other time. Not really the kind of service you would expect from a Luxury Collection hotel. If you decided to stay at GH for its pool, be aware that it is fully in shades in the afternoon (as the sun is blocked by the GH towers) and they are building a new tour on the opposite side which means construction noise.
Overall, however, we really did enjoy our stay. Service inside GH is impeccable, plenty of staff, all trying to give a helping hand and to recognize you after a few days. To me, it is a very good City hotel. If you are coming for beach and pool, I would consider other options in Dubai.
We ordered an airport pick-up before we arrived. I wouldn’t do this again honestly, as we could not find our contact person in the arrivals section, so I ended up calling the hotel who called the contact person at the airport to call me. I was just looking for a seamless experience with no stress, but that did not work out. Next time I will Uber which is also 30-40% cheaper …
They let us check in early at around 9am and they upgraded us to a premier suite despite being fully booked and despite declining my suite night awards a couple of days beforehand - which I think was very nice.
The premier suite has a bed room and a living room with a spacious bath room and a guest bath room which is nice as that implies two toilets. The interior architecture is timeless (marble floor with dark wood and chess board design), but the hardware is indeed a bit dated but not yet over the edge. Luxury hotels in Germany for example have started to have Dyson hair dryers which gives more of a luxurious feeling than GH with the hair dryer that is 5 years old, but it didn’t bother me too much. Bathroom amenities have unfortunately changed from Bulgari to a brand called Byredo which I have never heard before and the bottles feel cheap and not really luxurious (the shampoo was so bad that my girlfriend decided to buy a head & shoulders in the shop on the opposite side of the street).
Other than that, we had a good view of Skydive Dubai landing in front of us. Being on level 10 we did hear the traffic a few stories below quite significantly, but still managed to sleep and the quality of sleep was very good (good mattress).
As I have Titanium status, we could access the lounge on Level 5 which is really nice and has a breakfast offering until 11am, afternoon tea from 2pm to 4pm and dinner drinks from 6pm to 8pm (all alcohols included for free in these two hours). The hotel as well as the dinner happy hour attracts plenty of Russian and British guests - particularly the latter dressing up a lot for these drinks. It feels overall very British.
For laundry, I do recommend to use the Royal Monarch laundry in the shop on the other side of the street. They turn around in 24-36 hours at a third of the price of GH and they deliver to the hotel room if you tell them your room number.
Two things are a bit less nice about this property: 1) The breakfast restaurants are overcrowded, often with screaming kids. We tried once (they have good Indian food selection at Sloanes), but went to the lounge for breakfast every day thereafter. 2) The beach and pool experience is underwhelming - we went to Royal Meridien which is the partner hotel with beach access, but they have far too few chairs for the beach and also the beach is fenced off after 20m which feels like swimming in a pool that happens to contain ocean water. Service was neither nice nor helpful in trying to find a chair and just told us to come back some other time. Not really the kind of service you would expect from a Luxury Collection hotel. If you decided to stay at GH for its pool, be aware that it is fully in shades in the afternoon (as the sun is blocked by the GH towers) and they are building a new tour on the opposite side which means construction noise.
Overall, however, we really did enjoy our stay. Service inside GH is impeccable, plenty of staff, all trying to give a helping hand and to recognize you after a few days. To me, it is a very good City hotel. If you are coming for beach and pool, I would consider other options in Dubai.
Dec 14, 2021, 11:51 am
#490
Join Date: Feb 2020
Programs: British Airways Executive Club Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Amb
Posts: 1,770
Stayed here from 5-8th December - our first time staying at GH. Stay was pretty much flawless, with super service that always felt personal and effortless.
As Ambassador, was upgraded to a corner suite on one of the highest floors in Tower One. We were initially upgraded to a suite in Tower Two (Premier suite?) but this had two single beds so I asked to be moved to a suite with a king bed. Occupancy was apparently very high but the pleasant lady at reception said she had found a nice suite for us. The room was lovely and roomy, with excellent views over Dubai and the Palm. We had a good sized bedroom and living area, with a kitchen and 1.5 bathrooms. As a welcome gift, I was offered dates or 1000 points. We were given access to the Level 5 lounge plus restaurant breakfast in Tower One (it seems that restaurant breakfast is offered as an extra perk to Ambassadors, separate from the welcome gift).
We did use the spa, which was good quality and almost empty. We looked at the gym in both towers, which appeared satisfactory. Pool looked a bit rubbish compared to the rest of the hotel, but apparently you get acess to another hotel pool.
Breakfast in the restaurant was good quality and we managed to eat on a pleasant balcony to avoid the covid-riddled masses and their spawn. The lounge was very pleasant indeed, with excellent free cocktails in the evenings and good afternoon tea and evening food offerings. The lounge staff were simply excellent.
I would not hesitate to stay here again. I've stayed at a lot of high end Bonvoy properties, including many in the Luxury Collection, and this is one of the very best.
Bedroom
Decent breakfast - avoid the cold meats, which all seem to be awful in the UAE in general (go to the Alfonso in Seville for real breakfast meats)
Living room
Kitchen
First bathroom
Second bathroom
As Ambassador, was upgraded to a corner suite on one of the highest floors in Tower One. We were initially upgraded to a suite in Tower Two (Premier suite?) but this had two single beds so I asked to be moved to a suite with a king bed. Occupancy was apparently very high but the pleasant lady at reception said she had found a nice suite for us. The room was lovely and roomy, with excellent views over Dubai and the Palm. We had a good sized bedroom and living area, with a kitchen and 1.5 bathrooms. As a welcome gift, I was offered dates or 1000 points. We were given access to the Level 5 lounge plus restaurant breakfast in Tower One (it seems that restaurant breakfast is offered as an extra perk to Ambassadors, separate from the welcome gift).
