Emirates Palace Hotel

We have just returned from a weeks stay at The Emirates Palace & were delighted by our experience. It was however with some trepidation that we began this holiday as we had read the reviews on this site. Our original intention was to stay as we have done previously in Dubai at the fantastic Dar Al Masyaf but ended up at the Emirates Palace & were truly pleased with our experience. The service was attemnive, prompt & efficient. We had a ground floor Pearl room in the West wing & it was ideally situated with a sea view beyond the extensive well presented gardens. The sheets were comfortable, not scratchy, the minibar frequently refilled with complimentary soft drinks & the fruit bowl always fresh. Complimentary bottled water was plentiful. We had 2 Butlers during our stay, both of whom like all other staff were attentive & receptive to any requests. If you ventured to breakfast at around 10am there did appear to be a queue but this was soon rectified when the hotel opened a second restaurant for breakfast which could be eaten on the terrace overlooking to sea. The food selection was comprehensive. The fine dining restaurants were excellent & no more expensive than you would expect from a hotel of this standard. There is a varied wine list with a wide range of prices. There is a dress code which is imposed even for breakfast but it is not too onerous - mainly it is swimwear that is unacceptable. In the evenings smart casual is required. There did not appear to be a surplus of Designer wear as I had read in one report! Try it!

Stayed here for only one night for a meeting, but wish we could've spent the entire trip at the hotel. The service was impecable - we were greeted by a gaggle of women, who presented us each with a boquet of fresh roses, and then escorted us each to our rooms. A butler then arrived for a "tour" of the room. Each mat was decorated with rose petals, the bed turned down. Complimentary minibar - and fresh juice delivered within minutes. The view was stunning, as was the large room. Only complaint was waking up a little too early to an enormous team of gardners below my window - but beautification comes with a price.

We have just returned from a week's stay at the Emirates Palace. We loved Abu Dhabi - after several visits to Dubai in the last 6 months, we welcomed the calmer pace of life and absence of so many high rise buildings with attendant cranes! The hotel itself is very grand, huge cavernous hallways and empty ballrooms with very few people around - it felt like a huge mausoleum at times! Our 2nd floor Diamond Room should have had a seaview, but didn't. We asked for a room on a higher level with a better view (particularly as we'd already been told by one of the porters that the hotel was approx 60% full) but received a point blank refusal. We'd also requested a non-smoking room, which we didn't get. We weren't, as far as we know, assigned a butler, although the housekeeping staff we did come across were very pleasant. The sheets are scratchy - a bathroom towel over them helped us to sleep, though I wish we'd taken our own pillowcases. The poor sound insulation is clearly an on-going problem in the rooms. On several evenings, we had to go in search of a housekeeper to provide fresh towels etc and the complimentary drinks in the room weren't replenished during our stay. There was no tea/coffee making facilities in the room and the hotel declined to provide them - the only option of paying £5 for a cup of tea seemed excessive. The pool area (West Wing) was very nice, clean and not busy. The bar service was sporadic so we often had to wait a long time for a server to appear, or be free from playing table tennis, etc (never seen that before!) We found it a bit surprising to have to queue, with approx 20 others, for breakfast some days - not the 7* experience we'd anticipated! We loved the italian restaurant on our first visit so booked for the following night for a specific table. When we arrived to take up said booking, they'd given the table to someone else. No compensatory gesture or apology was forthcoming from the hotel. In summary, the hotel clearly values its function as a local landmark and provider of services to VIPs and huge corporate conferences above all else. Individual guests, such as ourselves, who have experienced excellent service at other hotels across the world, will inevitably be disappointed by being treated so dismissively by the Emirates Palace.

