Ula Dubai — Restaurant in Dubai

Me and my friend could not wait to visit Ula. Once we arrived we realized that Ula is basically a "just" restaurant and the pool and beach area belongs to the hotel. We wanted to have a coffee before 10 am in their outdoor area but their answer was NO you can only have it on the beach. The reason is before 12 o'clock they do not want to have people sitting there. But two tables were already seated, so why different rules for the clients. To get service on the beach was almost impossible. So if you wanna order, you need to go to them. Lunch time... we asked for a table for 2 for one hour, the answer was we are full and only high tables are available. No extra miles, not trying to satisfy the guests... We watched tables behind us and 1,5 hour there were still free. The prices are a bit high for this kind of service you get there. The best part was when our friend wanted to join us at 2.30 pm. We got the bed for him, there were few free beds on the beach at that time. BUT the problem was that he could not join us because they were out of bracelets. So even though he was ready to pay and there were available beds, we got another big NO. Why do not you print enough bracelets or use another option to make sure you can accommodate your clients. It means 2 pm business stops because there are no more pink bracelets for guests?! There were so many issues but it is ok, pre opening, everybody can understand it, staff need to be trained more, pay attention to details, attitude etc. But the most frustrating thing was that no one from the management spoke to us or tried to fix something...not at all. I don't think this is hospitality... But the restaurant has a beautiful architecture. Nice place to take a...

Disappointing day at Ula where we had booked beds and lunch. Whilst pre booking these just wanted to shout out to the host as she was fantastic .. really knowledgable on the phone and remembered us whilst checking us in and even showed us the beds before we paid. However it is here where the service stopped.. the staff in the restaurant will drive you to the edge, getting our table proved to be challenging as we were told all the tables were reserved (even though we had booked) and we were guided to a table that wasn’t ideal. I spotted a vacant table the other side of the restaurant but the sassy waitress had other ideas eventually we negotiated the better table but then had the menu’s pretty much thrown at us. Get a waiter to then take the order was another challenge but after getting eye contact finally placed our order.. it arrived minus one item but the whole experience was lacking. Seems silly but water being filled up on the table but then only filling 2/3 glasses. Food arrived which we really liked but be prepared it’s pricey.. dips and pitta for starters (very nice) but 120aed!! The beach was nice but a little chaotic as you have the guests from the Duke’s so it isn’t private. Getting beach service forget it.. we eventually went to order our own at the bar and was told to head back and someone would be with us.. ten mins later and then paying the bill was another fuss! In a nutshell we won’t be going back.. just a tip but get your valet slip stamped at Ula.. no one told us we had to do this so picking up the car was another negotiation.. walk between valet and Ula so not ideal to go back and get it...

TL-DR; fine food, good atmosphere, poor service.

We came with high hopes and expectations; it is Dubai after all and whilst the food and ambience were very good, the service was very below average. Our table seemed to be stuck between to waiter/waitress 'zones' so no-one was looking after us. After waiting maybe 15 mins after sitting down someone finally arrived, a manager, to take our order. We ordered a couple of drinks and Gyro's. We did declare a nut allergy in our table but what we chose wasn't a cause for concern with that. Another 15-20 mins goes by and our drinks have not arrived but suddenly my Gyro does. My partners (nut allergy) Gyro is delayed and the manager states the reason as the chef being we extra careful. Which whilst kind and considerate, why didn't they bring both meals out together? Our first drinks then arrive, which were fine. My partners meal arrives and after finishing our food we are in limbo again trying to catch a waiter to order some more drinks. We finally flag someone down serving another table. Again these drinks take a very long time to arrive. I should point out that the restaurant as a whole was less than 50% full so I hate to think how slow it is on a busy night. At the end we had a conversation with the manager as we felt our service was very poor. He did apologise and offered some free drinks in the house which was reasonable. I'm sure we just were unlucky last night and this isn't the norm, but for us a sadly...