Location

Located in Downtown Dubai, Dusit Thani is situated on the popular strip of Sheikh Zayed Road. The hotel is in close proximity of the iconic Burj Khalifah and Dubai Mall. Although a taxi ride away, it literally takes 5 minutes!

Being located on Sheikh Zayed Road, there is a wide range of shops and restaurants nearby. Big names brands such as McDonalds, Burger King, Nando’s and many more are a short walk away. The 12 lane Sheikh Zayed road has overhead walking tunnels so you can easily get across whenever you need.

Mall of the Emirates is a 15 minute taxi ride away whilst Jumeirah Beach is also the same distance.

Amenities

This hotel offers all the amenities you would expect from a 5* hotel. It also has an indoor pool. There are good restaurants that serve great food. Parking is also available free for guests. The rooms are good size and have a feel of luxury. You can choose a Burj Khalifah View or Sheikh Zayed Road view rooms – Both have great views of the Dubai skyline. We had both rooms on our visit and they were both lovely.

Amenities include:

• Free parking
• WiFi
• Pool
• Fitness Centre with Gym / Workout Room
• Bar / lounge
• Valet parking
• Pool / beach towels
• Fitness / spa changing rooms
• Sauna
• Coffee shop
• Restaurant
• Breakfast available
• Complimentary instant coffee
• Outdoor dining area
• Airport transportation
• Business Centre with Internet Access
• Conference facilities
• Banquet room
• Meeting rooms
• Concierge
• Currency exchange
• 24-hour check-in
• 24-hour front desk
• Dry cleaning
• Laundry service
• Ironing service

Value For Money

(Room Only) would cost around £95 per night so is mid-range for Dubai. The service in this hotel was fantastic on our 7 night stay so we think it is good value for money.

Service / Staff

The service is exactly what you would expect from a 5* hotel. The 24 hour concierge is always available for questions and help where needed. The rooms are cleaned well every day and the housemaid service is really good.

Lastly – Would we go back

YES!  The service at this hotel is brilliant. Staff are very friendly and helpful. The lovely Thai culture can be felt when staying at this hotel. You do feel that this is a luxury 5* hotel and the service matches this.

Location

Located in the Residential area (Al Mankhool) part of Bur Dubai, this hotel offers budget accommodation at a fair price. It is in close proximity of the BurJuman Shopping Centre (5 minute walk and also near many local restaurants which serve a wide array of cuisines. All of these are within a few minutes walking distance.

There is no beach within walking distance. Jumeirah Beach is approximately 10 miles away. Taxis are readily available outside the hotel but we advise to cross over a few roads and pick up a taxi yourself rather than the hotel pick one for you. This is a cheaper option as you don’t pay the extra service charge. Taxis are generally very safe in Dubai as the drivers work for the governments owned taxi’s. They are all metered so no haggling needed. EVERY TAXI should be metered. If you somehow find one where the meter is off, don’t use it.

Overall the location is suitable for those who want to see the dubai culture and taste the local cuisine. If you like the up market tourist areas with sandy beaches – This is not the area for you. In this case, you should go for Jumeirah Beach. . See the review for Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah Beach for a great hotel in a brilliant location.

Amenities

This hotel offers the usual amenities you would generally see in a 3* hotel with rather small no frills roof top swimming pool.  This is a no frills, budget hotel and it has that feeling about it. The rooms are OK, not the tidiest or cleanest but nothing that affects health and safety.  We prefer Golden Sands 3*hotel.  See our in depth hotel review for Golden Sands Hotel Apartments  which you can get for similar price.

There are some great local restaurants nearby which you should take advantage of. If you like steak, there’s a Yoko’s Steakhouse nearby which is pretty famous in this region.

Other Amenities include:

• Free parking
• WiFi
• Fitness Centre with Gym (small)
• Restaurant
• Baggage storage
• Concierge
• Outdoor Rooftop pool
• 24-hour front desk
• Dry cleaning
• Laundry service

Value For Money

A 7 night stay would cost you in the region of £400 which is fair. Family of 2 adults and 1 child.

