They settled very quickly, and immediately fed dinner (a full dinner, not a dry ration), although we checked in late, almost at midnight, and dinner time had already expired. The guy at the reception spoke Russian and very quickly resolved emerging issues, and then, already during the rest, he helped with calling a taxi when it was necessary to go somewhere.
Large spacious beach, more than enough space, there were always enough sunbeds. If the room is far from the beach, then you can call a car and they will take you to the beach. During low tide (at 3-4 pm) you can look at different marine life - starfish, crabs and even rays.
The food at the hotel is not as varied as in Egypt, but tastier. There were even crabs. The restaurant has a corner of Indian dishes, they really liked different types of chutney. Very tasty meat, which is grilled right in front of visitors. There are always fish dishes and seafood. There was even champagne for drinks. Drinks are brought very quickly, the waiters constantly come up and ask what you want to drink.
A small drawback - sometimes there are strong waves on the beach, in which you can not swim in the sea.
Separately, I want to say about food. Have you seen grilled lobsters in hotels? In this Rotana, I saw this for the first time. French soft cheeses of several types. Pieces of delicious raw tuna sauce as appetizers. Mango Mint Soup. Fish and meat of several types, laid out on ice, waiting for you to ask for them to be grilled right in front of you... As the cat in the Soviet cartoon said, "shikaaarno"!
While there is no Wi-Fi in the rooms. They promise next year.
It took exactly 1 hour from Dubai airport to the hotel.
I repeat this is a beach hotel (600 meters of its own beach), so first of all briefly about the beach. The entire hotel is built artificially on the principle of an embankment in the sea, entry into the sea along the CONCRETE STEPS, which are overgrown with shells at the bottom. The sea is constantly changing 5 days storm - yellow flag, 5 days low tide - the sea is knee-deep.
It is not possible to swim with children in a storm. It is worth noting that even swimming slippers will not save you from injuries, because when you get out of the water on the steps, the waves hit your back very hard, more than half of the hotel went with broken knees, legs, feet. By the way, rescuers immediately provide assistance, bandage, smear, etc. , then they will definitely ask for the room number. We had the type of food AL, this medical care was not included in our bill, but I don’t know if it was free or not. When the sea is stormy there, the water clogs, as much as the steps.
The second danger in the beach is when the tide is out. The beach is gorgeous, the water leaves, a huge strip of sand appears and at the same moment a shallow looms in the n-th cloud of kilometers to swim, you go, you go, you go and all the time knee-deep, sad because the water in September is like fresh milk - +28 degrees . The next danger is where sea stingrays are knee-deep, and apart from jokes there are not 1-2 of them, but where about 10 swim, they are very large and poisonous in size. Where they give out towels in all languages with pictures, there are warnings that they swim everywhere here and what to do if he stung you. It is worth noting that before our eyes people were stung more than once, both an English grandmother and a young man. The fact is that the color of these stingrays is like that of sand and practically when you walk you can’t see them, and God forbid you catch it or even worse step on it, the stingray has a tail 30-40 cm long, it hits you right under the knee with this tail. Again, I repeat, swimming slippers will not save !! ! In general, I won’t tell all the passions about him who dare to go, read on the Internet what a stingray (stingray) is.
When the tide is out, the sea is knee-deep and even where it is deep it is completely dotted with starfish. By the way, they are alive and prickly, that is, without swimming slippers it is very, very not pleasant to walk in the water !!!
There are very few sun loungers on the beach strip of 600 meters! Although the place allows, in the second half it is problematic to find an empty seat, as well as to get a towel. A lot of tourists cursed how so where are the sun loungers, but unfortunately they don’t even have some kind of spare to put.
If you have AL food, then the bar on the beach is free - ONLY drinks according to the list.
It is worth noting that the mini-bar in the room is paid! Therefore, people took from the beach and carried to the room.
Wi-Fi is paid everywhere. At what it is very expensive, 30 minutes - 7 dollars. The speed is terrible.
Nutrition. It is very strange that we never considered ourselves picky eaters, however, with this unfortunate plate, we walked 3 and 4 circles around, because there was really nothing tasty to take. We didn't like it very much. For 10 days, it was 3 times that they fried shrimp and fish on the street, served lobsters and oysters. True, they had a very big Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr which lasts 3 days, so I won’t say in the rest of the week they also feed like that or not. There was a Mexican evening - when it was not possible to eat, everything was in chile. Constantly gave sushi and a lot of Indian-Thai food. Soups - a solid soup of mashed broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes - and all this powder, from instant bags. Desserts in such small spread out plastic plates and cups, a portion of 2 cm by 2 cm (for one bite), desserts did not change at all in 10 days.
