Raffles The Palm Dubai — Hotel in Dubai

Underwhelming Start at Raffles The Palm – Hoping for a Better Finish (Stay from 26–28 July)

Currently staying at Raffles The Palm Dubai (26th to 28th July), and while the property is visually stunning, the service experience so far has left a lot to be desired.

Check-In Experience I arrived at 11:15 AM and was allotted a room by 11:45 AM — which was smooth and appreciated. My booking included early check-in and a complimentary room upgrade (subject to availability). However, I was only offered a garden view room — not ideal in the peak Dubai heat. Strangely, I could still see multiple upgraded rooms available online, but I was told the hotel was at full capacity.

Also, as an Accor Gold member, I should have received a welcome drink voucher at check-in — I wasn’t, and had to ask for it separately.

Room & Service Issues Entered the room at 12:00 PM — the room itself was luxurious and had a nice ocean view, which I appreciated. Unfortunately, the air conditioning wasn’t working. I contacted the service team, and an engineer came quickly, inspected the system for 10–15 minutes, and informed me it would take 30 minutes to an hour to fix.

I requested a room change but was again told the hotel was full, despite rooms still being visible on their own booking channels.

At 12:30 PM, drilling noise began nearby. I raised another complaint, but the noise continued. Later, I received a call from the duty manager saying the issue would be fixed in 10–15 minutes. When the engineer returned, I was told it would take another 30 minutes.

At 2:00 PM, I went down to speak with the duty manager (Ms. Sabrina) in person. I was informed that a new room could be made available only after 3 PM — the official check-in time. Unfortunately, I had to leave at 2:45 PM for my scheduled Burj Khalifa visit, with no resolution provided till then.

Overall Impression So Far As someone who has stayed at Fairmont, Pullman, Grand Mercure, and many other Accor properties across Europe, Southeast Asia, and India, I’ve always had consistently excellent experiences. This was my first Raffles stay — and frankly, it’s been mediocre so far, especially considering the premium pricing and the brand’s reputation.

The lack of urgency, empathy, and ownership from the hotel staff has been disappointing. Perhaps I overestimated Dubai’s famed hospitality.

The stay is still ongoing — I’ll be sharing a Part 2 of this review once the experience concludes. I sincerely hope the remaining part of the stay turns things around.

Part 2 – A Redemption Story Worth Noting

After a rocky start to our stay at Raffles The Palm Dubai, I’m happy to share that the remainder of the experience truly turned things around.

We returned to the hotel late at night and were promptly handed the key to a new room on the same floor. Upon reaching the door, we noticed it was slightly different — a double-hinged entryway, quite unusual for a standard hotel room. That’s when we realized we’d been upgraded.

To our delight, we were moved to a sea-facing One Bedroom Jacuzzi Suite. The suite was nothing short of magnificent — a spacious living room, a fully equipped kitchen, and a massive bedroom with elegant gold-accented furniture and fittings. The bathroom was equally grand, and the highlight was the private balcony with a Jacuzzi overlooking the sea — an unforgettable feature.

Breakfast was equally impressive, with a wide variety of delicious options. A thoughtful handwritten note from the duty manager was placed in our room — a small but meaningful gesture that reflected genuine hospitality.

Checkout was smooth, quick, and efficient, ending the stay on a high note.

Despite the initial hiccups, I must say the overall experience was fantastic. The gesture of upgrading the room and the attention to detail in the second half of our stay showed a commendable effort by the staff to make things right.

Verdict: A hotel that understands how to recover from a mistake and go the extra mile. I would definitely stay at Raffles The Palm again the next time...

A wonderful stay for 9 nights at Raffles Hotel The Palm. This is our second stay in Dubai on the palm and Raffles was a great choice for us as a family with a 2 year old.

All staff could not do enough for you throughout the hotel. We stayed half board which included Breakfast and Dinner or Breakfast and lunch at the italian restaurant.

Rooms: We had 2 rooms during our stay due to an issue on the 3rd day which Aqsa very very quickly resolved for us. The first room was an ocean view double room and second room was a palm view room. The ocean view room had a very comfy king size bed and an extra single bed for my daughter (they provided a bed guard rail too which was very helpful). The ocean room had a lot more room space than the Palm view including a big walk in wardrobe but a small balcony. The Palm view room had a much smaller walk in wardrobe but amazing views and a huge balcony which was great when we wanted to sit outside and my daughter could have a little run around. The palm view balcony also included 2 sunbed loungers and 4 chairs and 2 tables. The rooms were cleaned daily and also there was a turndown service every night. There was a stocked mini bar and also a draw full of snacks. You could request as many tea bags/coffee pods/milk as you wish. The bathroom is stocked with shampoo, conditioner and shower gel so you needn't take your own.