We did use the spa, which was good quality and almost empty. We looked at the gym in both towers, which appeared satisfactory. Pool looked a bit rubbish compared to the rest of the hotel, but apparently you get acess to another hotel pool.
Breakfast in the restaurant was good quality and we managed to eat on a pleasant balcony to avoid the covid-riddled masses and their spawn. The lounge was very pleasant indeed, with excellent free cocktails in the evenings and good afternoon tea and evening food offerings. The lounge staff were simply excellent.
I would not hesitate to stay here again. I've stayed at a lot of high end Bonvoy properties, including many in the Luxury Collection, and this is one of the very best.
Bedroom
Decent breakfast - avoid the cold meats, which all seem to be awful in the UAE in general (go to the Alfonso in Seville for real breakfast meats)
Living room
Kitchen
First bathroom
Second bathroom
Dec 15, 2021, 5:31 am
#492
Join Date: Apr 2015
Programs: Some
Posts: 5,249
Stayed here from 5-8th December - our first time staying at GH. Stay was pretty much flawless, with super service that always felt personal and effortless.
As Ambassador, was upgraded to a corner suite on one of the highest floors in Tower One. We were initially upgraded to a suite in Tower Two (Premier suite?) but this had two single beds so I asked to be moved to a suite with a king bed. Occupancy was apparently very high but the pleasant lady at reception said she had found a nice suite for us. The room was lovely and roomy, with excellent views over Dubai and the Palm. We had a good sized bedroom and living area, with a kitchen and 1.5 bathrooms. As a welcome gift, I was offered dates or 1000 points. We were given access to the Level 5 lounge plus restaurant breakfast in Tower One (it seems that restaurant breakfast is offered as an extra perk to Ambassadors, separate from the welcome gift).
We did use the spa, which was good quality and almost empty. We looked at the gym in both towers, which appeared satisfactory. Pool looked a bit rubbish compared to the rest of the hotel, but apparently you get acess to another hotel pool.
Breakfast in the restaurant was good quality and we managed to eat on a pleasant balcony to avoid the covid-riddled masses and their spawn. The lounge was very pleasant indeed, with excellent free cocktails in the evenings and good afternoon tea and evening food offerings. The lounge staff were simply excellent.
I would not hesitate to stay here again. I've stayed at a lot of high end Bonvoy properties, including many in the Luxury Collection, and this is one of the very best.
Bedroom
Decent breakfast - avoid the cold meats, which all seem to be awful in the UAE in general (go to the Alfonso in Seville for real breakfast meats)
Living room
Kitchen
First bathroom
Second bathroom
As Ambassador, was upgraded to a corner suite on one of the highest floors in Tower One. We were initially upgraded to a suite in Tower Two (Premier suite?) but this had two single beds so I asked to be moved to a suite with a king bed. Occupancy was apparently very high but the pleasant lady at reception said she had found a nice suite for us. The room was lovely and roomy, with excellent views over Dubai and the Palm. We had a good sized bedroom and living area, with a kitchen and 1.5 bathrooms. As a welcome gift, I was offered dates or 1000 points. We were given access to the Level 5 lounge plus restaurant breakfast in Tower One (it seems that restaurant breakfast is offered as an extra perk to Ambassadors, separate from the welcome gift).
We did use the spa, which was good quality and almost empty. We looked at the gym in both towers, which appeared satisfactory. Pool looked a bit rubbish compared to the rest of the hotel, but apparently you get acess to another hotel pool.
Breakfast in the restaurant was good quality and we managed to eat on a pleasant balcony to avoid the covid-riddled masses and their spawn. The lounge was very pleasant indeed, with excellent free cocktails in the evenings and good afternoon tea and evening food offerings. The lounge staff were simply excellent.
I would not hesitate to stay here again. I've stayed at a lot of high end Bonvoy properties, including many in the Luxury Collection, and this is one of the very best.
Bedroom
Decent breakfast - avoid the cold meats, which all seem to be awful in the UAE in general (go to the Alfonso in Seville for real breakfast meats)
Living room
Kitchen
First bathroom
Second bathroom
What is your view on the food quality generally? Breakfast looks a little bit 'Sheraton' rather than luxurious from your photos to me and pretty mediocre for Dubai, here is the Four Seasons DIFC last week for reference and it's clearly not a particularly close contest (albeit both FS's in Dubai have exceptionally good food)...
Dec 16, 2021, 1:43 am
#494
Join Date: Feb 2020
Programs: British Airways Executive Club Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Amb
Posts: 1,770
Thanks for the update! I was in Dubai at the same time as you and am back again this weekend, I always want to try GH but it just looks so ... dated (all that weirdly coloured carpet and square furniture). The service is the aspect that clearly doesn't come across in photos.
What is your view on the food quality generally? Breakfast looks a little bit 'Sheraton' rather than luxurious from your photos to me and pretty mediocre for Dubai, here is the Four Seasons DIFC last week for reference and it's clearly not a particularly close contest (albeit both FS's in Dubai have exceptionally good food)...
What is your view on the food quality generally? Breakfast looks a little bit 'Sheraton' rather than luxurious from your photos to me and pretty mediocre for Dubai, here is the Four Seasons DIFC last week for reference and it's clearly not a particularly close contest (albeit both FS's in Dubai have exceptionally good food)...
The quality of the food in the lounge was much better.
Service everywhere was excellent.
Dec 16, 2021, 6:19 am
#495
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 188