The Royal Club Palm Jumeirah was truly a mixed experienced.

Good for long stays, and/or families. The complex is not a simple hotel experience, and so large that the overall stay became slightly disjointed, confusing and frustrating at times.

Not a hotel, these are 50 privately owned time-share apartments, amidst a very large complex of apartments, the majority of which are rented or owned by residents. A total of 20 buildings along the central "trunk" of the Palm Jumeirah island development.

The Good:
-Location: On high-profile man-made island, the Palm Jumeirah. By taxi, very close to the Dubai Marina, MediaCity, Internet City; 5-10min. Also to the Atlantis Hotel at tip of the Palm, including its beaches, water park, nightlife and shopping.
-Apartment: Very large 1-bedroom apartment, with large balcony overlooking the monorail track (to Atlantis; monorail passes frequently, but very quiet). High quality furnishings, with brand new rug, and both living room and bedroom had flat screen TVs, DVD players, surround sound speakers. Kitchen high quality, with marble countertops, dishwasher, etc. Two toilettes, and clean modern, large bathroom with bathtub.
-Transport: Taxis required, easy to hail on street, never waited more than 5min.
-Overall: A taste of living like a "local" (ex-pat) in Dubai on the Palm. Spacious, clean, high-quality.

The Bad:
-Location: Despite being on a highly coveted location, like most of Dubai, very little is within walking distance.
-CheckIn: After check-in (building 20), we had to take a taxi to get to our apartment!!! (building 11). It cost only 10 AED, but we had to pay for a taxi to get to our room, how incredible! The complex is SO large; they should offer a free shuttle between the buildings. Staff were friendly at check-in.
-Beach: 100 AED per person to access pool and beach. Rediculous, when already paying 186 EUR/night. No towels provided at beach/pool, so must bring bath towels from apartment.
-Food: By foot, only the apartment complex's Costa Coffee shop, Subway, mini-mart, several in restaurants on the complex's beaches. (we enjoyed Friday "Brunch" at Barca', for 60 AED per person, lunch and 3 drinks, great deal, friendly manager and waiters!). Unlike most Costa Coffee shops in Dubai, this one does not offer WiFi.

Why oh why would I pay to use the beach or pool ?? That passed me on giving the excellent rating. The Gym is nice looking upon the city as you workout. The bar below serves good beer (BTW we were in building 5 oceanfront mid level floor) and the mini mart has a good assortment of foods and necessities. No alchohol, in fact hard to find alchohol in Dubai so I suggest if you like your drink bring a couple bottles, easy to find mixers here. We didn't have a laptop with us so the office let us use there PC after 5 pm.
Location is just fine at the beggining of Palm island, 10 AED to Atlantis 15 AED to the first metrolink. If from the airport expect to pay 85 to 90 AED and return to airport fee will be around 65 AED. You can do the metro to the airport if you have small luggage.
View was perfect we had to dine every meal outside on the balcony. Kitchen has everything but a bread maker and ice cream maker. All appliances were new.
Room itself, will start in the bedroom. Same view as your living room, super cozy bed 42' TV with many chanels to choose. Bathroom sufficient, the tub a bit on the smaller side but you will get hot water and good pressure fine. Walk in closet with many drawers and a safe. we brought 4 pairs of shoes between the 2 of us so we really liked using the shoe rack which can hold an easy 20. The Living room, caught my girl sleeping on the sofa a few times. very spacious with 42' TV and a DVD player. Dining Area, large table 4 chairs only used it for planning not eating. Second bathroom never touched it either. Kitchen again everything with the laundry machine and oven.
A beautiful room, we did 7 days and the hard part will be planning your days. I needed more activities in Dubai though we found something to do everyday. Hi light was Ski Dubai in the Mall of Emerites very near your room. Also here is a Carrefour supermarket to stock up.

My overall experince at this hotel was average. A few days after I checked in the conditions of use of the Clubs facilities (i.e. beaches, pools, restaurants and bars) all changed. They started to charge 50 dirhams per day for entry. I refused to pay and ended being let in at the expense of the hotel.
The finishings in the rooms are average. It appears that they were in a huge rush to complete construction and poorly completed the finishings. There was also a funky smell coming from the dishwasher. It made the whole kitchen smell. On top of this I was originally charged too little for my stay (due to poorly trained staff) and my key was deactivated (with out me knowing). This was quite annoying when I headed back to my room at a late hour and then had to make my way down to reception.

All of that a side, they stay wasn't too bad. I would recommend this to a family. It is a really safe environment and if you are able to gain access to the beach, it is quite relaxing. You could just let the kids run around while the oldies enjoy a drink, or two.

There is security everywhere and plenty of children from the residences around the place. There are four restaurants and multiple bars, a Subway and a Costa (coffee shop). Very easy to just spend the day by the beach with out any real need to leave.