Visitors to Dubai are presented with a mind-boggling choice of hotels ranging from budget, to a mass of 4 star plus and 5 starHotels, not to mention the world famous 7-star Al-Burj Hotel situated on the white sandy Jumeirah Beach.
So where do you start? If you are looking for a reasonably priced pleasant hotel with a relaxed atmosphere out of the hustle and bustle of the city, look no further than the splendidOasisBeach Hotel; a 4 star deluxe resort hotel, located on the beach. This hotel is ideal for the ultimate in relaxation offering the holiday maker emotions of tropical beauty, lush green lawns, unspoilt beach views and a feeling of being at home yet away from home…
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
Oasis Beach Hotel is about 30 minutes drive from Dubai International airport located on the infamous Jumeriah beach strip. After a long flight this hotel really does awaken your senses, and although it isn't the nearest to the airport the journey there makes it's worthwhile.
Connoisseur_haggler's First Impressions ~
As soon as you see a glimpse of the white sandy beaches against the clear blue skies and hear the sound of the sea as the waves come in…you know you've not made a bad choice. There are a series of hotels lined along Jumeriah beach, some with rather large corporate images such as the Jumeriah Beach Hotel, Hilton, Le Meridien Mina-Seyahi Beach Resort etc. However, most of these are 5 star hotels and don't come cheap. Further along Jumeriah beach towards the end is the 'Oasis Beach Hotel' and although classed as 4-star, it has the same unrivalled beach views as the other hotels. It is a fairly new hotel built in 1998 and is presented as a 10-storey concrete building and although it doesn't look too exciting from the front, which faces a desert road, once inside and around the back you have the complete view of the beach line from the rear of the hotel. I was pleasantly surprised!
At the time of visiting (January 2002) there were only a further 2 hotels after the 'Oasis Beach Hotel', however with the rapid pace of development and construction particularly in the tourism industry I am sure there will be more hotels along the beach -and I wasn't wrong! I have re-visited Dubai's Jumeriah beach again in January 2006 and there were literally hundreds of multistorey residential buildings
under construction behind the Oasis Beach Hotel. Please note -you are not affected by the construction or noise.
CHECK-IN & RECEPTION
Upon entering the reception one is greeted by a soothing sound of trickling water incorporated in a central water pool feature and bridge, potted tropical plants and comfy cane chairs scattered around giving the feel of a laid back relaxed atmosphere, far from business like or too formal.
Check-in times at the hotel are from 2.00pm onwards, with a check-out time of 12 noon. As I had arrived from the airport directly from an International flight the time was only approaching 9.00a.m. I was worried we may have to wait till after 2.00pm to get a room, fortunately for us that was not to be the case and a room was made ready for us within minutes as you'll see later on.
I had made my booking through an online booking site Utell (see Utell opinion for further details if required) and not directly with the hotel. We had booked a rate that is known as an 'Internet Special' -with room assigned upon arrival. This was by far the cheapest rate available costing us about 250 UAE Dir per room plus 10% tax (~ under £50 per room, equivalent to about £25 person plus taxes). There was a slight query over whether our rate included breakfast or not (according to Utell booking it did! but according to the hotel it didn't) but after showing the written proof of the e-mail confirmation printout with the reservation details we got the breakfast included. Oasis Beach Hotel often does Half Board offers which you will find if you book through a travel agent, in that way this hotel on a package could work out to be superb value for money with the highest of quality.
Overall, the staff were most helpful and could see we had made a long journey and offered us seating in the lounge and told us they would have our room ready within a few minutes. We had no idea whether we would get a standard room, room with desert view, sea view or anything better… luckily it was one with a SEA VIEW!
THE ROOM
The room that awaited us was situated on the 9th floor and upon entering we found much to our delight that we were given a 'superior' double room with a sea view! The instant one enters the room one gets a light and airy feeling, you just could not miss the beautiful view of the sea; clear blue skies and white sandy beaches. Before even taking a look at the interior I went straight to check the fabulous view on offer from the 9th floor; which could be seen better from the spacious private balcony which is accessed from a large full length glass patio sliding door. The private balcony also had a breakfast table and canopy allowing guests to enjoy the view whilst eating breakfast or sipping the many cocktails and fruit juices that are on offer at the hotel.
The room itself had a large King-Size bed scattered with cushions that complemented the relaxed style of the hotel. There was also a large comfortable 3-seater sofa with a matching set of cushions to sink into after a long day. The rest of the furniture was in subtle shades and prints and comprised mainly of cane furniture; a relaxing chair and a matching writing bureau with cane writing chair to match. Even the curtain poles were made out of bamboo shoots to add to the tropical and relaxed feel of the hotel. The room was air-conditioned and one could adjust the climate control to the desired temperature or also switch the fan and conditioning off.
The room had all the usual facilities expected of a 4 star hotel; such as a mini-bar; which was fully loaded with alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, water, chocolates and cheese, a safe deposit box; which was operated by a User-defined 4-digit code - so no worries about losing the key! There was also a television with loads of satellite channels many of which we did not get time to view, a kettle with tea and coffee making facilities, direct dialtelephone and an efficient hairdryer that had more than one setting!
Superior rooms are larger in size than standard rooms and often have a sofa suite and larger living area. The hotel has a mixture of standard and superior rooms. Most of the rooms have sea views and have balconies, though some rooms have desert view and may not have balconies. I would definitely recommend getting a sea view room as the other rooms Marina rooms (desert view) just face a dert road or masses of concrete.
There are also a few suites at the hotel (not many maybe 3 or 4, only one is a presidential suite) these are based on the top floor i.e. the 10th floor (only 1 floor above our room!) So I feel quite lucky being offered a 9th floor room as that guarantees a stunning view!
