Rixos Bab Al Bahr — Hotel in Al Marjan Island

We stayed at this hotel after looking at a few reviews, which were mainly positive. We have been to this area before and are quite fond of it considering it’s a little bit further out than normal and about an hour and a half from the airport. The journey to the hotel from the airport was a pleasant one as we landed around about 730 in the morning and we had a deal as part of our package with the hotel supplied the complementary transfer. On arrival at the hotel, the concierge greeted us very nicely and put our bag safely into storage while we waited our room. The reception staff were mostly accommodating and polite and informed us exactly what we have paid for and what we were entitled to and explained how the hotel worked, they informed us that unfortunately our room wasn’t ready at this time as it’s normally a 3 pm check-in and we arrived around about 930 in the morning. They said we could go and have hot drinks or cold drinks and pastries in the café while we waited and also we could use the facilities and store our clothes in the spa area whilst our room was being made up. They didn’t inform us that the room could be ready by midday and we should go back and check, which we did and the room was ready by 12pm. We have room 3211 which was a nice room however slightly outdated and the furniture was also outdated and damaged in areas however the room sizes to cater for a family of two adults and one 18-year-old and one 15-year-old was adequate for what we needed. The room layout though was slightly confused as where we were sleeping. We did not have access to the balcony as this was the double bedded room however the kids had access to the balcony as they were in the two single bed rooms. It would’ve made more sense for the double bed to be where the balcony was in order to not worry about the children access in the balcony especially if you had your own children, thankfully we can trust our children. The door had two locks though to stop anyone potentially going out onto the balcony, especially small children trying to reach up as they wouldn’t reach it due to the height of the safety locks. The room itself. Was clean daily and everything was replenished when we needed it. The buffet restaurant was exceptionally nice food so as far to say having stayed in Dubai numerous times this has to be one of the best buffet restaurants with such a large selection of food that way of come across. The restaurant staff themselves are such lovely, kind and courteous people who will go above and beyond for you. Although they get treated not very kindly from some of the guests they still continue to do their work with a smile on the face. We met such wonderful people there who made us they truly welcoming especially after we had an instance with a lady who was particularly rude and obnoxious and was saying offensive remarks to my wife and daughter whilst I wasn’t there. The stuff quickly diffuse the situation as I was not particularly happy with how she was which then involved a manager being called as I would not tolerate people being rude and offensive to my family. Having said that the lady did come and apologise the next day and used Google translate to do the apology, which I thought was a kind gesture. I cannot mention. All of the names of the ones who are particularly outstanding as there were so many, and unfortunately we could not get all of their names but they all deserve the credit in the buffet restaurant. The only photo we couldn’t get was with burkha in the buffet restaurant who again was so kind and courteous. I think special mention has to go to Namal the sous chef who did everything he could to make sure our culinary experience was of the highest standard, Mohammed restaurant manager who greeted us most days in the waiting area, Tony who remembered all our drinks orders all holiday not matter which restaurant we were in, Farooq & Burka, madushi who also greeted us most days and asked after us all all the time and extremely professional and ashak (our waiter) who served us quite a few times and when he wasn’t serving us made it his task to make sure we were ok and gave us what ever we needed. Again though everyone was superb and pictures show the staff were so welcoming. My son especially liked the magic tricks from Mohammed which were very funny and had us in stitches. We also visited the Italian restaurant, which is also a very nice restaurant with some very nice food and again friendly attentive staff which served us some afternoons and some evenings. The meat point restaurant we visited once however it wasn’t to our taste as it had very little choice on the menu however once again the restaurant staff was so welcoming and tried everything to make our experience more enjoyable. The Asian restaurant had to be our favourite cuisine, the food was exceptional. My only criticism of the à la carte restaurants is the varying lack of choices across the menu. Other hotels we’ve been to there is far more selection for you to choose from, especially if there are certain foods you don’t like. Across all the pools once again the staff were amazing. A friendly smile goes a long way both ways and I’m sure makes their day go fast when people speak to them. Having used all the pools I would have to say they are very clean tidy with no drinks or food allowed around the pool which makes it a bit more pleasurable when playing in the pool. There are some tourists however who don’t like to abide by the rules which makes the lifeguards job even harder when they have to keep whistling and getting people to take their drinks away, while some just completely ignore them. Special mention to Mohammed, Eric, Saman, naim and patham who were extremely friendly every day. Again apologies