Residence Inn by Marriott Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai — Hotel in Dubai

I've traveled the world and never encountered a hotel manager so uneducated and rude🤮. His name is Muhammad Ali, and he’s working at Marriott as A MANAGER you can’t believe it.Truly ashamed of you. Please note: I'm a Titanium Elite.

I don't know how he got to that position. We stayed at this hotel for 22 days, from August 24th to September 14th. The elevators and parking were terrible. If it weren't for the excellent room, we wouldn't have stayed for 22 days. The incident happened on September 14th. Because we were attending an online meeting in another country, we didn't get to rest until the morning, Dubai time. Our Titanium Elite benefits allowed us to check out at 4:00 PM, but the hotel front desk didn't give us that. The front desk kept calling us from 12:00 PM to check out, and one of the women said we could check out at 6:00. It took us a while to get up, wash, and pack, and the front desk kept calling us to check out. My husband checked out at 5:00 PM, and I finished packing my room around 6:00 PM and left. The front desk woman pretended to have forgotten about the 6:00 checkout date, and when pressed by her manager, she denied it. She deducted our deposit and demanded a full night's room charge for my late checkout. My husband was waiting in the parking lot for their luggage when the uneducated and rude manager, Muhammad Ali, came out of the hotel parking lot and shouted at him in a rude and loud voice, "I heard you were looking for me?" From the very beginning, his tone was provocative, aggressive, and humiliating. I found it disgusting. My husband was furious. They were almost face-to-face, and I and the staff had to separate them. With Muhammad standing in front of our car, preventing us from leaving and holding our luggage, we asked to called the police.

He retaliated by asking the housekeeping staff to check if we had taken anything from the hotel. The response was that four hangers and a hand towel were missing from our room. He saw my four hangers in my bag and said we had stolen them.

That was so humiliated. We have a Lamborghini, and we’d take your hangers and a hand towel?🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣LMAO～^_^

When the police arrived, his attitude was extremely disrespectful, even laughing uncontrollably. 😳I was a little shocked and even suspected he was drugged and insane. We asked the police to open our suitcases one by one and search them. If they didn't have anything from the hotel, we would sue him personally and the hotel for serious defamation.

After the police mediated, he shut up and returned our luggage. It was clear he couldn't frame us for something we didn't do,He didn't apologize and just snuck away. We wasted our flights and time, and five hours sweating in the parking lot. Such uneducated people always try to lower your standards to be like him. God will never forgive you.🤣

After this incident, I forgot some things in the room and asked the front desk to put them away while I went to get them. When I went to get them today, I found a lot of items missing, and the front desk said that was all I had. The manager at the front desk, upon seeing me, acted like a customer, retaliating, refusing to speak to me or address the matter, leaving me standing there waiting. As I turned to leave, I heard him ask the staff member, "Did she sign?"

I want to tell this self-proclaimed smart manager: You should be very thankful you're working in Dubai. In my country, aggressive people don't end well. I've witnessed you speak to other customers many times, and it's truly rude and disrespectful.

And don't think this is over. I will be complaining to your manager, Marriott, until I see you punished appropriately.

Didn't you realize we're not tourists? We're investors in Dubai and we lived in Dubai for many years,my friend. we have many employees just like you. The difference is they're well-mannered, you're not. Don't play yourself. No class and no education, You do not deserve your position, your violent, aggressive personality will lead you to a place that...

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...

Location and Room Quality Can’t Make Up for Poor Operations

While this hotel has some positives, such as a convenient location, clean and spacious rooms, and decent housekeeping, the operational issues make it a frustrating experience overall. I would only recommend staying here if you have a lot of patience for waiting—for breakfast and the elevators.

Breakfast Chaos The breakfast spread is extensive and well-curated, but the hotel is severely understaffed during peak hours (8:30–10:30 AM). Expect long queues for everything: omelets, coffee, even bread toasters. Clean plates and spoons are often unavailable, with replacements taking 10–15 minutes to arrive. To make matters worse, if you decide to take a croissant to your room, waiters object, which feels unwelcoming and overly restrictive.

Elevator Nightmare The elevator system is poorly managed and severely inadequate for a hotel of this size. They use a pre-assigned system where you press your floor number before entering, but this often leads to absurd wait times—up to 30 minutes just to catch an elevator. Many of the external floor displays don’t work, leaving you clueless about whether your elevator is coming.

I personally had a terrible experience: • I waited nearly 15 minutes for a packed elevator, only to be crammed in so tightly it felt unsafe for anyone claustrophobic. • After just a few floors, the elevator displayed an “overload” warning and stopped at a random floor, where I had to get out • I had to wait for a housekeeping staff member to assist me as my room key didn’t work at that floor • It took another 15 minutes for an elevator supposedly assigned to my floor, only for it to skip my floor entirely. • In total, I spent 45 minutes trying to get back to my room.

To summarise, This hotel is good, but its operational inefficiencies make it a nightmare for anyone in a hurry or expecting basic convenience. Book here only if you can spare extra time for breakfast and getting in and out...