I have travelled frequently around the world with my job. This Hotel is the best I have ever stayed at.They treat everyone like royalty. The standard rooms are out of this world, so I can only imagine what the executive rooms are like! All the staff are all fantastic, without exception.They couldnt do enough for us. The Hotel is vast, you can very easily get lost, but you soon get the hang of it. The pool's are amazing, & heated! Even tho the tempereture was well into the 90's.The grounds are also very impressive, the beach is fabulous. Yes it is expensive, but yes it is worth ever penny. The restaurants are priced as expected in a 7* hotel, the food was amazing. What more can I say, just STAY, in probaly one of the best Hotel's in the world

First the good points:- -- Book a deal linking to Ethiad Flights... -- Having booked a "Pearl" room, i.e. a side sea view we were offered and took the complimentary BMW transfer from Abu Dhabi Airport. Very swift form landing to hotel in under an hour! -- Nice cold towels on arrival at the Hotel -- Once a room was allocated excellent check in and use the Bulter Service to unpack... -- Great but expensive breakfast (make sure you book on a B&B Basis) -- Great Beds... -- Poolside Service at the beach club excellent , enjoy the lazy river at the children friendly end, although there were not many children at the date of our stay. -- Golf buggies to take you from one pool to the other (at either ends of the the hotel) Now the bad points-- -- Having had confirmation from the Hotel by e mail that a room would be available on early (7.30am) arrival, we were left stranded for three hours awaiting a room, this being despite the hotel being only 20-30% full.. -- Watch out for the extras A cup of coffee £6.00, a small bottle of water £4.50 and a cocktail at the bar £10.00 plus. -- No atmosphere- yes it is grand but too few guests, you feel as though no body goes there... -- Do not be fooled by the pictures, the grand sweeping entrance and arch only serves the suites reserved soley for The UAE and surrounding countries heads of state, you will have to put up with a entrance of al ess grander type. -- Constant problem of no hot water in our room. Despite numerous phone calls and discussions with management, the situation was not resolved fully. -- Check you bill on check out- we were charged for extras we had not had, and it took an eternity to resolve them, they simply would not accept that the charge was not our responsibility. -- Hotel cars very expensive, and hotel reluctant to book you a "local"taxi. Overall-- If you like quiet and very grand public areas, this is the place for you... For front of house service -This is the place for you. The Hilton Corniche Or Rotunda Beach Club, offer the same levls of service at less than half cost. For that special treat-- go for it!!

You may see the review that I already posted and after a letter of complaint to the GM they offerd us a comp stay in the hotel, we arrived and were greeted by the GM's second in command and we were escorted to the Presidential Suite, amazing stunning all you can think off. terrible butler service My 3 months old dayghter was almost killed by a HARD football that missed her head by 3 mm from the stuipid idiots playing volleyball with a football right next to the childrens pool. The next day, ordered breakfast, room service arrived and I ate what I considered to be an ok breakfast. Waited 1 hour for the breakfast That night I had salmonela poisoning was rushed into hospital and that eventually lead to my appendixs being removed they traced it back to dried meat that i had eaten for breakfast, so thank you for a great stay yeat agin issues and for a 3000 pound bill for the hospital.