didn’t get to get the other lifeguards names. The towel lady with glasses(sorry didn’t get name) in the main pool was sorry lovely and friendly to us all especially my daughter. The beach is extremely clean and the sea is lovely and blue and the section of area for you to swim in to avoid the jellyfish coming in Is very pleasant. The nighttime entertainment was very good also and very pleasant surprise for Dubai as we’ve never had that where we stayed. The entertainment team were very good. The main bar by the beach also had extremely good staff and Mohammed made the best cocktails. The lobby bar we used towards the end of the nights and both Brayan and Allan were so kind, courteous, professional and very attentive and Ayman who challenged my son to an arm wrestle most days. All in all it made the stay at the hotel a very nice one with the staff we met along the way. The fitness suite is also a very nice place clean tidy and a good selection of machinery. The staff here could be a little more polite and courteous however the lady who works there was extremely polite and welcoming when we arrived and whenever I used the gym. The poolside games were extremely fun and competitive and Sou who runs it is such bubbly character who is very polite and good at keeping the fun tempo. My only criticism of the hotel is of some of the reception staff who weren’t the most helpful and one who came across quite rude when I approached her about the transport back to the airport and she said that the hotel don’t provide the transport even though I explained that it was a complimentary transfer as part of the hotel’s package and I had it on my booking documents however she didn’t seem to believe this and sent me to concierge who again weren’t the most helpful and just gave me a letter once they found it of all the details for the pick up. This has to be the one part that disappointed me across the whole day when it concerns the hotel staff because honestly the hotel staff themselves really make this place what it is. Some tourists who come can be quite rude and obnoxious having said that it does not apply to all of them just some of them don’t like to wait any time for a...

Me and my family had a great time at the Rixos Bab Al Bahr and wanted to try and give a true and honest picture of our experiences. I will caveat this review with the fact we were there in July which made the hotel a little quieter, however this doesn't really affect most of the review.||Hotel Facilities: The hotel is stacked with restaurants, bars and places to grab a coffee/tea. There are multiple pools including one with kids slides and an adult only pool, all are well watched by lifeguards and are looked after and cleaned very well. One tip for families is that even the kids pool gets deep where the slides are so if you little one isn't a strong swimmer, bring armbands/flotation devices for peace of mind. ||We never had to fight for a sunbed and reservations using towels are forbidden, the staff actively remove towels to free up sunbeds (The hotel towels anyway!!) so no matter what time of day, we could get a sub bed by the pool. ||There is some building work occurring around the hotel, this did not detract from our holiday and wasn't really noticable apart from one day at the kids pool, even then I was more focused on playing games with the children rather than the minimal noise. The wider Ras Al Khaimah area is growing and therefore some building work in the locality is expected but again, didn't give the holiday a negative impact. ||Food/Restaurants: The 7 Heights buffet is amazing and the staff in there work hard and made my kids feel special every day, thank you all for your welcome. They buffet has themed nights which are amazing and the breakfast and lunches are varied and tasty. We went to 3 Al La Cartes, the steak house, the middle eastern and the italian. All were amazing but the offering for children were a little odd in places, improving the offering for families would be a good addition here. ||Other reviewers have said it was difficult to get bookings for A La Cartes, it may of been a little quieter but we never had an issue and when it was very busy at the weekend, we still got a booking. Tip: Bookings open at 11am, by using the QR codes around the hotel, get the restaurant page uhp ready before 11 and book at 11am and you will guarantee a booking. ||Rooms: We had a premium, room with a sea view balcony, ours looked out over the road to the sea and although the road was busy in the morning, it was still pleasant to sit outside in the evening. The rooms are well kept and clean, although like other have said a little tired in places, however we did see in other buildings workers who are improving rooms and the hotel has a programme to improve rooms and facilities by refurbishing them. I managed to see one refurbished room, with lovely dark wooden flooring and I am excited to see what the hotel looks like after all the hard work. The rooms are spacious and the beds very comfortable, the minibar is refreshed every day and the staff are always happy to help if you need something. ||Our room had a very large balcony but it is somewhat under utilised, I hope as part of the refurbishment they consider some comfortable outside loungers/couches and make more of these spaces. ||Entertainment: The entertainment is amazing, nightly kids discos/shows as well as other shows families and adults enjoy. When you arrive, you scan a QR code and can access all the timetables which is a really good way of doing it. ||The performers are top notch and work so hard. The kids club is very good with lots of daily activities to choose from including cooking activities, sports and craft. My children really enjoyed their time in the clubs. The teens club ranges from 9-17, my 9 year old went and to be honest was little young for it, even though eh enjoyed it. He ended up doing more kids club activities but for slightly older children it is amazing, although there is slightly less structure to the teens club.