The Cove Rotana Resort — Hotel in Al Dhait South

We were a group of 3 couples, each with an infant, looking forward to a relaxing getaway at Cove Rotana. We had booked 3 separate rooms initially and arrived at the resort around 1:00 PM, well aware that check-in is at 3:00 PM — but since lunch was included in our package, we expected to enjoy it before check-in.

However, from the moment we arrived, it felt like everything went downhill.

Check-in Delay & False Promises

At reception, we were told our rooms wouldn’t be ready before 2:30 or 3 PM. Instead, we were offered an upgrade to a 3BHK villa for additional AED 1000, which they claimed was already vacant and just being cleaned — it would be ready in 20-30 minutes.

Since we had infants with us in 45°C heat, we accepted the offer in good faith. They told us to wait at the bar and “enjoy refreshments.” We even postponed our lunch for the next day.

But 30 minutes turned into almost 3 hours of frustration. We approached the reception desk at least 10 times asking for updates — the response was always the same: “You’ll receive an SMS shortly.” Meanwhile, the kids were getting restless, hungry, and affected by the heat.

No Support from Buggy Service

We decided to take the infants to the kids’ playhouse to feed them. We requested 4 different buggy drivers, but all refused to take us, saying “it’s a 2-minute walk.” Reality: it took us 15 minutes in the burning sun, carrying babies, with their faces red from heat and exhaustion. Not a single staff member stepped in to help.

Unempathetic Behavior at Kids’ Playhouse

Once we reached the playhouse, we tried feeding the crying kids — only to be told strictly that food wasn’t allowed. Despite our repeated requests explaining we were just feeding infants, the staff refused, saying “the manager is watching via CCTV and won’t be happy.” Only after a supervisor got involved and escalated to reception did we finally receive the SMS for villa allocation — at 2:45 PM. We entered the villa at 3:45 PM, almost 3 hours after arrival.

Villa Condition – Below Basic Standards

To our shock: • Living area was dusty • Private pool was dirty and unusable • One of the rooms had no lights

We raised these issues immediately, but cleaning and pool servicing took another 45 minutes, rendering the pool unusable that entire day and the living space unsafe for our kids to crawl or play.

Buggy Nightmare Continues

Throughout our stay, buggy service was painfully slow, often taking 45-50 minutes to arrive — even late at night with infants. After dinner at around 10:30 PM, two of us were stranded outside because no buggy driver stopped or offered help. The excuses ranged from “we’re picking someone else” to “next buggy will come.” Finally, they had to walk all the way back to the villa in the dark.

Lack of Vegetarian Food Options

Despite 50–60% of the guests being Indian, the vegetarian options were very poor. The idlis were literally shaped like cupcakes, hard and tasteless. Thankfully, one of the chefs was kind enough to prepare fresh paneer curry and roti for us — but this was the only highlight in an otherwise disappointing dining experience.

We’ve stayed at Cove Rotana before and had good memories — which is why we chose it again.

But this time, it was a disaster from start to finish.

No empathy. No urgency. No hospitality that matched the brand name.

When you’re travelling with infants, basic humanity and timely service is the least you expect. Sadly, it was completely missing.

We do not recommend this resort anymore, especially for families with young kids. We hope the management takes this feedback seriously and rethinks how they treat guests —...

The theater starts from the hanger, and the hotel starts from the reception. We have learned this principle from our own experience. Having come to you for the second time, we felt the atmosphere of warmth and care from the very beginning. Our journey began with a warm welcome at the reception under of Mr. Abdulrahman. Despite the large number of guests, registration was quick, and our wishes were taken into account with incredible attention. We sincerely thank Mr. Abdulrahman for his professionalism, and we also want to express special gratitude to Mr. Abubakar, Mrs. Anastasia, Mrs. Sabina and many others — you all made our vacation unforgettable!

Your restaurant is a real magic of taste! Culinary masterpieces are being created here under the of Chef Mr.Florian. Every breakfast, lunch and dinner were holidays, and the variety of dishes was amazing. Grill parties in the fresh air gave a special charm to the evenings. It is a pity that we cannot award your restaurant a Michelin star, you are a master of your craft!! Thanks to Mr.Karim and Mrs.Pavalli for their attention and kindness. Many thanks to Mrs.Nimesha, last time I forgot the name of the girl from the restaurant, she was always very kind and friendly. Your team is not just employees, but a large, friendly and incredibly well—coordinated family. Every day we enjoyed walking around the beautiful grounds of the hotel, taking more than 10,000 steps. But when we ran out of energy, the buggy drivers were happy to help us out. Special thanks to Mr. Arthur, who not only organizes the process clearly, but also personally helps during rush hours, showing sincere participation and caring for the guests.