This was our third visit to The Palace since it opened some 2 years ago, on arrival you still can not help but be impressed with its manicured lawns fountains and sheer size it is simply huge and quite an architectural feat. Having left the comfort of the Hotels Limo you are whisked into the lobby and offered cold towels whilst the front desk arrange your room keys. ladies are given a small arrangement of Roses and you are then guided to your room by an attendant, the walk from reception to your room is a long way, everywhere in this place is a good walk its so vast. Once in your room, the check-in formalities completed you are introduced to your butler who then serves you a refreshing welcome drink and expalins the in-room IT system to operate the huge plasma tv, lights a/c etc, our room was a Coral Room and having stayed in each room type now, they are all exactly the same size and layout all enjoy fabulous furnishings and complimentary soft drinks in mini bar they all have a large double balcony with nice furniture, only diffrence is the view, ours was towards the front of the hotel overlooking the gardens. The butler will offer to unpack for you and should you take up this offer you will find your underwear folded into the neatist parcels you can imagine and placed in a velvet lined draw. The bathrooms like the rooms are glamourous and have a huge seperate walk in shower ( big enough for two). The hotel is set on what can only be described as a fantastic private beach with views towards the marina, there are plenty of sun chairs and parasols and every few hundred meters there are staff waiting to assist make up your sun chairs and provide you drinks. There are also 2 huge pools situated at the end of each wing of the hotel, one pool is designated for adults with a funky swim up bar, covered jacuzzi areas and again plenty of chairs and parasols with helpfull staff ready to make sure you are well looked after, we enjoyed complimentary iced water and fruit skewers each afternoon. The other pool is mainly for kids and big kids like us with a great lazy river which is amazingly landsaped with waterfalls and bridges, there are plenty of places to sit and the pool side bar does serve good food and cocktails ( not cheap).Within the hotel there is a state of the art fitness centre and we were told that although they have taken nearly 2 years to finish the Spa's should be open by the end of this month (hooray). So far so good, so whats the down side, well thats simple in a nutshell the service is inconsistant to say the least, this is a huge hotel and each time we have stayed has been only 25% full and each time the ratio of staff to guest is poor, unlike the Jumeirah International Hotels in Dubai where excellent service is always the rule here it is very hit and miss which is a shame as the hotel sells itself as being one of the best in the world, it certainly charges like the best but is let down by the levels of service which after 3 visits have not improved. The other thing to be aware of eating and drinking at The Palace is not cheap a coffee will set you back over £5.00 a cup and breakfast although a grand affair is nearly £30.00 per person if possible I would recommend you book a B & B rate as this will definatly save you money. The has been comment made on previous reviews about the dress code, although this is a resort/beach hotel you have to remember it is also a business/conference hotel and it does attract people who are seriously rich and like to show off in their designer wear at any opportunity, also you need to respect the local culture and you will find many local women wearing their traditional black robes, so as not to offend the hotel does ask you to be sensible when walking through the hotels public areas, it is ok to wear smart shorts for men and sundresses for ladies to breakfast, however at night long trousers are a must for gents and the ladies do dress up. You can walk from your hotel room to the beach/pool in your swimwear as long as you dont flash to much flesh. Hope you have found this of interest, would be hapy to discuss further via e-mail if you like. In short great hotel, very glamorous , amazing grounds,leisure facilities, nice restaurants with good quality food. Down side service levels from staff hit and miss and it can be very expensive, enjoy. Ps The Thai Restaurant at the Hilton Hotel which is across the road is well worth a vist, great food/service and great value for money.

We had a 3 night stopover returning from Thailand in mid-February 2007. The hotel is a massive 'over the top' construction at the west end of the Corniche and one suspects that it was Sheik Zayad's attempt to go one better that the Burj Arabi in Dubai and the Al Bustan in Muscat which hasn't quite come off. It claims to be a 7 star establishment and 'possibly the finest hotel in the world'. Well it is certainly impressive but the only thing that is seven star at this stage of its development are its prices! Our part sea view Pearl room was well furnished but not sufficiently grander than many other quality hotels in the region,we have stayed at, to warrant such a premium. The butler service was amateurish to say the least and there were no tea or coffee making facilities in the room and to order the same from room service was extortionate. A simple Continental breakfast for two works out at £40 which is a ridiculous price for croissant , toast and preserves! We ate at the Mezzaluna Italian restaurant on our first night and found the food O.K but nothing sensational at a cost of around £50 per head. On our last night we tried the Anar Persian restaurant which we found a disappointing experience with poor bread and not terribly authentic food for which we again paid around £50 per head. On the previous night we went out into the town of Abu Dhabi to enjoy an excellent Indian meal at the Indian Palace restaurant for £15 per head as the Emirates Palace did not have any Indian cuisine to offer. On strolling through the Abu Dhabi Mall we came across a bookshop in which we obtained a local 'Good Food Guide.' It was interesting to note that the guide included our Indian restaurant but neither of the two Emirates Palace restaurants we visited were mentioned. Surely after 18 months of operation one would expect our Palace to be covered with accolades but tellingly only the fish restaurant was mentioned. When paying for 7 stars one expects seven stars Messrs Kempinski! On the more positive side the hotel does have some very impressive facilities, not least of which is the beach club and direct sea/beach access. The lounge and coffee shop areas are also impressive. The hotel also has its own bank which gives a better rate of exchange than at the airport and there are numerous 24 hr ATM's should the bank be closed. The staff, almost without exception, were courteous and efficient although the waiter in Mezzaluna restaurant tried his best to get us to order outrageously expensive champagne with our meal and having failed at this, slipped a £4.00 bottle of water on to the bill when we weren't looking! The whole experience of the Emirates Palace we found to be a bit of a curate's egg - good in parts. The hotel is in its infancy at the present time and will no doubt improve as time goes by or at least we hope so.

