Amwaj Rotana - Jumeirah Beach — Hotel in Dubai

Another hotel we wished allowed half-star ratings. Overall, we enjoyed our stay, but there were a few frustrations—most out of the hotels control but irritating nonetheless.||Check-In|Quick and easy with no issues. We were given our keycards and told our luggage would already be in our room—it wasn’t, but it arrived shortly after, so no real problem there.||Room (809)|Excellent! Spacious, with a large, comfortable bed, sofa, coffee table, fridge, hair dryer, balcony, and a free safe. Plenty of hangers and drawers too. The wall-mounted TV had few English-speaking channels, but that wasn’t an issue—we don’t go on holiday to watch TV!||Bathroom|Perfectly adequate. Clean towels and toiletries replenished daily, with complimentary robes and slippers available. The shower which is over the bath, not an issue for us but might be for some, was powerful, though adjusting the temperature was tricky—move the dial a fraction either way and you go from freezing to scalding! Once you get the hang of it though, it’s fine.||Breakfast|Standard buffet style with omelettes and fried eggs cooked to order alongside the usual hotel fare. On a couple of mornings, things got hectic, and staff struggled to keep up. We even witnessed managers shouting at staff and staff shouting at each other as they struggled to keep on top of the service. Also, not all staff seemed to know what a “white coffee” was, which became a running joke between us. A minor issue, and it added a bit of amusement to the mornings.||Dinner|Similar setup to breakfast in the Horizon restaurant with a variety of items served as a buffet. A very long service which is great if you’ve been out for the day and get back late. Occasionally busy but generally more relaxed in the evenings than at breakfast. It could get noisy at times, though. The desserts were excellent—definitely save room for them!|The Italian restaurant, Rosso, was lovely: quiet, good food, attentive service—no complaints. We ate there three times.|However, JB’s Gastro Pub was another story. Think “Wetherspoons with pricier beer.” Loud, chaotic, with music playing and football on TV. It’s open to the street and with a lengthy happy hour so it draws a ‘lively’ crowd. The food was average—my chicken burger was tough, though my wife’s sausage and mash were fine—and calling it a “gastro pub” is a stretch. We didn’t return.||We didn’t get around to trying the Japanese restaurant, unfortunately.||Pool|This is where the hotel really falls short. The pool area is small for a hotel this size and there aren’t nearly enough sunbeds. They’re tightly packed, and towels “reserving” empty loungers all day didn’t help neither did ignorant guests spreading themselves over more sunbeds than they really needed. More than once we witnessed people arriving with towels and looking in vain for a sunbed.||Peace and quiet are hard to come by. Between squawking crows, revving supercars at the nearby roundabout, and small planes taking off from The Palm, it’s far from tranquil. Add in lots of children—running, crying, shouting, jumping, and occasionally being sick in the pool—and it’s not the place for relaxation. There is a kids’ pool, but most of the children were in the main one.||Shops, Gym & Salon|There’s a small on-site shop, which we didn’t use but likely sells basic necessities. A gym and some beauty/hair salons are available too, though we didn’t try them.||Lifts|A bit of a fiasco at times. Only three lifts serve the whole hotel, and waits can be long as all three sail passed your floor either up or down. Not helped when kids press both the up and down buttons together. More than once the lift went passed the floor we wanted so we alighted and took the stairs. Often, when a lift finally arrived, it was full of pushchairs or pool inflatables, leaving no room for anyone else. Difficult though to see how management could improve things.||Bars|The pool bar was great, though service to the loungers could be a little slow, so we often just strolled to the bar and fetched our own drinks. The bar next to Rosso was quiet and pleasant and air conditioned inside with tables outside for those who wanted them, our preferred spot for evening drinks.|As for JB’s, far too noisy for our taste—once was enough.||Cleanliness|Spotless throughout. A special mention to the housekeeping staff—our room was always immaculate. Management, if you’re reading this, give that team member a pay rise.| |Staff|Superb. Every single person we met was friendly, helpful, and smiling. The staff are a real credit to the hotel and made a huge difference to our stay. Big thanks then to the staff.||Wi-Fi|Free and reliable—no issues here.||Location & Surroundings|The hotel is surrounded by plenty of Dubai’s glitz and energy. Plenty of shops, bars, and restaurants nearby, and a pleasant stroll over to Bluewaters Island is recommended.||Beach|A short walk away and definitely worth visiting. Accessed via a lift to street level at the rear of the pool area. It’s busy though and be prepared for steep prices—around £25 per sunbed per day (cash needed for towels). Still, the sea feels like stepping into a warm bath and it’s much more peaceful than the hotel pool.||Check-Out|Smooth and efficient. Luggage was collected and waiting in the lobby for our taxi. No complaints.||Overall|Amwaj Rotana does a lot right—it’s welcoming, comfortable, and has really good staff. But in trying to cater to everyone—families, business travellers, and couples—it seems to be overstretched sometimes.|If you’re looking for a lively family holiday, it’s ideal. But for a quiet, romantic, or more refined stay, there may be better choices. I would stress though that overall we enjoyed our stay and any minor issues were...