One of the most pleasant moments of our holiday was an invitation to an evening meeting from the CEO, Mr. Klaus Reinwand. This evening has become a real holiday! The cozy atmosphere, sincere communication with the heads of departments, live music performed by the talented Mrs.Eveline (the animator of the hotel) — all this will remain in our hearts forever. Mrs.Evelin, we believe in your success and wish you great achievements in your musical career!

A special love is for the beach, where we spent most of our time. Animators, rescuers, and our favorite silver cafe trailer - you all create a special magic, making your vacation comfortable and happy.

And of course, we express our great gratitude to the designers and gardeners who created and maintain the entire territory of your hotel blooming and green, flowers are everywhere, it's so wonderful, the feeling that you are in the forest! It is a pleasure to walk in such a park.

Also, I want to express my gratitude to everyone for the warmth with which everyone treats cats, of which there are many on the territory and all are very beautiful. It's very touching.

We also thank everyone who cleans the rooms, you are like invisible heroes, you are never visible, but returning to a clean and fresh room you realize that the heroes have already been and disappeared.

And finally, special thanks to the driver who took us to the airport. His kindness and help with the luggage was a pleasant end to our trip.

Mr. K. Reinwand, we would like to sincerely thank you and your entire team for a sincere, warm, unforgettable vacation. You do your job with love, and it is felt in every detail. We wish you all great success, prosperity and as many happy tourists as possible!

With love and deep respect,

Yuri and Tatiana V.

P.S. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! All the best in...

The first experience before could check in to the hotel itself was horrible, "Sohaib" receptionist who attended me at the reception counter after a long wait time in the queue, he showed the map of the area that I was eligible to stay.. when informed him that a request was made for a room closeby the pool or restaurant as we were with a toddler, he failed to even check abt the prior request on the system made by us over the phone and mentioned all the rooms are occupied and the only room available was nearby the lagoon which he informed was far away as per the request, unhappy abt this and asked him to recheck once again, he said he wanted time to check and made us to go n have lunch directly without giving confirmation of our room and even freshening up as we travelled from long way , upon reaching cinnamon restaurant for lunch, the queue was long and had people waiitng till out of the restaurant straight under the sun without any availability of fans or coolers, upon checking the restaurant not even a single table was empty and till then we had to wait till a table gets free n empty, this was around 2pm and the lunch ends at 3pm, so we had only 1 hour some how remaining for lunch, due to long wait , we left and headed back to the reception to approach a manager for better organisation , Mohamed assisted us to get a room nearby as requested which initially Sohaib said no availability of rooms nearby . Lunch was not done due to shortage of table inside and long wait. We were denied to take drinks in the room for 'All inclusive package' and were asked to consume at the outlet itself - guess, you'll need to request the management to consider alcohol consumption in the room incase if the guest would like to rest and relax in the AC considering the high level heat and climatic condition or else provide fans and coolers everywhere. Sunset Bar staff provided quick service and were helpful. Bar at the beach area , service was poor and below the mark . "Shahan" bar staff denied serving drinks to us, was rude, disrespected, not interested to assist and ruined our evening. This spoiled our stay at the resort. The incident was immediately highlighted to the on duty manager Mahmoud and Mohamed , They said they would investigate the incident and act accordingly but in the end it was a waste of our time and money, as we were denied drinks and not served after holding a 'Al inclusive package' for a 1 night stay, so in the end it was our loss not theirs. Trust me nothing can compensate for ruining a holiday or weekend from a rude bar staff. We are not beggars , please don't make us feel like one . Lack of customer service skills by Shahan at the beach bar, he really needs to be educated and trained how to provide excellent guest service skills and a proper and respectful way to talk to clients.

Next day check out review - Mohamed duty manager whom we spoke too was not present at the reception to update us about the investigation which he told he would do next day morning, the other duty manager was clueless about the incident that took place last evening , didn't get a call as well. Looks like the managers /staff don't care , just want revenue for the hotel and both bother . Keep up the great job about the poor customer skills and service . In the end it's my loss of...