Although the hotel is close to everything Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, nice restaurants, nice lounges and other landmarks; this was a disappointing Stay with a Few Bright Spots after I spent one week and honestly, it was a bit of a letdown.

Starting with check-in, the front desk agent didn’t even crack a smile or make me feel welcome or aknowledged being a Bonvoy member like many other Marriots do. Not a great first impression. On the bright side, after I complained, the manager Claudine did call to discuss and did send a fruit basket to apologize for a fault she did not commit, I appreciated a lot her call right away. But why one needs to complaint, this should be systematic amongst all staff.

There were quite a few other issues during my stay. For example, I shared an elevator with some hotel staff, and one of them was burping in front of guests, not exactly what you would expect. The elevators were also crowded every morning and weren’t very clean, especially the vents. Some of the displays didn’t even work. Elevators were not well synchronized and in the morning after breakfast it is a nightmare. A big attention must be given to this urgently!

Breakfast was a mixed experience. Mayas, Nilmini, and the Algerian guy at the egg station were fantastic, super friendly and efficient. But another person at the egg station was rude and kept burning the eggs. The coffee machine didn’t work properly, and they didn’t refill the coffee pots and milk fast enough. Also, sometimes, plates weren’t cleared quickly, so tables got cluttered.

The room was nice, had everything you need and housekeeping did a great job, unfortunately the water pressure was weak, and the hot water wasn’t really hot.

Maintenance, in general, needs work especially the pool area. The pool edges were dirty, and the jacuzzi only worked halfway. The pool attendant was just glued to their phone, not very helpful, not welcoming, not smiling and not ensuring all users shower first, to my surprise, I witnessed people removing clothes and dipping right into pool.

Checkout was just like check-in, no smile, no “thank you,” no asking about my stay. It felt like I was invisible.

Lastly, the luggage situation was frustrating. I left my bags with the concierge, but they were left outside unattended, which didn’t feel secure. The concierge were amazing though, very nice, very helpful, polite and went the extra mile (Ahmed the Egyptian in particular and another one from Pakistan). The hote could help them by providing a secure area for day storage.

Overall this hotel has some good staff, like Mayas, Nilmini and concierge, but the place really needs to step up its game in terms of maintenance, cleanliness (I saw some cockroaches), and especially customer service (smiles are free). It’s the little things that make a difference,  unfortunately, they missed the mark on several of them.