Service / Staff

The service is pretty much standard. Nothing really to shout out about. Rooms are fairly clean and tidy. Staff are friendly enough.

Lastly – Would we go back

No – As we mentioned above, we would rather stay at Golden Sands which is a few streets away. See our in depth hotel review for Golden Sands Hotel Apartment

Although Winchester Grand is classed as a 4*, we think it was more like a 3* with a roof top pool.

Location

Located in Al Barsha South (Teacom) This hotel is near the business district with a short taxi ride from Mall of the Emirates shopping mall. Dubai airport is around 16 miles away. Most attractions, including the beach are taxi rides away. Although easily accessible from the hotel entrance, the cost of these can soon add up. There is a daily shuttle service to some destinations like the beach and selected shopping malls but these are not too frequent so best to check with the concierge and plan accordingly. No sign up required, just wait outside at the designated times and jump on!

There are a handful of small restaurants nearby if you like to walk around and find them. Nothing stood out to us. Just the usual “I’m hungry so need to eat” sort of places.

Amenities

This hotel offers all the usual amenities you would expect from a 4* hotel. Usual outdoor pool, gym, baby/child sitting (at a cost) and wifi throughout the hotel.

Atana offers guests a Full board Dining option but we would advise not to choose this if you are a foodie. The selection was sub-par in our view and the food came out lukewarm on most occasions. The dining options are what you would expect on an average 3* hotel. Disappointment all round really.

The rooms are spacious and probably the highlight of the hotel. The hotel is split between what seems like two towers. If you are booking more than one room for your party, ensure you check with the hotel first to check you are all able to stay in the same tower.  Unfortunately we didn’t know about this so had to treck across buildings (from the inside) to see each other.

Value For Money

Price wise, the hotel does offer value. The cost is quite cheap but the package with full board which we chose was not worth it.  There are better hotels for the money in Dubai. If you are going for a tourist vacation, choose another hotel with a better location (like on JBR, The Palm etc) If you are looking for Culture, choose a hotel in Daira or Bur-Dubai as these have their own little gems.

Service / Staff

The service we received was OK. Nothing special to shout out about. The staff at front desk seemed too busy to answer queries and made checking in/out mistakes that shouldn’t happen. We waited for an hour checking out due to a billing issue where we were overcharged. This was sorted out in the end but it took some heated exchanges to get the job done. Checking in was the same and took far to long.

The staff at the restaurant seemed to be unaware of the guests and asked for room ID EVERYTIME we went for our meal. There were around 10 of us from two families so for a 10 day holiday, at some point they should of remembered us to be full board. This was the same for all 3 meals of the day. Poor service.

Lastly – Would we go back

No. Mostly due to the poor service we received coupled with the sub-par food on the full board option. The location is not brilliant and there are far better hotels available to stay at in Dubai.

Walk across the Jumeirah Beach Walk to find the clean sandy beach which also has an outdoor shisha lounge for those who like to have a relaxing smoke in the Sun.. Or at night if you prefer!

Amenities

This hotel offers all the usual amenities you would expect from a 5* hotel. It also boasts an outdoor infinity pool overlooking the sea. There are good restaurants that serve great food and an in room dining service. Parking is also available free for guests.

Value For Money

Price wise, there are cheaper hotels nearby. This hotel is in the mid range for Sofitel. (Sofitel Dubai Downtown is cheaper whereas on the Palm, they charge a higher nightly rate) overall we would say it’s fair. You are able to sometimes find deals on Booking.com but usually the average price remains the same throughout the year.

Service / Staff

The service is exactly what you would expect from a 5* hotel. The 24 hour concierge is always available for questions and help where needed. The rooms are cleaned well every day and the housemaid service is good. We encountered an issue with a clothes item being ruined in error with the dry-clean service. We spoke to management and got a satisfactory resolution. The management went above and beyond for us and this is a credit to the team at Sofitel.

Lastly – Would we go back

YES! Although sometimes the price can seem a bit steep for what is available in Dubai, the all-round feeling we got was, this is a good 5* hotel and we enjoyed our 7 night stay. Everything you want is nearby.