Riu Dubai

Firstly I will list the not so good:

1. Hotel receptionist was miserable when we arrived at 2am, I had asked if I could upgrade and this was not even acknowledged.

2.The room was tired and damaged, the wardrobe door was badly scuffed, the woodwork had chips all over it and the toilet roll holder was hanging off the wall. 3.You are far out from anywhere, there is building work everywhere around and that’s it. This did not affect the holiday though. 4.Constant rubbish at sea, not the hotels fault though. The lifeguard used to high five me for picking stuff up and putting it in the bin. Things that were good:

1. Apart from that one receptionist the staff are excellent from the cleaners, waiters to the bar staff. They work really hard for you and cannot do enough for you.

2.The food was varied and all tasted very nice. 3.The grounds and the Extera of the hotel were kept vey clean and tidy. 4.Pools were all very good. Overall this hotel is okay, it probably needs a new makeover inside, food, staff and grounds were all excellent.

Where to start, we have just returned back from a 2 week stay with the kids and was a trip to commemorate my wedding anniversary.

The good:

Food was good at the Al Andalus buffet, plenty variety even for the kids.

Location: was good right on its own beach, obvs away from the city (taxi ride away depending on where you want to go), outside pool/beach atmosphere was nice vibe. Helps when the sun is blistering

The pools: all the pools were brilliant and very good for the kids, plenty sunbeds and shading was good too.

The drinks bar and pool bars: really good and staff friendly

The bad: we were on upper floor room and ground too.

Anniversary: they did towel art on the bed with a card to say happy anniversary with balloons that say happy birthday pmsl.

Rooms: Very Dated, dull rooms even with lighting on. Tatty in place i.e curtains torn and shredded, Smelly of Mold/Damp, Bathroom sometimes gave of whiff of sewage smell. Beds were poor, sofa bed was terrible and smelly. Air Conditioning needs major service to get rid of mold smell even in all the long corridors you could smell it. The humidity doesnt help but still it was bad at times. Bedding was very weird too odd shape pillows even the bedding duvet covers first time stayed in a hotel where the duvet covers open ended not secured so fall out etc. we have a right all sorts of bedding. Even the baby crib whilst good the bedding was off.

The room sofa pillows and bedding decor pillows were dirty, stained and smelly..you would get fresh bedding by room service only to come and find the dirty stained pillows have been placed back on the bed for decor etc. i am not ocd in the slightest but this hotel was just odd. Ive stayed at RIU before but this was weird. For Dubai of all places too. 3 star i would say

Cleanliness: Room cleaning was very hit and miss, rooms (both that we had) were not clean. Grime and stuff left hidden under the bed, dusty, floors grimy. Bathroom shower was good but would not drain the water down so left the whole bathroom wet and damp no ventilation. Toilet roll holders broken, bidet spray powerful and takes your skin off

Staff: staff were very hit and miss, polite when spoken to but otherwise we found unattentive. At Dinner the staff were not attentive even unhelpful at times, my wife was heavily pregnant and they were telling her to get up and go get stuff herself. Wouldnt even bother getting her a cuppa and instead telling her to walk all the way to the coffee machine. Many times we saw staff just disinterested and giving side eye to families who they found annoying.

Gym/Spa - open times poor, this is a family friendly hotel but the parents are an after thought the gym etc close too soon and should atleast close around 10pm

Beach: views and sitting areas lovely, the beach was not clean - so many cigarettes all over (why do you even allow smoking even on the beach) - also the sand had broken glass bits we found many times which our kids nearly had accidents with if we hadnt spotted.

Reception desk: very very slow at times. Busy period very slow so why not have more staff.

Ruiland kids events - the events usually start at 8pm..this is when pretty much every parent is still in the restaurant for dinner or going for dinner. We missed every show due to this.

We were happy with our holiday, but unhappy with our hotel choice in the end so unfortunately would not return here and try a different hotel. Thank you to the staff who were nice and polite