THE BATHROOM
The bathroom was presented in pure white and was in pristine sparkling condition with marble tiled floor. It
Pictures of Oasis Beach Hotel, Dubai
Sea View from hotel room balcony
was just the right size, not too big and definitely not too small as I found in some European 4 star hotels. It comprised of a full size white bathtub with sparkling chrome taps, which could be converted to a powerful shower only. There was also a clean white low-level WC with a matching white bidet and a small side shower facet outlet for washing. To complete the bathroom was a large vanity sink area with a marble surround that housed everything you could possibly want; soap shampoos, bath foam, shower gel, shower cap, moisturising body cream, cotton wool, cotton buds, even a sewing kit… The bathroom also had an ample supply of fresh white cotton towels and a set of snug white towelling robes and to finish the room off there was a direct dial phone situated next to the toilet!
ROOM SERVICE
The hotel provides 24-hour room service. The room was always made up with fresh bed sheets and towels whenever we requested. As our stay included a free breakfast we made use of this facility and had a choice of 4 breakfasts; American, continental, Healthy-eating or a big-fry up! Breakfast is usually served between 6.00a.m and 11.00am approximately. On the day of our departure we were due to catch a flight at 5.30am, so made a phone request the night before to have breakfast served at 4.15a.m, and we were served breakfast at exactly 4.10a.m. If breakfast is not included in your stay you may find you may run up quite a bill as the basic cost of one breakfast is almost £10, so its worth trying to get your room rate to include breakfast.
OTHER FACILITIES
The hotel boasts of having at least 3 restaurants, one of which is open 24 hours. Much of this hotel's charm and appeal is it's tropical feel and most guests spend most of their time on the hotels lush green lawns relaxing in sun loungers or hammocks and using the beach towels which are provided free of charge. On the lawns is one of the restaurants called Coco Cabana, which is beach bar and restaurant. We spent most of our time there and did not get chance to try out the other restaurants. It serves a variety of snacks, burgers, tapas, salads, freshly prepared juices and cocktails. There is also a 'happy-hour' there when drinks are half price. The hotel has 2 swimming pools; a large swimming pool that has a swim up bar, as well as a separate children's swimming pool and a floodlit tennis court. There is also a gym, though this is very small, but still has all the essential equipment and is excellent working order. In addition, the hotel has a Beauty salon, massage facilities, and two sauna rooms and a steam room located in the pool area of the hotel. The hotel also offers other leisure facilities such as parasailing (can be quite expensive about 200 UAE Dir (~£40), water skiing, cataramans etc. Often these may be run separately and payment may have to be made to the organisers of the event.
The hotel also organises many tours through private tour operators. If you are interested you should contact the reception; we booked a Dinner-Cruise through the hotel and guests are picked up and dropped back to the hotel. The hotel also runs its own free bus service to Dubai city centre about 5 -6 times a day and back.
PRICES
Price range for this 4 -star Deluxe hotel range from 650.00 - 1075.00 (UAE Dirham ) if booked directly with the hotel. However, as you know I booked this hotel through Utell booking site and paid only 250 UAE Dirham + 10% tax, which is 275 Dir per day, which is less than £53 per double room, for 2 people, making it less than £30 person including breakfast!!
Exchange rate at time of booking: To give you some idea at time of writing £1 = 5.25 Dir Sterling Pound
UPDATE 1: 18 Dec. 2004 The Sterling pound is even stronger against the UAE Dir -its now £1 = 7.13 Dir
I am going to Dubai again in Feb. 2005 and Jan 2006 and will update this hotel review should I stay here again or if I chose another hotel will provide details here: Note: In 2005 I couldn't get to stay at this hotel as it was fully booked; I ended up staying at the Rennaisance which is in the city. Hotel prices are more expensive in February compared to December or January due to the Dubai Shopping festival -so its unlikely I will get this hotel for anything as less as 275 Dirhams! -WATCH THIS SPACE.
[If you are travelling to Dubai and want any further info. about this hotel feel free to leave a message here or in my guestbook.]
Finally is there anything I could think of improving in this hotel? Well there really is not a lot, the only thing I would say is that there is no hotel pick up taxi service from the airport, which is surprising for a 4 -star hotel not to have it's own taxi service arrangement to transport guests from the airport. However, one can book taxis arranged from the hotel going out.
OVERALL, a comfortable, relaxed and very friendly hotel with a tropical feel and superb beach views and access. This hotel also presents superb value for money when compared to other hotel located on the Jumeriah beach strip region of Dubai. I award this 4-star hotel a 5 star Ciao rating!
Further details:
Oasis Beach Hotel PO Box 26500 Jumeirah Dubai United Arab Emirates
Sounds fab i must admit though i have considered dubai but am still very dubious of areas like this dont get me wrong Dubai is a gorgeous place but i would just be really worried going there. Jus call it paranoia
classact39 05.05.2005 09:54
top review, i've paid more than that for a B&B before, shall definately commit this one to memory! ta, J x
starbank 08.03.2005 21:51
Great review very well written. I was lucky enough to work in Dubai for a month and had a blast. Amazing place if you have a few pounds. How hot ! Ian.
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Advantages: comfortable, beach location, better value than newer 5 star hotels, good customer service. Disadvantages: overshadowed by construction of taller buildings behind the Hilton - pool area is partly shaded
Connoisseur_Haggler 15.02.2006 (24.04.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Hilton Dubai Jumeirah
Advantages: Clean, safe, sophisticated, very friendly, modern, shopping! Offers the best of East and West Disadvantages: None (At present I really cant think of any..just hope too much tourism doesn?t kill the place in 10 years time!)
Connoisseur_Haggler 05.02.2002 (05.02.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Dubai (United Arab Emirates)
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exceptional by (3%):
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