Hotels

I stayed at the regent beach twice last year and thoroughly enjoyed both times. It is a 3* hotel with bags of character, not a 5* modern high-rise. The bedroom, and all public areas, had aircon. The... more

I stayed at the regent beach twice last year and thoroughly enjoyed both times. It is a 3* hotel with bags of character, not a 5* modern high-rise. The bedroom, and all public areas, had aircon. The large ali-baba tents added to the ambience. The staff were really friendly; the food was great; the room was large, clean and tidy. Not a bad word to say about it. The fact that it is across the road from the beach made the holiday even more enjoyable. There are quite a few cafes, restaurants and shops close to the hotel, but the best place to eat was the Automatic Grill which is about 4-5 minutes walk on the other side of the road heading in the direction of the Burj/Jumeirah Beach Hotel. The name doesn't do the food justice. Fresh salads, fruit and vegetables, flame grilled meats - at very reasonable prices. Roll on April when I'll be back there for another amazing holiday. Close

I stayed at the regent beach twice last year and thoroughly enjoyed both times. It is a 3* hotel with bags of character, not a 5* modern high-rise. The bedroom, and all public areas, had... more

I stayed at the regent beach twice last year and thoroughly enjoyed both times. It is a 3* hotel with bags of character, not a 5* modern high-rise. The bedroom, and all public areas, had aircon. The large ali-baba tents added to the ambience. The staff were really friendly; the food was great; the room was large, clean and tidy. Not a bad word to say about it. The fact that it is across the road from the beach made the holiday even more enjoyable. There are quite a few cafes, restaurants and shops close to the hotel, but the best place to eat was the Automatic Grill which is about 4-5 minutes walk on the other side of the road heading in the direction of the Burj/Jumeirah Beach Hotel. The name doesn't do the food justice. Fresh salads, fruit and vegetables, flame grilled meats - at very reasonable prices. Roll on November when I'll be back there for another amazing holiday. Close

We are a family of three, children aged 9 and 3 with their parents, traveled for the second time to Dubai in February 2008. The first time we stayed at a 5-star hotel, but this time we had to squeeze... more

We are a family of three, children aged 9 and 3 with their parents, traveled for the second time to Dubai in February 2008. The first time we stayed at a 5-star hotel, but this time we had to squeeze our budget, and choose to do it from the accommodation. I found the hotel from the net, and decided to call them directly. The line was bad, but I managed to get the room reserved and was instructed in what email address to send the credit card information for the guarantee. All well in that order. Even a change in the reservation dates worked OK. Our arrival was early in the morning, and as I was anticipating problems getting a room before afternoon, I had made the reservation already starting from the previous night, so that our children could continue their sleep. Upon arrival we had to wait for quite some time to be served, as the receptionists were dodging loud arguments by a dissatisfied German couple who wanted to get what they felt they had paid for. When we finally got our room, it was obvious that someone had stayed there for the night (although I had paid for the night) and it was still being cleaned - the hotel got double money for the room for that night. My wife and daugher were not very happy with the room, although it was quite large and had a window to the swimming pool. The positive side was that we were organized two rollaway beds, so that the entire family could fit to the room without any problems. We ended up staying there, although I did call to some other hotels to ask for prices. Regent had cleverly conditioned the reservation so that we would have to pay the full reservation fare even if we stayed only one of the nights in our 5-night reservation. The hotel proved to be a fairly good 3-star hotel. If you go there, don't expect to get 5 stars, but it was worth the money - there are not too many 3-star hotels by the beach in Dubai, and for this market this hotel was a good choise. Some taxi drivers had difficulties recognizing the hotel name, but telling that it's near Dubai Marine Club and Jumeirah Mosque helped. The breakfast at the hotel was good, although many items tended to end well before the breakfast time was over. We ordered room service breakfast the first morning as we slept past the breakfast time, and the food was good and delivered as promised. We did not try other restaurant facilities at the hotel. My wife tried the beauty salon for some treatment and make-up, and was quite satisfied. In front of the reception a local travel agent was offering tours, and we booked a jeep safari. We were not informed for what to do, and ended up sitting in the jeep parked at a desert 'resort' for an hour (we could have done things there, but no one told us - be sure to ask about the program on the tour beforehand). The jeep dune ride was a great experience; the two italians in the 3rd row of the Land Cruiser were shouting 'slower, slower' to the driver (who did not appear to understand, although he did understand just that much), where as our 3-year-old was screaming of exhilaration, and during a quieter moment wanted to go faster. It was like a roller coaster ride without tracks. A bit scary, but memorable. They also arranged for us to try to snowboard down the dune. The beduin village themed dinner and show included in the safari were downgraded by the cold wind - the food was tasty, but it felt like you had to fight for it, as the lines were long. The once-beautiful garden of the hotel was all covered with two large tents that I did not find attractive at all, and all access to rooms went through the tents. Many people seemed to enjoy the water pipes, TV and bar service in the tents, though. The swimming pool was not in very good shape (peeling paint, broken strainers etc.) but the water was clean, although quite cold in February, and the pool was barely large enough for adults to swim. The children liked it. The reception staff were not very efficient or friendly, and they seemed to get quite a lot of negative attention from people who wanted to change hotels in the middle of their stay (the fare rules require full payment even if you leave early). They also forgout our transportation order for the trip back to the airport; luckily we had made it with lots of time to spare, and there was another reservation half an hour later, so we got to the airport in time. We used the hotel's transportation and were satisfied with it. The room was a bit dusty on arrival, but as my wife asked for an extra vacuum cleaning things improved, and we had no complaints from there on. The room cleaner was very friendly and service oriented. The beach in front of the hotel was quiet but clean, and life guards were in duty, also guiding non-swimsuit dressed people away from the beach! The breakwaters were necessary, as the waves were quite big. One day was outright stormy, but we spent that in shopping malls... There was a good soft-rubber-surfaced jogging path on the beach in front of the hotel, and a bicycle path paralleling it. A few hundred metres away a decent grocery store, and even the small Dubai Zoo was near. For a traveler with budget restrictions but willing to stay on the beach in Dubai this hotel was a good choise, if you are ready to stay in a non-luxury hotel, and can be sure that you stay there all the days that you book. Close

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... more

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. Close

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... more

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! Close