Food: Breakfast: there were many breakfast choices and many juices to choose from too. Tea and coffee was brought to your table and included in the price Dinner: We never once had a bad meal, all the food was absolutely delicious. Every night there was roast beef, roast chicken, veg, potatoes, a meat and vegetable curry as well as many other main dishes. There was a pasta station where a chef would cook you fresh pasta as you wait. There was a kids food section which had mashed potato, veg, fries, chicken nuggets, pasta etc. DRINKS ARE NOT INCLUDED IN DINNER, SO THIS IS A CHARGABLE EXTRA (including water)

Pool area: The pool area was beautiful and it had ample sunbeds, we did not struggle once to get a sunbed even if we didn't use the pool until 3pm. When you arrive at the pool towels are already on the beds, these are free to use so you needn't pack your own beach towels. There was a huge pool which was no deeper than 1.3m which also had a swim up bar in the corner. There is also a small children's pool with sunbeds around it and a small play area right behind it, There were many lifeguards all around the 2 pools and they were quick to action any stumble from the children and ensure they were ok at all times. They were all so so friendly and really did an amazing job.

Extra information: There is a cinema on site, we did not use but were aware of it Hairdryer is provided Towels are changed daily Water is provided for free in your toom and you can request more There is an iron and ironing board in every room Every night there is a lady who plays the piano in the bar area of the ground floor, this is amazing to listen to The Singapore sling is amazing! The beach for the hotel is beautiful and has views of the palm/Atlantis/Atlantis royal Use the Careem or UBER apps for taxis as the private hotel taxis are fairly pricey (£20 to go to Atlantis which was around 2.5km away, where as Careem was £17 to go to the Dubai mall 25km away)

Activities to recommend Nakheel mall - lovely to walk around, you can get the metro down the palm to the Atlantis too with amazing views (there is an indoor children's area with rides, arcades, soft play and role play which is great) - minimum price is £27 Dubai Mall - fountain, walk around the shops The Burj (located at Dubai mall) Atlantis water park and dolphin experience - amazing day at the waterpark and also a dolphin encounter - the waterpark is also insane with everything you would need - very good for toddlers, my 2 year old absolutely loved it! Atlantis aquarium is better than the Duabi mall aquarium (in my opinion) We were able to use our emirates boarding pass to gain 25% off a lot...

Overall we had a terrific stay and loved the hotel. The food was excellent quality (with the exception of the afternoon tea which I will touch on later) - the breakfast and dinner buffet offered a variety of food and was very high quality food.

The staff were amazing throughout the hotel. Polite, helpful, attentive, respectful. Staff remembered your name and made sure you felt special.

The rooms were beautiful and the beds were very comfy.

The hotel felt intimate and special, even though it was busy at times. I think Raffles on the palm is a great choice.

Special mention to Hussain, Shehan and all of the valet crew - they did an exceptional job and took great care with the cars and made you feel at home everytime you returned to the hotel.

Housekeeping came twice a day and the room was stocked very well with lots of items that you might need. The room was in great condition apart from the dimmer switch for the main light, which I reported twice, but didn’t get fixed (minor thing).

The grounds were stunning and well kept. The gym was really well maintained and offered good levels of equipment.

Although the Jazz bar closed which we were sad about, there was a new lounge bar called “Chayka” that opened inside the hotel. My wife and I went one evening and had a great time; there were special James Bond themed performances which were very well done. The hotel could do a better job at promoting Chayka and making guests aware of their existence (I had to ask if the Jazz bar was still closed) and schedule, although I understand they are two separate entities.

My only criticism of the week was the afternoon tea. To be frank, we thought that the quality was average (at best) and didn’t live up to the quality of the Raffles Brand. Firstly, we had to wait nearly an hour for the afternoon tea to come. The waitress told us subsequently to me complaining that it takes 25-30 minutes to come, but could have set expectations prior, even still, we waited far too long considering the scones were not warm and the cakes were not particularly fresh in my opinion. My wife is gluten free (we booked the day before) and we were expecting that they’d have baked some gluten free scones - although they gave packet scones which were what you could get at a supermarket. The gluten free cake section was also poor and lack luster. This is in comparison to other afternoon tea experiences at hotels we’ve had over the years. As an example, Raffles in London baked specific gluten free scones and replicated the gluten cakes with gluten free alternatives to their best of their ability, so we were disappointed that this afternoon tea did not really meet the same level. Generally we found the food service at the hall to be very slow, a lunch one day taking 45 minutes to come for 2 salads.

I also thought it was very poor that no replacement pianist had been booked. We were expecting a piano player to be playing, as advertised on the website, menus etc… although I asked the waitress where the piano player was and I was told they have been away for a month. I was quite shocked that with a brand as respected and high quality as raffles would have not thought to book another Piano player, especially if you know that they wouldn’t be around for over a month. Is there no one else in Dubai that can play piano to a good standard? Had no one thought to book a replacement? Granted if the individual had called in sick then it is understandable a replacement might not be able to be sourced, but to not book any kind of replacement knowing that the pianist would be on annual leave for over a month, was really poor in my opinion.

The concierge team did a great job during the week, helping me source some items quickly that I needed, thank you.

Having said that, the rest of the experience at the hotel exceeded our expectations and was great value for money of what we paid for the week.

Thank you to all the staff and again, the valet staff for providing us with such a special week! We hope to...