A Weekend at Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai

Whilst the summers in the UAE can be very unpleasant in terms of heat, one benefit to the soaring temperatures of the summer months is the great deals that you can get at the top hotels.  The summer time is always incredibly quiet here in the UAE with little tourism due to the temperatures and, on top of that, lots of families that live here normally leave the country with their children during the school holidays.  This leaves hotels crying out for residents to take a staycation, which I am always more than happy to do, especially since I am over eight months pregnant and stuck in the UAE for the whole summer lol.

You may remember that I wrote a similar blog post last summer when we went to stay at the Park Hyatt on Saadiyat Island.  I love a good staycation, it makes me feel like I have had a nice little holiday without all of the hassle of going to the airport etc.  There is something great about checking out of your hotel and just being able to hop into your car to go home.

This time we decided to go to Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai.  This hotel was the first hotel to be built in Jumeirah and it is one of Dubai’s most recognisable structures with it’s wave-like design and its location directly adjacent to the Burj Al Arab.

Interiors / Room

The hotel was completely refurbished last year and the interior is really beautiful and very much to my taste.  The lobby of the hotel was quite understated, which is unusual for one of the fancier hotels in Dubai, but it was very tasteful.  The most impressive view from the lobby was looking upwards as you could see all of the different levels of the hotel from the ground floor.  Like all of the hotels here in the UAE, there was an elaborate fresh flower display as you entered the hotel.  This one had the prettiest white and pink hydrangea flowers.  They looked and smelled amazing.  The lobby seating area was decorated with beautiful velvet chairs and marble tables, and each table had a little vase that I have from Ikea that was designed by a Swedish ceramic and glass artist called Per B Sundberg.  Of course inside each vase was another pretty pink hydrangea.  Dan joked that it was like a hotel that I decorated lol.

When we made the booking we were sure that we had booked the standard room (we still aren’t exactly sure what room we stayed in) but it was far from standard.  The room was absolutely huge and had the most incredible view of the Burj Al Arab and the beach and pool area.  I believe that this hotel was designed in a way which maximises views to the Burj Al Arab and I think all rooms are guaranteed an amazing view – what a clever design!

The bathroom was also beautiful.  Again it was really spacious and had a huge freestanding bath and two sinks.  I must admit that my favourite part about the hotel room was the products of course.  Much to my delight, the shower, bath and sink areas were adorned with Elemis products – AMAZING!  I don’t think there is anything that screams out luxury and relaxation quite like Elemis products in a hotel room.  The smell alone just makes me feel like I am in a spa.  A simple shower suddenly felt like a massive treat lol.  They even left a lip balm on our bedside lockers which I was really impressed with.  It’s all of the little details like this that make one hotel stand out from another in a country where everything is ‘5 star’.

Pool Area

If I am completely honest, the main pool was the most disappointing part of the whole experience.  The pool area itself was quite attractive in that there was lots of nice greenery and plants surrounding the pool and the layout was nice, but the sun loungers were quite ugly and not very comfortable – just not what you would expect from a 5* hotel.  They were also laid out really close to each other so we were practically sitting right on top of the strangers beside us.  The pool itself was huge but it was absolutely chaotic and didn’t really have the relaxing vibe that we were really looking forward to.  We asked at reception if there was another pool that we could use and they very kindly gave us access to the executive pool, which is only meant for people that are staying in the more expensive rooms.  Of course we jumped at the chance!

The executive pool was so much better and it was more in line with what we were expecting from this hotel.  The sun loungers were really comfortable and nicely spaced out, they gave us an ice bucket with water and cold face towels, they handed out watermelon and ice pops throughout the day and the general environment was so much more relaxing and enjoyable.  When the pool manager saw that I was pregnant he even offered to give us a cabana so I could get some shade from the sun and a cushion for my back, which I thought was so kind and absolutely amazing service.

Food

The food at Jumeirah Beach Hotel was the best hotel food I think I’ve ever had.  We were staying for two nights so we had opted for the hotel buffet for dinner one night and we made a reservation for their steakhouse restaurant La Parilla for the second night.  We also had breakfast at the hotel buffett on both mornings.  I find that hotel buffets can sometimes be a little bit disappointing, as it is often a case of quantity over quality, but in this case it was definitely both! There was such a great selection of food and the quality was amazing.  It was really delicious at both breakfast and dinner time.  The dining room was also gorgeous.  It was a really bright space with high ceilings and had a very relaxing and comfortable feel.

Our dinner on the second night at La Parilla was also absolutely delicious.  The quality of the food was incredible, the service was amazing and we got a lovely table with a nighttime view of the Burj Al Arab from the 25th floor.

Beach

The beach part of the resort was also really gorgeous and has that famous Burj Al Arab backdrop that everyone loves.  However, apart from about the 3 minutes which we spent there (just to have a look) we didn’t spend any time on the beach as it was just far too hot, but it would definitely be a nice place to spend some time during the cooler months.

Service

The service from all of the staff throughout the weekend was really very good.  As we checked out on our last morning, like all good hotels, the staff took our bags and kept them for us so that we could make use of the pool and facilities for the rest of the day.  Back to the executive pool we went to maximise our time there lol.  At the end of the day we headed back to the hotel where there were showers and changing facilities with clean towels, toiletries and plastic bags for our swim gear so that we could get showered and changed before driving home.  I love hotels that provide this kind of service.  There was everything we needed from shampoo to deodorant and body lotion.

So that was our weekend at Jumeirah Beach Hotel.  Even though it is only an hour up the road it really did feel like a mini holiday and it was exactly what we needed.  If you live in the UAE or you are planning a visit soon then I would definitely recommend this hotel if you are thinking about where to stay :).