||Spa / Health Club: We went and use the gym, which is very well kept and has enough equipment to keep your gym routine going. They run regular gym classes as well as sport classes in the pool such as water polo. Me and my wife had a massage at the spoa and it was very good indeed, relaxing and thorough. One negative point here is there are people form the spa/salon who are lovely people but they are constantly walking around trying to drum up business, this makes it feel less 5* and you spend time trying to avoid them. Finding a way to maintain a good stream of business for the spa without badgering people at sunbeds would be good. ||The Staff: The staff make this place more than 5*, they are amazing and nothing is too much trouble. MAry and AQbdul at the Isla bar looked after us so well, George in the lobby bar was amazing and all the many other staff were also brilliant. The lifeguards all made friends with my 9 year old who got fist bumps everywhere he went, the buffet staff made my 6 year old feel like a princess every day. ||Overall, the Rixos Bab Al Bahr is a great hotel and although it is a little tired in places I wouldn't hesitate in visiting again. I recommend to anyone to visit here as it is a little way out of Dubai, but close enough that you can visit easily. The hotel has transport but there are travel agents available to arrange trips as well. In a few years, Ras Al Khaimah will be a major resort and I expect the prices to increase to Dubai levels. If you...

I loved the hotel, the food and the staff. The effort the hotel put towards the Christmas theme was as good as I have seen anywhere - the decor, lighting and even the beautiful smells all made that an experience we won’t forget quickly. Hotel was busy but the staff all throughout hotel could not help enough on any request. Everyone from lobby to poolside to roomkeeping and the restaurant staff I thought represented the hotel very well. All the food was great both at buffet restaurant and the al a carte at which we tried 3 and although menus are limited it is a much more relaxed vibe away from hustle and bustle of the the buffet area with very attentive waiting staff. Facilities are good but the hotel could do with investing in better area for kids to play football. All other sports areas are catered for much better and I think would be a popular addition to facilities. My review of the hotel would be first class if it were not for the lack of sleep we had for on the holiday which is very disappointing when you go on a holiday intending to relax. On our first night I was impressed with our room which had nice decor and touches throughout until we tried get to sleep. The road along side hotel - the Al Marjan Island Boulevard road is like a major highway all through the night. Buses / cars (very noisy sports cars) / trucks - hundreds per hour / and motor cycles are constant all through night. I complained next morning and without any resistance we were offered a room move — apart from the hassle of packing and unpacking again this seemed like a good idea. The staff liaison was very helpful and could not have been more nicer to us and very understanding. Our 2nd room was a slight upgrade in size but had limited options where we could relocate to due to availability and the type of room we had - 2 bed apartment was needed for us and our kids. Room had great sea view and we moved 3 floors higher and slight different angle to road. So hoped this would reduce noise - sadly during night 2 we realised it would not be quieter. We were so tired I couldn’t even bother about moving again and wasting more holiday time. I have stayed in hundreds of hotels all around the world over last few decades even in busy city centres in many countries and have never had to endure such noise at night time. This is our worst noise experience anywhere in our previous travels. This sadly had a terrible effect on my opinion of hotel. We left my holiday exhausted when were looking for a refresh and this totally spoiled our experience. I managed more sleep at beach during day than I did on any night during the stay. Was such a pity as was really looking forward to a break and the rest of hotel was perfect. The hotel must know this - huge investment is required on noise cancelling windows. It is zero exaggeration from me to say this is loudest night time noise experience I have ever encountered so if you want book this hotel and value your sleep ask for a pool view room. The huge speed bump on road outside of hotel to mark start of the island makes things so much worse. As large buses and trucks crash over it making lots of noise with cargo being thrown around or the cars and bikes that have to slow down for it then the rev up engine to speed away creating so much noise - the road is so busy with trucks at certain times of day you can have smog on the balcony. This is again really disappointing that instead of nice clean sea air you are breathing in pollution. Not what expected when you go to a resort break. Much of the traffic I know is due to the large amount of building works going on in the area - I am sure it will look great when completed in the wider area but some consideration should be made for guests during this period and how to minimise the impact. Overall a very mixed experience - during day and evening the hotel was what I would hope it to be but at night I cannot hide my disappointment hence the negative part of my review and would like a response from hotel on this matter to know my comments have been registered...