DESCRIPTION OF INCIDENT
We booked accommodation through a booking agency that provided for pets allowance in this hotel. When we arrived, the hotel denied accommodation because of a pet.
Now, the hotel policy (as we now know) is indeed no pets, but the hotel refused from any reasonable cooperation at all in this regard: (1) they said they have nothing to do with the agency and did not provide info to them that pets are allowed (booking agency stated that the info was provided to their intermediary by the hotel and it's absolutely logical that booking agencies take this info from the hotels who fill in relevant questionnaires), (2) they accordingly refused to refund money and moreover refused to provide any assistance with getting a refund from the booking agency, (3) they even refused to provide a written letter stating that pets are not allowed so that we could show to the booking agency to get a refund (we then asked them to at least show their website notice of no pets policy - a request which they first ignored, then spent 30(!) minutes (addressing other guests' needs) to attend to).
It may have been a mistake of the booking agency (or the hotel), but in any event the attitude of the hotel staff towards helping resolve a client problem (at least some cooperation) is highly disappointing. Obviously, they perfectly understood we had to urgently find another accommodation (through no fault of ours) and were so reluctant to provide any help whatsoever. Such approach is not acceptable for any decent hotel, let alone a 5-star accommodation.
UPDATE
We were indeed given a free one night stay to make up for the fact that we did not get a refund (as described above), which is a nice gesture from the hotel. We have accordingly changed the review to recognise this.
The accommodation itself is quite a pleasure - rooms are spacious and modern, the Gusto restaurant on the top floor is delightful in terms of views, pool and gym area are also remarkable, breakfast is exceptional. The city view from the room is rather disappointing though - we recommend booking a room with a creek view (but that would be more expensive). Of course, pet allowance would be a big plus - in its absence we usually have to look for other options.
starstarstarstar Timofey Neklyudov
Very perfect services we enjoy our holiday and special thanks to Abdul hameed the who take care of our room and was very patient
starstarstarstarstar Nadia Ayman Ahmad
I had such a beautiful stay at Al Bandar Rotana. The room was beautiful and impeccable. I loved that the bathroom had a tub to soak in as well. I loved the waterfront view. Great swimming pool and gym. The breakfast was amazing and there was a wide selection of options. Great and prompt service too.
starstarstarstarstar Maiarray Co
This hotel has one of the best pool views in Dubai.
The ambience and location is amazing. The attention to details is encouraging.
If you are looking for a safe and secure hotel experience then this should be on your bucket list
starstarstarstarstar Oluwatobi Omojeh
I've stayed in many 4/5-stars hotels during the pandemic and this one was one of the worst yet.
The bads:
The reception staff clearly doesn't appreciate younger clientele nor the "average" joe clientele. I was traveling for business, but didn't use my business attire for the check in and the check in staff were cold and even a bit rude. I booked non-smoking room (directly from Rotana) and still they insisted to give me the smoking room (hotels operate in max. 70% capacity in Dubai, so there should be more than enough free rooms). Only after threatening to cancel the booking, they magically found a free non-smoking room but... Once we got to the room it was a smoking room... Felt like they were joking with us.
And the room... Definitely not proper 5 star: dirty carpet under the bed (check the photo) and really basic furniture. Also the room was really dark, even with all the lights on. The bathroom was nice, but the amenities were low quality, you get much better ones in many 3-5 star hotels. Cheap Nescafe (not even the gold) instant coffee in the room, c'mon. Proper mugs and glassed replaced with the plastic ones. No bathrobe in the room.
Noise cancelling in between the rooms is close to zero: you can hear when your neighbor goes to toilet or brushes their teeth. You can also hear all the noise from the Atrium (i'm still hearing the bling noise from the elevator when I close my eyes) and if someone is talking loud in the Atrium (we stayed in the seventh floor and totally opposite to the elevators, so the noise is even more clear closer to the elevator and lower floors). Most of the rooms have connecting doors, and according to the management they are even more noisy... If you are a light sleeper, don't stay here.
The cleaning was REALLY slow and bad. Many times you could spend the day somewhere and the room still would not have been cleaned at 4 P.M. (even with the clean up the light sign on). And the cleaning was more like a "make a bed and take out the trash", which is unacceptable during the current pandemic. The hotel takes pride of strictly endorsing the proper covid-protocols, but the reality is totally different. For them, covid is just a way to cut costs.
The goods:
Duty manager Marilyn, All the staff in the pool area, especially at the pool bar/restaurant, the pool & gym are nice (even though half of the gym equipment is "sealed" to enforce social distancing), the coffee shop downstairs was great and they serve somewhat decent coffee (which is not so easy to find in Dubai).
Other info: we stayed in mid March and the Executive lounge and beach transfer were not operating at that time because of Covid (or cost cutting).
There are so many good hotels in Dubai (I've stayed in over 20 different hotels there) and this is not one of them.
starstar Mikael Krasnov
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