Regent Beach Resort - Dubai, United Arab Emirates     

We booked the hotel as it is close to the beach, yet close to the city. The problem with this hotel is it appears that it has lost it's identity as a hotel as it concentrates more on its restaurant custom. When we checked in we were told that we had been upgraded at no extra cost to a superior room on the understanding that if they needed the room we would have to vacate! It was very late and in order to get our heads down after a long flight we accepted. The room itself was a good size and very clean. Unfortunately however during our entire stay we were unable to open our curtains or patio doors as this looked directly out onto a table within the restaurant! I must point out that the photographs of the hotel on the website are not a good representation of the Regent Beach Hotel. The open communal area has been taken over by a large ‘Ali Baba’ tent which houses a smoking area and restaurant. It appears that the hotel has utilised every morsel of space which directly impacts on the overall comfort of the hotel. Where at one point the superior room would have had its own patio, this has now been utilised as part of the Ali Baba tent!! It wouldn’t have been so bad but Dubai is a fantastic place, it would just have been nice to be able to open the curtains in order to know whether it was daylight or evening....very disorientating. I found myself not wanting to go back to the hotel on some occasions as the ‘Tent’ area remained open quite late and it really did feel like people were in our room as we could hear their conversations perfectly!! To be fair, I can’t say it spoilt our holiday as I still made the most of it but I suppose forewarned is forearmed. With two days to go we received the phone call from reception....we need the superior room back, you have to get out. The receptionist was very matter of fact and basically told us at 9am that we had to pack and get out of our room ASAP. To be honest, due to the problems with the room we didn’t make a fuss and simply asked for the key to our new room. It was at this point that we were told that a bell boy would fetch our case as our room wouldn’t be ready until 3pm!! Enough was enough...we checked out.

We stayed there for 4 nights. For the cost it was a reasonable place, the room can be described as functional. The Hotel itself has a good Indian Restaurant, which I would recommend. And there is a Ali Baba Tent where Breakfast and the lunch buffet is served. The Spa within the Hotel was excellent, as it offered a range of massage (we opted for the Thai Massage). In terms of location, it's right on the beach near the port. There isn't a lot of noise and you can a nice range of locals and tourists. I think that makes for a nice change from private beaches! There is a pier, which was a fantastic location to watch the sun set, a memorable experience for us. Getting in to the city is affected by Traffic, but that's Dubai generally and there isn't much traffic around the Hotel. Also in walking distance is the Dubai Marine Resort with multiple bars and restaurants. All in all, a hotel that suited our needs and exceeded our expectations. The service was great!