One&Only The Palm Dubai

At first glance, everything is fine, but then the details open up ... from the pros: a lot has been done for relaxation: the beach is well thought out / the sun beds are far from each other.. Beach boys work carefully, and the waiters are also extremely polite.. but the service is sooo long, despite the lack of occupancy of the hotel.. and as for customer orientation - zero! the most important thing to note: after the night I woke up from a severe bite - I see all my legs are bitten to the bumps, they itch- I drank an antihistamine, applied a drying gel.. but as soon as the effect of the pill ended, my whole body began to itch several times more... the hotel only said that the staff would check... every time there were no cups or spoons after cleaning..- they didn't wash it, they just took it away.. each time it took a long time to wait... they asked for an iron- they brought one that wasn't working - they also waited a long time, the second one took even longer... first they came and took the one that wasn't working, and then they just went for another... and it's funny: the hair dryer is in the bathroom, but you can't get to the outlet under the mirror - you had to lie down by the bed, without a mirror... and you can list such little things for a long time ... everything you report about such nuances is answered very politely, but as if it doesn't really concern them.. the feeling that you are absolutely not being heard, and as if you are completely indifferent.... And most importantly, the vacation is spoiled by bites the most - the feeling is not the same at all.. On the contrary, I wanted to recharge my batteries and relax..

This was our fourth stay here, which probably says everything, and somehow it still feels just as special every time. We already know that we will be back again. We love the brand, every experience has been consistently excellent. It is also such an easy trip for some winter sun - Dubai is always a joy to visit. Warm, lots of things to do / places to eat and offers a relaxing environment where you can properly switch off. The spa has recently been redone and it is beautiful. Calm, elegant and genuinely relaxing. My treatments were so luxurious - a real highlight of our stay. Breakfast became something we looked forward to every morning thanks to Santos. He remembered every detail and brought such a natural warmth that made each day start on a high. The food throughout the hotel is impeccable, consistently high quality with real care in every dish. The service is just as impressive, nothing is ever too much trouble and everything is done with ease and sincerity. A special mention to Forever, who was our host and really looked after us throughout our stay. Our room was stunning - comfortable, stylish and somewhere you actually look forward to returning to at the end of the day. There is a reason we keep coming back. It just gets it right every time.

Dubai has grown exponentially in the last 10 years… and I find it a lot less charming than I did then. So, instead of staying somewhere in downtown or near the Burj Khalifa, we opted for the One & Only The Palm at the far end of the frond… and it was amazing. I loved this hotel/resort and it made our stay in Dubai great. (Please note we stayed in December before the war and we hope the staff and the hotel are intact and somehow thriving despite current events… they were all lovely and kind). Located at the very end of a tip of a fake frond of the Palm, this place is probably a 40 minutes drive from the airport. (It's probably only about 20-25 minutes to the big malls in case you're wondering). We got driven here in a limo (okay, a large van) courtesy of Emirates Airlines, which was a nice way to get there. Arriving after a dinner time flight from Athens, we didn’t get to the hotel till the wee hours of the morning. A very kind gentlemen checked us in at 3 AM (we later saw him serving breakfast) and were taken to our amazing room by a lovely woman named Forever. They gave us a really good room without us having to maneuver for anything better. Refreshing. BTW… Dubai airport’s concourses are way too long these days… you have to walk miles from the gate to transportation. No moving sidewalks. Just a bad design choice. The city itself was burgeoning (again, this was December) and the main highway is now 12 lanes wide with a monorail on one side… just one big freeway with no trees but giant high-rises with 7-11s or their equivalent on their lobby levels surrounding you for miles. Less aesthetically pleasing than I recall. It's kind of like Chicago in the sand but definitely worth visiting once if you can... and I don't know if that's possible at the moment. The O&O room was incredible and though about 10 years old in decor years, it still looked great. It had all the lavish amenities one would expect. Breakfast was served in a room and patio out by the pool and was tasty. A table of loud local ladies kind of made it unpleasant for us to sit there on a beautiful, serene morning but it’s their town, after all. One morning we had to move inside due to their loud chatter. This is a very quiet hotel usually. The 2 pools are huge and beautiful (one is for adults only... which was great) and there is a nice sandy beach that stretches the length of the resort. Sadly, one of the hotels across the wide bay is the Fairmont, which was the first hotel hit in Dubai when the war began. The food was excellent but what really made the difference here was the staff. They were great… all of them One & Onlies to be sure. As it was our first time staying at this luxe chain, I must say, we were impressed with the level of service and the staff’s friendly, accommodating attitudes. It was definitely a step up from other luxe chains, at least at this location. Everyone was great but a special mention of the man who checked us in during the middle of the night and served us breakfast that same morning, Kapil in housekeeping, Schbo at the adult pool, Antu at the beach and Santoosh in room service. Did I mention the food was really good? It was in all venues we tried. We didn’t have a long stay on our way to India from Europe but this was the perfect location to spend a few nights in Dubai. Far away from the madding crowds and all the lavish shopping centers and busy freeways. We had been there and done that... you should, too. This time, we were at the end of the Palm, which was very peaceful and luxurious when we were there. Hope it still is. I highly recommend this hotel/resort and it’s the one and ONLY place we’d stay should we ever make it make to the UAE.

We had amazing experience in this hotel. the facilities and f&B were great, it’s all about staffs in this hotel. They are caring all the small details for our comfort stay, they remember our name every time we saw them. Every single staffs were amazing , cleaning staffs were doing their job immaculately. And especially I want to mention Sujith, Hassan, Terrence, they were taking care of us so well and we felt like we really are in a safe place to enjoy our vacation. Thank you so much, we will definitely come back ! 10/10!

A bubble of paradise and outstanding service service throughout. I haven’t experienced such amazing staff as here and it genuinely felt like we had been restored when leaving even though we were only there for a night. The spa, the 101 lounge, the reception, housekeeping, breakfast, arrival, Sofina beach club. Everything just perfect. Thank you to all the team.