We stayed at the Emirates Palace for Christmas and New Year for a family holiday and a bit of winter sun. It wasn't our first choice of location but we were certainly hopeful that given the ambition of its owners, the Emirates Palace would live up to its billing as one of the best hotels in the world. Unfortunately, however painful it is to admit it, we were all terribly disappointed. It is souless and so completely lacking in character that you could be staying anywhere. It felt a bit like being on a big cruise ship. Yes, the building is impressive in a ridiculously huge way, but that's about it. It is just big. Inside and out it's just huge. There are no 'littles touches' or design signatures that help generate any kind of ambience or style. Clearly it is designed very much with business in mind. You keep expecting that you might be given a 'delegate' badge at any moment and asked to go to one of the many enormous conference rooms for a seminar. The rooms are ok. Just about ok. Not that big (totally incongruously!) but nicely appointed. Not 7 stars nice though. Big plasma TV (not that unusual now) and over starched linen. The service surprisingly is just ok. Definately not 7 stars standard. Never saw the butler we were supposed to have. Not sure what they were actually supposed to do. The restaurants are very expensive and are ok. The flagship fish restaurant is pretentious and just silly. And prices to match. But at least the Lebanese restaurant was good although again it is so big that it needs to be busy to generate any kind of ambience. The best thing about the hotel though was the family pool area. The staff there and on the beach were fantastic and couldn't have been more helpful. Each day they were a delight. The second star on this review is for them. The pool area in general was very good and so were the facilities for kids. Though be warned the poolside restaurant is incredibly slow. We would order 40 mins before we actually needed to so as to get lunch at a reasonable hour. But overall I wouldn't recommend this hotel or Abu Dhabi. It is an interesting alternative to Dubai, less of a building site (where isn't?), but beyond the hotel there is absolutely nothing, and I mean nothing, to do in Abu Dhabi. Even the hotel website has a list of 17 things to do in Abu Dhabi - they couldn't quite make it 20. And some of those are pretty tenuous. The hotel itself is dull and expensive. Nothing special and not ideal for a family holiday - unless you want to do nothing but use a pool or beach for all the time you are there. Because believe me there is nothing else to do. So it may be the most expensive hotel in the world and it might be the choice of VIPs, visiting politicans and Russian oligarchs but that's because they probably don't have a choice or much taste.

Our pearl room was sensational, lovely bathroom (though rubbish hairdryer) but breakfast was a little disappointing for a hotel of this calibre, the service wasn't paricularly friendly and the food wasn't paricularly well presented. However the wierdest thing about this hotel was that it seems virtually empty. This does mean thoughthat the pool area and beach were all ours, equipped with 4 fluffy towels and a comfy sunbed we played on the slides and swam in the pool like kids, then borrowed staff bikes to go swim in the other pool. The gym trainer was also good and recommended I use this bizarre vibrating plate machine that I now see is the latest Madonna-led craze. If you fancy a romantic weekend away to do nothing but swim and sleep then go for it, not much longer though, you'd get bored.