Raffles Dubai — Restaurant in Dubai

The hotel itself is in a good location, close to central downtown Dubai and old Dubai. Metered taxis are available quite quickly outside and the staff at the concierge desk and valet staff are very helpful. If you want to go into the Palm or Jumeirah beach, it's a bit of a trek with traffic but manageable day trips.

The rooms were clean and well kept however ensure you specify which room you prefer. We are non-smokers with very sensitive asthma and we were initially put in a smoking room and floor. The room was smokey and smelled disgusting so we quickly made our way back down to reception for a room change. We had to wait a little but we were provided a room change to a more suitable room. We were not asked (and were not aware there were smoking rooms as we are from Europe and visiting UAE for the first time), this was the mistake of the reception staff who allocated this room to us in the first place. Unfortunately this made day 1 start off a bit uncomfortably however the staff were apologetic about this, we were not offered anything complimentary.

Food: We opted for the half board and club access which meant we had breakfast, afternoon tea, evening canapés and either lunch or dinner for food options. We specified when we booked both through our travel agent provider and directly with the hotel about our dietary requirements however it seems like there's some miscommunication problem as we had to specify each time we ate at the hotel and had to double check with options we could have. Please note, veg and vegan options are VERY limited so I'd suggest booking elsewhere if you have these dietary requirements. Some days we received excellent service and the staff offering a few options. Other days (most days!), we'd be offered the same vegan falafels, and dry cake or chia seed pudding for a sweet treat. If you're opting for half board, be aware that for lunch you only have bento boxes (which again are limited options and you cannot customise) or for dinner, bento boxes again or a 2 course meal at the Italian restaurant called Solo. There's a couple of options in the Solo restaurant but still limited to what you can customise or change for your dietary requirements. It's a shame the hotel couldn't offer a credit for the a-la-carte menu or more options when we asked. I could see there were alot more options on the a-la-carte menus around the restaurants that would have suited us and it would have been nice if we could had this option due to our dietary requirements and the amount we paid for our stay.

Swimming pool and spa facilities are nice and well kept, and staff are helpful. It got quite busy and isn't the biggest space so keep this in mind, loungers were busy as well most of the day. We didn't have any treatments so cannot comment on that.

Finally, as we were celebrating a special occasion, my husband had requesting a complimentary treat in the room (on day one), and had again specified our dietary requirements. Nothing was provided on arrival or day one. On day 3 or 4, we found a special cake in our room, when we called to check if it matched our requirements, we found out we couldn't actually eat it as it had the allergens! The next day, the staff provided an alternative option but unfortunately it was the same cake we had just had that evening during the canapés and nothing as extravagant as the original sweet treat.

Overall, a good location hotel if you want to see central dubai, old dubai etc. however it was a let down on the food options for us. Would like to give a shout out to most of the staff, everyone was friendly and approachable. They tried to help where they could but seems like the policy or management are a...

Upon arrival on 2nd August 2025, I was greeted by name by Wilson who remembered me from my previous visits and escorted me to breakfast after I had checked in. I was pleased to be welcomed by the assistant restaurant manager Lovelle who remembered me from my stays at the Sofitel Obelisk where she used to work.

As a Platinum Accor member I wasn't satisfied with the pseudo upgrade Tunc had given me at check-in from a 70m2 Signature room to an identical 70m Skyline room as I wasn't planning to spend my stay looking out of the window. I went to see Ehab at reception who offered me a paying upgrade at a discounted price of AED 300 instead of the usual AED 500 to a 150m2 Diplomatic suite which I accepted. What he forgot to mention was that it was AED 300 plus an AED 30 upsell fee plus an AED 21 municipality fee plus 5% VAT at AED 16.50 which I didn't discover until after I had left the hotel.

I had planned to use some of my points to pay for the stay but when I went to check out they told me they had already charged my credit card which was really annoying. They didn't provide me with a full copy of my invoice either nor did they send it to me as I requested. I got back in touch with the hotel and received a prompt reply from Hazel Ann where I discovered these extra charges but even worse I had been charged 50 dhs for a Heineken from the minibar. First of all, I didn't even open the minibar, secondly I don't drink beer and thirdly I had all my drinks in the lounge so hopefully I will get a prompt refund for that and I suggest they check their minibar more carefully before guest arrival next time.