In general, for the entire period of travel, for the first time, we saw that salads and desserts would be packaged like this in plastic small, very small plates - this is so that they would not eat a lot; ) Moreover, they are not disposable !! ! Well, in other matters, okay, because it is not tasty.
The rooms are cleaned only by men, in other respects, as a conclusion, they cleaned - bad!
It is possible to move around the territory only by electric cars, we lived in the HOTEL building on level 6, there are only about 12 of them, once we went to the beach on foot, it takes about 15 minutes down and 20 minutes back, because you need to go under a huge mountain. Therefore, all the remaining 9 days cannot be dispensed with without electric cars.
Speaking of entertainment, they had such parties on the beach with DJs several times a week, we went once and realized that it was very in vain. There were no people there at all, a couple of Muslim men were sitting smoking pipes and that was the whole party. By the way, for some of them there is also an entrance fee!
The pools are beautiful, but the pool is very hot, even though the wind blows from the sea on the beach, and the pool is completely calm. And the water in the sea is 1000 times better than in the pool, and most importantly warmer : )
Honestly, the hotel is beautiful, very colorful, in the style of a village-village for a lot of money - it's not worth it. We were in the UAE 3 times, and were not satisfied!
Arrived from Rotana yesterday, sharing my impressions.
But, first of all, I would like to address those who will fly from the Boryspil airport with Fly Dubai. If you don’t want to arrive at the airport three hours in advance, there is an opportunity to buy seats in advance through your agency, they are available for: $ 28, first row, $ 6.3 and $ 1.5 (by distance, respectively), we bought there and back and did not worry about the seats. This is especially true when flying to Kyiv, check-in in Dubai is not for one flight, but a queue for many flights at once, we stood for an hour, there were almost no seats (to sit together with the family). Further, remember that the economy class board, they feed - drink for money, we took cheesecakes, cookies, bananas with us), because on board fast food from 22 UAH to 43, but it is better to buy water not at the airport (28 UAH for 0.5 Morshynska), but in the cabin for 10 UAH
Now specifically about the hotel.
Everything said is personal opinion. The hotel is very good, that's a fact. This is the Rotana chain, which has quality hotels in many countries around the world. The hotel is significantly different from the "colleagues" architecture, amazing area, really very large. But still, it should be noted that many view rooms overlook the walls of other rooms (the rooms are like houses, and you may not have a view in front of you, but a wall) we even saw a semi-basement room))) we lived in a deluxe pool and sea view No. 4014 , under us number 3018, these rooms with amazing views, also premium rooms guarantee a view, classic rooms, do not guarantee anything, keep in mind. Inside all the rooms are the same - the price is only for the view. There are also villas, but these are really expensive, and they are 2-3 floors, not for one family.
Cleaning is my biggest complaint, but this applies only to our room, as I understand it, the guy cleaned up badly, it happened that we would come to the beach at 2 o'clock - it was not cleaned, I had to call the reception several times to ask to be cleaned, but, I repeat - an isolated case, There are a lot of staff and they all try their best.
The beach is excellent, large, there were not many people, there were a lot of places. The ebbs and flows were more fun, because I had never seen anything like this)) in the morning the water was under the stairs, and in the afternoon, like in the movie "The Diamond Arm", when the boy was walking along the sea)) the water was seven meters from the shore and shallow, almost up to Iran))) But, it’s true, it’s a flavor, it’s a highlight, and this is also a must see) The water is amazing, warming, and clean, but I was afraid of stingrays, and I saw them a couple of times (small ones), but the water is clear and you just go and look , they were only active at 8-9 in the morning, then they sailed away, they are still afraid of human activity. A big turtle swam a couple of times, the whole beach admired, but that's all, there was no more exotic. I swam a lot and for a long time, very cool)
Food - well. . normal food, on Fridays dinner, of course, festive, from crabs to....whatever you want. And so - you won’t be hungry for sure, but I wouldn’t write about the best cuisine, all the same, variety can be even better, especially for breakfast. This is if you find fault, the cooks are actually trying, the food is of high quality.
