Help Deceiding Dubai Hotel!
 

Wife and I are staying for 3 nights in April. Its our first time to Dubai and likely will not be back for some years.

Is it worth the $700+ per night for the Atlantis Palm or one of the Jumeirah properties at Madinat? Or should we stay at Jumeriah Emirates Towers for $400/night and take advantage of one time reciprocal benefits?

Maybe use my points to stay at Crowne plaza, Intercontinental or Radisson blu for free and just wonder over to these resorts and walk around to experience them?

HELP!

Of course it depends on what you want to do and the resources that you want to devote.

Madinat Jumeirah is my favorite hotel (group), but $700 is steep for sure. I would recommend that over Atlantis, unless you plan to spend most of your time at the hotel and/or are really into the water park (although I think that you can get into Wild Wadi, which is nearly as good as Atlantis's park, with your Madinat stay), because of the location. It's somewhat inconvenient to get back and forth to Atlantis. And Madinat Jumeirah (even Mina'a Salam, the "lowest" of the three properties, is a step up from than Atlantis in my opinion) -- the service is better, rooms considerably nicer, and amenities overall of higher quality.

The Radisson Blu (I assume that you are referring to the Deira location) is a very different location in the old part of town, with good F&B and centrally located -- you can step out of the hotel to the old souq and dhow waterfront -- but is a bit dated and not as nice for the pool. The InterCon or Crowne Plaza Festival City are nice hotels (rooms at the IC are very attractive and service pretty good), but the location, while central, is not as good (the Festival Center is uninspiring).

I like Emirates Towers a lot. If you can also visit Wild Wadi included with your stay, then this is worth considering for the cost savings -- it's also centrally located and within walking distance of some of the best restaurants in Dubai, as well as on a metro stop and close to Deira.

Thanks for the info. I've got hyatt on the line right now for a best rate guarantee dropping the Park Hyatt Dubai from $407 to $156/night. I heard the location isn't the best, but Im inclined to take it for that price. Feedback?

Park Hyatt Dubai is supposed to have a very nice Spa. The location is central, close to everything.

The Park Hyatt is a great hotel. The location is central, though you can't walk anywhere from there (it's down a 1km-long driveway on the grounds of a gated community). There are also few meter taxis to be had (though I guess they could call for you); they have car service out front, which is reasonably-priced but much more than taxis.

Your price is a steal -- I was just looking for this coming weekend, and the only rooms available were AED 2,650++. Ended up booking the JW Marriott Marquis for AED 1,200++. Peak period in Dubai I guess.

I agree. Had an great stay there for the last Dubai Do. Also agree about the taxi/ car service but if you take the car service, get a price before getting in to avoid surprises.

Thanks for the info, I took the Park Hyatt for a grand total of $561 total including taxes for three nights. I have Etihad chauffeur service dropping me off and picking me up for the airport, so I'm looking forward to being spoiled for 3 days!

I'm also looking for a Dubai hotel. I'll be there for two days and am really just two of us sightseeing and have never been (been to AUH). Arrive around midnight on a Thursday and leave around midnight Saturday (3/27-3/30). Prefer an SPG or Hilton property, but not required. We will depend mainly on the train/metro to get around as I am in a wheelchair. I see the LMs by the airport do not participate with SPG benefits, why? Choices seem to be pay a reasonable rate at one the Four Points (they each have the pool/pool bar closed until 3/31) or stay on points at the Sheraton Dubai Mall, or compromise and try the Hilton Dubai Creek. We don't need a "Wow" factor in the hotel, just a nice place with access to transportation. Thanks for any other suggestions or comments?

You'll enjoy the Park Hyatt. We stayed there last year for 4 nights and also utilized the Etihad chauffeur service. Taxis are cheap so even though you are not that close to all the main spots, you can be there in 10/20 mins and for cheap. Also, the private cars at the hotel aren't much more than a taxi. Utilize those and you'll ride in a luxury car (I felt they drove safer too). We also stayed at the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi and would recommend it for a night if you wanted to do a day/night at the beach.

The Sheraton is in the Mall of the Emirates I believe - this is probably the best in terms of location and close to transport (train). Keep in mind that taxis in Dubai are cheap and plentiful.

I too am traveling to Dubai in early May, 1st time. I'm currently trying to decide between SPG or Hilton properties. The Hilton Jumeirah beach resort, appears to be the best be for my points/money. Says it is along "The Walk" - lots of shopping restaruants etc. Also looking at Le Meridien Beach and Marina resort
I considered the Waldorf, but it looks out of the way out on the Palm

Thoughts?

Also - can anyone recommend a car service if I just wanted to hire a driver to take me around for the day - or would it be just as easy and cheaper to just catch cabs.

Thanks for the feedback.

Choose Hilton, I've stayed in Hilton hotels almost every time I've been abroad, loved the experience. I've never stayed in the Hilton in Dubai (cause I have a house there) but I have seen the rooms and they are quite nice. They look like they're worth the money.

Secondly, hiring a driver to drive you around is kinda expensive.
Cabs are much easier to catch, they are either:
-Toyota Camry
-Nissan Altima
-Hyundai Sonata
They're air-conditioned, the drivers are polite and fluent in English and Arabic.
Plus, if you have a smartphone (Android), you can download the RTA Dubai App and call a cab and calculate your fares.

Hope I helped :)

Most helpful, thank you for the info, Hilton it is and I'll definetly download that app.

Hilton Jumeirah is nice, I stayed there few times, although I prefer Le Royal Meridien which is few hundreds meters away. Obviously the newest and freshest HH addition is Conrad Dubai. It is a very nice hotel with probably the best relaxing and pool area out of all hotels in Sheikh Zayed Road but... yes, it is located in SZR which means you need to take a cab if you want to get to the beach / the walk.

Have stayed twice at Hilton Dubai Creek, most recently last Saturday on points plus cash. HH Gold gets you club access and breakfast. We left for the airport at 5am so the hotel comped us a room service breakfast upon learning of our planned early departure.

Also on this trip we stayed three nights at Raffles Dubai. Highly recommend this property for service, location and amenities. We stayed on the Club floor which included lounge access for breakfast, afternoon tea and evening drinks (or you can take advantage of the buffet breakfast in the third floor restaurant which was really good). Hotel is two blocks from a Metro station. Upon learning we were on this trip to celebrate my son's high school graduation our butler brought up a congratulatory cake from the hotel to our room. Raffles staff was fantastic; many we interacted with regularly greeted us by name each day. I'd definitely stay here again.