I was disappointed with the suite. The living room was really big and the furniture was old, the bedroom was small and the whole suite definitely needed renovating. The living room only had sheer curtains so I couldn't leave the bedroom door open at night. The curtains didn't close properly in the bedroom so the light woke me up early in the morning. The desk in the bedroom was small without a socket close to it so I had to use my extension cable and there was only one socket by the bed.

I went to the swimming pool which is beautiful and they have extended the pool area. The gym is decent but with all the space they have, they could have made it bigger. The best one I've ever been to is at the Sofitel The Palm which is huge. I then went to the hairdresser Guzel on the same level where I always get my hair done and you can walk in without an appointment so that's very convenient.

As for the food, breakfast was great but I had to ask them to bring me some muesli as they hadn't put any out, afternoon tea in the Club Lounge wasn't as good as the one at the Sofitel Obelisk 500 metres down the road and when I went for evening canapés, although the selection of food was good, I was shocked to see the choice of cheap wine, for example white Emotivo which costs less than AED 50 in the alcohol shops. I had a welcome drink in the lobby bar later on which is huge with comfortable couches but they had rearranged the furniture at the bar end and I couldn't sit at my favourite table as it wasn't there any longer.

Overall, I was disappointed with my stay. I had a better suite during a previous visit and an amazing one at Raffles The Palm which also has a great lounge. I probably won't stay here again and if I wasn't a Platinum member I definitely wouldn't pay extra for the Club...

We stayed at Raffles Dubai from 24th March to 3rd April inc. There is no doubt that the hotel is stunning inside & out sparkling clean. We were in a Raffles Club Room very comfortable beds & the bonus of a plug next to the dressing table! Very rare to get this & I've been all over the World! Could do with a few more drawers as there is room to put them. Bathroom lovely huge shower, his & her sinks & a walk in wardrobe. Huge balcony but we only had views over the garden which were ok but other rooms were facing sunset & the Dubai skyline so would have been better to enjoy the scenery.

One let down for a 5 Star Hotel was no little toiletries in the bathroom we even had them for a 4 Star last year so were disappointed. We love collecting them. They have big bottles of Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Cream, Face Cream so you don't really need to take your own, smelt divine!

Service impeccable throughout. The staff were amazing, extremely helpful & friendly, couldn't do enough for us. They all tried to remember our room no & referred to me as "Miss Lisa"! Made me smile every time.

We had paid for Raffles Club & honestly thought it wasn't worth the money. Our expectations were high being Raffles. In Club areas which we always pay for they usually have a separate restaurant for Club Members, this one didn't. All we had was a lounge for afternoon tea & canapes & drinks 6 pm to 8 pm (men HAVE to wear trousers). That was it! So definitely disappointed in this.

DON'T pay extra for Half Board. All you get for your evening meal is a "Bento Box" basically an Economy Flight dinner in a box. I couldn't eat any of them, so we had to eat out every night & Dubai is very expensive. Had we known we may not have gone on holiday as we had to stretch ourselves in order to relax & enjoy it.

The pool was a little too small but refreshing not too cold. The jacuzzi wasn't working. The bar staff were great always coming round the pool for food & drink orders. We got free iced water as much as we wanted. The drinks are hugely expensive a Watermelon Juice was £10 which we drank in a flash!! Cocktails were around £18.

We didn't eat in any of the restaurants (apart from breakfast) as I'm a fussy eater so couldn't find anything for me to have. Food by the pool was good. Breakfast's in Azure Restaurant had plenty of choice & little shots every day which were a nice touch. However the service outside wasn't good at all, very slow & often forgot our order. We did complain & they tried to rectify it but this didn't get any better. Inside was perfect but we like to sit outside on holiday if we can as we can't at home!

The main problem we found with Raffles was the location. We like to stroll out after dinner but there wasn't anywhere to go within walking distance. Always had to have a taxi. The Metro is nearby but quite complicated to use & was too far for my hubby to walk due to his health problems. Taxis were always around but very expensive when totting up how many we had to have due to the location. There is a shopping centre under the hotel called WAFI but quite a few...