Grand Moov Hotel - Dubai, United Arab Emirates     

I stayed at the Grand Moov for one night during a 12 hour stopover. All I wanted was an affordable, clean room with a bed, shower, internet and TV, close to the airport, that a cab driver could find with no problem so I felt like this was provided for. While there was no internet in the room (4th level, away from lifts), I only needed to be online for a short while, so I went down to the lobby. I had to have dinner anyway, so ordered food there and it was OK and inexpensive. There's a Thai restaurant on the ground floor where you can drink alcohol, but since I live in Bangkok, the western menu in the lobby was fine for me. In regard to the noise, I was so tired I wasn't bothered by the nightclub at all. I heard the base, but it just didn't bother me. I woke up once to someone yelling REALLY loudly in Arabic right outside my door, but that was it. The lifts I couldn't hear, either. I always sleep with an eyeshade on, but I felt the curtains were adequate. The bed was really comfy and the water hot, there was shampoo and moisturiser (handy, since all my stuff was checked in and I didn't bring anything) and my wake-up call came twice, so I really have no complaints. I paid USD96 on ratestogo and felt that I got a good deal.

We spent recently a long business stay at the Grand Moov, booked via its official website which really looks great. Thanks to the Trip Advisors' reviews we had asked per email for rooms far from lifts (due to their never ending "ding" sound), on the upper floors, minimum on the 5th one (due to the disco on the ground floor), which were both confirmed. We had also carefully checked, also on various tourism portals, that there was the internet connection in the rooms, so we were sure to have all we needed to enjoy a profitable and rightfully pleasant business stay. Upon arrival we got two rooms on the 3rd floor, just opposite to the lifts and with no internet connection available! After complaining at the reception with our printed correspondence they told us we could have changed our rooms the day after thanks to some check-outs. So we spent the first sleepless night, after a whole day journey, in the noisy rooms on the 3rd floor. The day after the receptionists were totally in the dark of our complaint and were unable to offer us any other accommodation. They steadily tried to postpone the problem by saying "Please come back later". So we were in the mid afternoon and after several discussions and after saying that one of us is a hotel manager (which is the truth) we finally got two rooms on the 5th floor far from lifts and enough away over the disco but with no internet connection. When we complained for this severe poor service they answered that the internet connection is available only on the 6th and 7th floor with no extra-charge! Fully disappointing in comparison with the information offered on the internet and also on their official brochure. So, we were forced to move many times a day up and down to the business centre or the noisy lobby where there is the WI-FI connection available with a great impact on our stress. Some days later we booked the wake-up service which was confirmed but the morning after NOT CARRIED OUT! It was just by chance that one of us was awaked just in time by the sun through the carpets... No results after complaining also in this case. But this last episode was enough to make us send a written complaint per email: the day after we were called by the hotel manager who offered us two rooms on the 6th floor where we could finally enjoy the internet connection during the last week of stay. As a whole the structure is very new, wide, comfortable and the rooms offer sufficient comfort from some points of view: excellent beds, pillows and bed linen, tea & coffee making facilities free of charge, living corner and spacious bathroom with bath. Courtesy set well-assorted (including tooth brush and paste, shaver etc.) but no make-up mirror nor sufficient light in the bathroom; so you could also go out from the hotel with a clown-like make-up on your face. The minibar just offers one small bottle of water for the arrival day, then it can be filled only by the things you personally buy at the grocer's shop near the hotel. After asking why it is empty they answered that some guests do not want to pay for the drinks they take... All in all this was not a problem because we bought a lot of drinks and yogurts (the latter are totally absent on the breakfast buffet) by paying them one fourth of the average minibar hotel rates. In any case rooms are quite clean and well air conditioned. Apart from the lack of yogurts, ther breakfast buffet is sufficiently assorted and there is enough staff to clean up tables as well as to prepare crepes and fried eggs. Please do not order breakfast in your room as you will pay it twice (40 AED per person): once in the room rate and then another time by receiving it in your room. Lunch is AED 45 per person but not so appealing as one could expect. The business centre on the 1st floor works enough well, though there are a few plug-ins for power supply. The transfer service from and to the airport is free of charge and carried out by means of air conditioned minibus; so, a good service available also in the night. The hotel location is in Deira, a residential/commercial district where sometimes, if you are lucky, you can catch a taxi just at the hotel entrance, some other times you have to walk for a while to reach the Mourakkabath Rd and hope to find one for you - in that case you could also be forced to try and try again for half an hour before finding one available. To summarize: pros and cons in a hotel which has the features to become much more better but not with this management and this lack of coordination among the departments.