LOCATION: Fine, will be better later. 8 minute walk to Emirates Mall but the path makes you want to take a taxi. Not only is the driveway outside of the hotel unfinished (dirt), but the walk to the mall is on a somewhat busy road. Most of the way there is no sidewalk and when there is, it is dirt. Fortunately, a taxi to the mall is 5 dirham. The best location (for me) would be within walking distance to the Medinat mall which is the nicest place to hang out, eat dinner, and walk around.

BEST WAY TO GET THERE: A taxi from the airport should cost less than 70 dirham and take approximately 25 minutes (very dependent on traffic which is terrible in Dubai).

BED/SHEETS/PILLOW: Bed was one of the hardest I have ever slept on (and I have just stayed in approximately 70 hotels in the last five months. We had to ask for an extra blanket to sleep on to make the bed more comfortable. The sheets are not very good either and are at least not scratchy, but I would consider them just one step above. Pillows were too thick.

LIGHTING: Excellent lighting in living room, bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom.

BATHROOM/SHOWER: Clean, nice, but cheap looking. Rain shower is a nice touch but it just looks like they shopped for the cheapest one. Bathroom is like staying at a mid-level Marriott. Fine, but nothing special. Shower has medium water pressure, consistent water pressure and gets hot if desired.

TOILETRIES: Terrible. It’s the squeeze tube style toiletries that is affixed to the wall. One for the shower and another for the sink. The shower one is both body soap and shampoo. Suggestion: Bring you own if you stay here.

CLEANLINESS: The entire hotel room and common areas were exceptionally clean.

A/C: Very loud and difficult to sleep. It did keep the room very cool.

CLOSET SPACE: Tons of space for 2 people to unpack everything.

STYLE OF ROOM: We had a one bedroom apartment. It was huge but cheap-nice. Everything looks really nice but it’s they spent the bare minimum to get it there. Imagine the nice, fully furnished show rooms at Ikea. The one bedroom has a huge living room/dining room with separate bedroom, separate small kitchen, and two bathrooms. It’s great that there is a washer/dryer in the room but be sure to bring your own detergent (who packs that on a trip?).

QUIET/MORNING LIGHT: The only noise we heard was from the construction that is right outside the window (somewhat difficult to avoid in Dubai). The room can be dark during sunlight.

FOOD: There are no meal services at this hotel

TV/INTERNET: Wired internet is available at no charge in the rooms. TV is good sized flat screen with plenty of English channels. Also, there is ONLY a TV in the living room, so watching TV in bed is out!

SERVICE: 24 hour staff is very pleasant and speak English. They run someone up to your room to check it out at check-out before you can leave the hotel, strange!

COMMON AREA: The lobby is by far the nicest part of the hotel. We were expecting nicer rooms based on how nice the lobby looks. Not a place to hang out, though. Pool was fine but wasn’t extremely clear probably because of the dirt from construction. The pool was just a typical pool and nothing that makes you can’t wait to go in.

TIPS: We also stayed at the Star Boutique hotel and Bab Al Shams (see my other reviews). If you want to stay in the city, I recommend Star over this hotel assuming it’s not way more expensive and if you can tolerate incompetent service at the Star Hotel. If you have a few extra days (and dollars), I highly recommend staying at Bab Al Shams for the real desert experience and relaxation. This is a good option for a very large room in a comfortable hotel. Just expect a very comfortable, clean room that looks nice but without much luxury.