AVOID THIS HOTEL ||||It’s a shame to write this , I am in my 30s and really don’t want anyone to have the same experience as we did in this hotel or made go feel the way we did !! ||||Firstly the adult pool isn’t a adult pool as kids are in there all the time so this isn’t a adults pool which is what it states online not to mention if your a adult you can’t even jump in without the lifeguards blowing a whistle ||||When we asked for certain drinks like a pina coloda or a strawberry daq we was told to drink slowly as it takes the bartender long to make and other peolpe also need drinks to which then made us feel a type of way that we can’t ask for this drink which is a joke after how much you pay and other hotels defo wouldn’t say that to you especially considering we’ve paid for this ||||We got room service for free as we arrived late which we really appreciated after a long day travelling but then this sat in our room for 2 days the tray with food still on the plates which house keeping never took this , I had to call the reception to get someone to come and collect this from our room ||||There is no music around the pool so the atmosphere is tragic so you basically sit there and all you can hear is peolpe chatting to each other there is no vibe nothing when we asked to put music on they said it’s so quite the speaker it’s not even worth it ||||Me my partner and 2 friends were talking in the ( adults pool ) , adult language was being used a Karen then asked for someone to speak to us in the hotel about this language being used as there was kids in the adult pool ||||We apologised to the lady as we wouldn’t want to upset anyone on holiday we’re not horrible people and she then tells us that the hotel asked her if she would like us to be asked to leave the hotel. For a conversation privately being had between friends ||||So be careful you’ll be asked to leave the hotel if you swear in an adults pool so bare this in mind … which is a joke really and was also told that this is a civil matter with the police if they needed to contact them … let’s be real a couple of words that a Karen doesn’t like … joke ||||The hotel stank of gloss the whole week and it actually gave us a headache again I’ll stress we’re in our young 30s so we’re not just moaning it’s actually was so strong a few of us said it , no to mention we couldn’t use the lounge as this was being re decorated which again they never told us and you could smell the paint on level 8 where our friends were ||||Our air con was broke and yes this was fixed but at a 5 star I expect better considering at night it was 34c so you can imagine trying to sleep in that with the air con broke for a night I actually got no sleep and yes we got an apology but it’s not really a rest , yes this is a room specific but still it all adds up with the stuff above not mention the bed is like laying on a brick||||The buffet food for dinner avoid unless you like 3 star quality food , everywhere else the food was very very good but the buffet is woeful ||||Also if you are coming with kids there is nothing for them to do in this hotel as there is no entertainment at night and again it’s so dull but if there is a private event on then be prepared to be pushed to the side as they take priority over you as they had a red carpet and fresh sushi and almost that we shouldn’t be walking around there to go to jbs just to have a drink ||||Also not mention that at half 10 at night your all inclusive bands stop for drinks so the bar is open till 2 and the prices are a outrageous £40 for 2 whisky’s and 2 Pepsis £11 they was half board and cause they had a drink with dinner upstairs they wasn’t allowed a drink downstairs ||||There was also some very good points , some of the staff are lovely and very helpful and super friendly but all of the above does stick with you and when things are happening daily it out ways the good in this place and for the same money you can defo get a better hotel with more of a...

We have just returned from a week break here. |The location is amazing. It is a 5 minute walk to the Jumeirah Beach and another 10 minutes to get over to the blue water mall where the Dubai eye and Madame Tussaud’s is. |There is also an abundance of shops and restaurants in the area. |You can walk the other way to the marina which is a 10 minute walk, 30 minute walk to marina mall. |There is also a 24 hour shop next door to buy any drinks or snacks. |City sightseeing bus can be caught outside the hotel if you go out the pool exit on 2nd floor. |The hotel was fine. There is a fridge in your room but you only get water, tea and coffee. No soft drinks. |There is a free safe to use.|The beds are hard and the pillows are too soft, air conditioning was great however it did get too cold with the air conditioning on during the night so had to switch it off. |Our view was partial sea view and we could see the sea. Was really disappointed that we couldn’t see the Dubai eye though from our balcony as that would have been lovely. |There are three lifts which take forever. There is the option of stairs but with 25 floors this isn’t ideal.|We went to breakfast a few times. My daughter didn’t like anything they had to offer. I wasn’t fussed much either. I had a small bowl of porridge which was extremely watery. We ended up getting cereal bars from the shop next door and just nipped to the breakfast buffet for a drink. |We stayed all inclusive with the dine around package: we ate at the horizon buffet once for dinner and again there was nothing my daughter liked. I enjoyed a chicken curry with rice and onion bhajis. We were offered one drink and I asked for another but nobody bought us the second drink. |We didn’t eat lunch at all whilst here, we booked 4 of our evening meals at the JB restaurant. These have to booked 24 hours in advance. We had a roast dinner On Sunday which wasn’t included with the dine around package but it was so good! |The other 3 days we chose from the set menus for the dine around package. I enjoyed every meal I tried. My daughter enjoyed the bangers and mash.|We dined at the Italian dine around restaurant Rosso one day we wasn’t impressed with our meal and were glad we didn’t book more than once: . We had found it difficult to get a table but when we visited there were only 3 people in the restaurant eating other than us. |We didn’t eat lunch at all during our stay as we were out most the time. We were told about the pool side bar so one day we got back early and went to look for a menu. There were only around 8 tables around the bar and all those tables were taken. We didn’t see a menu at all to look at and when I asked the man arranging the chairs he looked at me confused. So we went next door to kfc instead. There isn’t enough room to have drinks during the day here, the pool bar is extremely small for the huge complex. Other than the 6 drinks we had with our meals at night (one per night) and the water for breakfast we didn’t have anymore drinks at the hotel due to them not being easily or readily available, which is strange for a huge complex. I would advise not to do the dine around package as we ended up buying more food and drinks out than in as lack of seating and places to go as part of the dine around, and the reluctance for them to offer or bring you a second drink when in one of the restaurants. |We didn’t use the pool at all. We were planning on having an afternoon at the pool on Tuesday as we only had plans for the morning however we got back to find the staff clearing everyone away from the pool area and dressing it up ready for a wedding. |We wasn’t told about this at all during our check in. It was closed off from our return from our morning trip out at 3pm for the rest of the day and night. |The great thing though about this hotel was that Every member of staff we came across was...