Sharjah Rotana Hotel - Sharjah, United Arab Emirates 

I stayed at the Sharjah Rotana for five nights and the service from start to finish was excellent. The staff were all extremely friendly, polite and helpful. They arranged an airport transfer from Dubai airport for 130 DHS which was very useful as I arrived quite late on a Thursday night and the airport was in total chaos as it was the start of the weekend. The buffet breakfast was very good and although the gym is small, it has enough machines and weights to keep you busy for a couple of hours. The pool is a little small but clean and lovely and warm, so it is sufficient for those who just want to dip in between lounging sessions. Rooms are spacious, quiet, bright and spotlessly clean with comfy beds. The windows do not open, but you can control the air-conditioning unit yourself. Ladies will be happy to hear they actually provide a real hairdryer that unlike the usual hotel driers actually dries your hair! Ask reception for their recommended local restaurants (most are Indian /Pakistani cuisine in this area) but there are also your usual fast food chains nearby. Location wise, it is walking distance (about 20 mins) to the old Blue Sook (al sooq al markazi) and surrounding sites, but staff will also be happy to call a local taxi for you if it is too hot. There is a shuttle to Dubai twice a day, but I seemed to miss both! I found it impossible to find a local taxi that would agree to take me to Dubai, so the hotel arranged one at a cost of 70 DHS one way. The traffic in and out of Sharjah and Dubai is so bad pretty much constantly (I just couldn’t get up early enough to avoid it!) that I just explored the local area. The hotel would be a great point from which to explore the other lesser known Northern Emirates in a rented car (Don’t forget your International driving licence), but not as convient for Dubai (although I got bored with Dubai after a day). Overall I cannot speak highly enough of this hotel and the customer service, I thoroughly enjoyed my stay there and would definitely stay there again.

This was a nice hotel in the middle of town. Don't accept a room with adjoining door though as very noisy. The food was very good in the restaurant and very reasonable compared to Dubai. The pool was nice and warm although not too big. Nice comfy beds and good room size with bidet in the bathroom. All in all very good value for the money. But bear in mind Sharjah is dry.