There is a small room for children, but this is a kind of playroom, we did not find any slides or swings, but it was very hot and we would not ride on the street anyway. The pool for children is closed for repairs, they only allow children to bathe in one (adult), but the water there, unlike the other pool, is colder, but you can only do this and not otherwise, they won’t let kids into the other, the argument is more depth. But, we came to the sea, and not to the pool, so we didn’t bother, this is for those who are counting on a children’s pool, which does not exist. On the territory, if you are too lazy to walk at any point, they will call a car and take you anywhere, even for two meters) "Dubai Mall" is an excellent place, from shopping to fountains and an aquarium - everything is in one place, we went by taxi 500 dirhams there and back - this $ 136, we agreed with another family and took a taxi together - 4 adults and two children (discuss this with the taxi driver in advance so that it’s not according to the meter, but by agreement) We just really wanted to see the fountains, and the bus leaves the hotel at 10:30 , and back at 18:00, you will not see fountains, the price is $ 27 per person (back and forth)
I will say right away in Ras El Khaimah in the "Monar Mall" there is a store with small appliances, there are iPhones, tablets cheaper than in Dubai Mall, who cares. You can buy alcohol at the Ben Magic Hotel, from the back of the door, all taxi drivers know it is near Rotana, tell the drink shop)) For beer lovers - at the Carlsberg and Astel hotel - $ 10, and in the drink shop) $ 1, Martini in the store $ 10. When you arrive, there will immediately be a small pour fries - if you want, buy drinks right there. Also, do not run for water (at the gas station - 100 m from the hotel) In the morning they put about 5 per person + 1.5 for dinner for free, they give water in the fitness room, in general, there is enough water.
Well, everything seems to be, if you have any questions, write, while I remember all the nuances. And the hotel is cool and status, in the evening such cars come to the reception that the eyes are just happy - people come to dine (to the Basilik restaurant, it's like a la carte)
Bugs drive around the territory (for free).
Transfers to the mall for a fee.
There is a deposit, depending on the chosen meal.
Internet for a fee.
The food is varied, everything is very tasty.
All inclusive from 11 to 23.
CLASSIC ROOM are small. The rooms are clean. The staff is friendly. Children are better not to let go, you can get lost in the territory.
We traveled as a family of 3 people: husband, wife and adult son 20 years old.
We flew with budget airlines Air Arabia, everything was clear on time, the flight from Kyiv to Sharjah took 4 hours and 15 minutes, the airline is a budget airline, so they only feed on board for money, but you can bring your own food on board. In Sharjah, all scanning and baggage claim procedures were completed in minutes 20. Upon exiting, they exchanged dollars for local currency (the rate is $ 1 to 3.66 dirhams) At the entrance to the airport, the hotel driver was already waiting for us (transfer to the UAE at the expense of the hotel) The transfer took about 50 minutes and we already arrived at our hotel-city. They settled literally in 10 minutes. They politely asked for a deposit, but I politely replied that we would not use the mini bar and would pay for everything in cash and the issue was removed. They brought us to the room in a small typewriter, helped to deal with the safe. The room is large and comfortable, clean and everything close at hand. Large bathroom with shower and bidet.
The hotel employee waited until we changed clothes and took us to dinner. Meals were taken for breakfast and dinner (that’s enough, we even overate) and meat and fish dishes, various snacks, desserts and fruits. I won’t say that there is an abundance of everything, but it was cooked very tasty.
Separately, I’ll tell you about drinking water: we drank a lot of water, so you will need to buy some water and juices, only 2 bottles (0.5 l) per day are put in the room. delicious.
The beach is large and clean, in a storm it brings garbage to the shore, but it is quickly removed, the water is clean and warm, even hot in the afternoon, we went to the ocean in the morning and in the afternoon to the pool (the water is cooler in it)
Rest in the hotel is lazy, for those who are tired of the hustle and bustle and want a quiet relaxation to the sound of the ocean, no intrusive service, just what the lord or lady wishes.
The hotel managers call and ask: Do we like everything and can we have any wishes. Such an attitude of the staff pleasantly surprises and pleases.
The hotel itself is huge, all in flowers and palm trees, every morning I woke up, as if in paradise, to the singing of birds.
The room was cleaned every day, towels changed daily, bed linen every other day. Shampoos, gels and balms were replenished as they were used.
We devoted one day to a trip to Dubai. We took the car from our tour representative, left after breakfast and returned to the hotel at 10 pm (it cost us $ 180 for 3 people), we first made a plan for ourselves where we want to go and what to see, only our driver they said and he drove, we are very grateful to him that we managed to see everything and even managed to shop until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and then let's go see all the beauty of the city. Evening fountains are fabulous, just breathtaking.
I really liked the country, the hotel with decent service, cuisine and territory.
Conclusion: we will definitely come again, but not in the summer (very hot)
Have a nice holiday everyone!