Crowne Plaza Deira

I booked this considering Crowne plaza hospitality but unfortunately I have had better and much comfortable stays with holiday in express hotels. The hotel is shabby, boring and somewhat uneasy. I got an upgrade to a suite and the suite was huge. Just how a suite should look and feel. But, it was dark. Half of the lights were not working. The panel on the desk is almost dead. Connections don’t work. Laptop won’t charge properly. The sofa was huge but every seat was unfit and uncomfortable. Fortunately the tv was connected with local cable. The master bedroom was spacious but the tv had no connections. The only fully functional component of the room was the bathroom. I stayed for 3 nights and twice ordered room dining. The food was stale and the second time gave me bad jitters and a bad stomach. Eventually the last night I ate out to avoid food in the hotel. The bar seems interesting. Maybe on weekends it’s buzzing. Difficult to comment. Breakfast is average. Nothing great, no long spread and slow and boring. I have stayed on many Crowne plaza’s and their F&B is the strongest selling point. I hope the management reads this review and take necessary actions. The two stars I have given is purely for the staff. Despite of all the limitations, the staff was amazing. The front desk to the restaurant staff to the room dining staff and the staff at the bar. They were all IHG hospitality level. I hope some day I future if I return to this hotel, it’s better and for the best.

I had a wonderful experience with my recent booking at Crowne Plaza Deira. The reservation process was smooth and very well handled, thanks to Rona from the reservations team. She was extremely helpful, professional, and responsive, ensuring that all my requests were taken care of promptly.

Her excellent customer service made the entire experience stress-free and pleasant. It’s always reassuring to deal with someone who genuinely cares about guests’ needs.

Looking forward to my stay and highly appreciate the great service provided!

If you get a VERY good rate, don't mind spending a small fortune on taxis (or spending a lot of time on pubic transport), don't mind being a bit pushy about room allocation, and are charmed by shabby-chic, you'll be fine. Just try your best to get a "refurbished" room. Oh, and best to avoid the predatory taxis waiting by the hotel: ride-sharing apps are your friends.

But in fairness, it's hard to understand how this place attained 5-star status, but it's old enough to have been close to the epicentre of Dubai when it opened, at a time when comfortable hotels were thin on the ground. Moving on quarter of a century and the Crowne Plaza is an establishment lacking in polish, desperately in need of refurbishment, marooned on the outer edge of a city known for its luxurious accommodation options.

With the tourist dirham tax linked to the star rating, we the customers are paying the price of the vanity of the hotel owners. Quite how the hotel manages to maintain that rating is a mystery ..... or maybe not :)

Back to my stay. I was there only because family members had inexplicably opted for a stopover holiday package there. I know Dubai pretty well, and for me 5-star Deira suggested Creek, not this spot among massage places and shops selling car parts. The rate was high, yet i had to really work my IHG Diamond status to get a room even approaching 5-star conditions.

I have an annual lounge pass, but reception insisted I show evidence of that on the IHG app: then there was an argument about whether or not lounge access included breakfast downstairs. i wanted to join the others in the restaurant, and in any case i don't think b'fast is served in the lounge. Luckily diamond status trumped the situation and i was free to plan the day's activities with my family over b'fast - and to be honest the food and the service there were just fine.

Other IHG hotels, including the Intercontinentals in the city, manage these things with a grace lacking at the CP.