Our first time to Dubai and we also booked last minute. We found this hotel from Mr and Mrs Smith website, so we know it must be a good hotel. We booked straight from the hotel website because they had a great offer at that time - 4 nights stay including airport transfers, breakfast, 3 course dinner and full body massage for 2 people.

The property was situated quite far from Dubai main attraction but we were glad that we chose this hotel. It's quite serene and very relaxing. The weather was perfect for us, sunny 27C and dry. The staff was very polite and friendly. We stayed in the Palm Suite, very big with sufficient amenities, bed was very comfortable.

The pool area was quite small, breakfast was adequate. The 3 course dinner at the main restaurant was amazing.

On Christmas day, we had a surprise in our a room. A bottle of Bollinger champagne complimentary from the hotel.

The grounds look nice upon first glance, but the operation of this hotel leaves much to be desired.

First, some general impressions: the domain is expansive and impressive, and everything is of course horse-themed as the Palm Desert is in effect a huge polo club (400 horses) with residences and a hotel attached. Unfortunately, this means lying poolside is not very enjoyable as there are a lot of flies around all the time. The dining options are mediocre, particularly Epicure. The spa had only one availability for one type of massage (that I don't like) over a three-day stretch, which means they might as well have no spa at all as far as I'm concerned.

Since the resort is quite far away from, well, anywhere, I highly recommend renting a car. If you ask the hotel to arrange taxis they will consistently be 45 minutes to an hour late (which eventually meant we came within 10 minutes of missing our flight when we left).

We reserved a room for three with the understanding that they would put in an extra bed, which we asked for repeatedly on the day we checked in. Close to midnight, we insisted they come immediately as we wanted to go to sleep. They then admitted not having any spare beds, so that one of us had to sleep on the sofa. No apologies for this at all.

The final insult was a big discussion about a dining bill when we checked out, where they tried to get us to pay for expensive Wagyu steaks that we were 100% about we never ordered. A British manager came to tell us we were lying, then removed the charge. Not the way we wanted to be treated considering we were only contesting that part of the huge bill which we considered to be unfair.

In the end, I would recommend coming to take a look here, maybe have a drink when there's a polo match on, but definitely don't stay in the hotel - they've got some work to do.

My husband and I were in Dubai for christmas due to his working commitments. We decided to book a polo suite for Christmas day. Upon arrival we were told that we had been upgraded to a villa with our own pool. During our short stay we couldn't fault the Duty manager and all the staff who just couldn't do enough and were friendly and courteous at all times. No long faces here because they had to work on Christmas day !
The bath and bed were the biggest I have seen in a hotel.
We ate at Rare and the meal was memorable.
A place to relax and unwind, we couldn't fault it.

My girlfriend and I stayed in November for two nights to celebrate her birthday and we booked a Polo Suite. Upon arrival we were advised that as a gift we would be upgraded to a private villa which was a wonderful surprise. The villa itself was amazing and had it's own private pool. We ate at Rare on the first night and we couldn't fault the service or the food. We had a wonderful time and would definitely return.