Dubai Hotels

Dubai hosts a huge array of international standard hotels. Top of the range is the landmark Burj Al Arab on a man-made island just off Jumeirah Beach. All the big brands have representation in the emirate including, Sheraton, Grosvenor House, Kempinski, Le Meridien, InterContinental, Radisson, Fairmont, Hilton, Shangri-la, Hyatt, Holiday Inn, Ramada, Moevenpick, Sofitel, Novotel, and more. Regional brands like Rotana, and local chains Jumeirah and Habtoor Grand are also prominent. Coming soon is The Address, a 5-star hotel chain by one of Dubai's biggest master developers Emaar, which developed the world-famous Dubai Marina.

Aside from existing hotels, there are between 70,000 and 80,000 new hotel rooms under construction or in the planning stages. These cover the length and breadth of Dubai and include locations at Jumeirah Beach, Dubai Marina, Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali, Palm Deira and Palm Universe. The Trump Hotel & Tower is under construction in a centrepiece location on Palm Jumeirah. At the tip of the palm is Atlantis. Fairmont, Raj, and Kempinski all have major resorts under development on the Palm Jumeirah, while Moevenpic will operate the Seven Tides developed Oceana hotel and resort on completion.

Hotels will also be springing up at Dubai Sports, and Dubailand, a theme park which will be two and a half times bigger than the biggest Disney World. Hotels are also located in the industrial free zone of Jebel Ali, around the Dubai International Airport, the city of Dubai of course, and nearby Deira. One of the unique attractions about Dubai hotels, along with several Gulf cities, is that the only alcohol service is within these international properties. Most of the hotels, as a result, offer a large range of restaurants, bars, and lounges, and cater for outside trade as well.

Recent additions to the Dubai hotel inventory include the Habtoor Grand on Jumeirah Beach, the Grosvenor House and Radisson at Dubai Marina, and the Westin at Mina Seyahi Beach, which is just opposite Dubai Media City.

Travel & Tourism

The emirate has seen a burgeoning of growth in recent years with the construction industry operating at a frenetic pace. Apartments, villas, office towers, infrastructure, new tramways and railways, theme parks, leisure and recreational facilities, and new airports, are bringing Dubai to the fore as one of the most exciting and vibrant cities of the 21st century. The city is being likened to Hong Kong, Singapore, and Monte Carlo, but on completion it is likely to be more lively, more divergent, and more self-sustaining, with new industry and a huge focus on tourism that will see the economy supported well into the future.

The hotel industry is booming with local hotels attracting rates of around 2,000 dirhams, or several hundred U.S. dollars, a night. The plethora of new properties coming on stream should moderate demand, but the industry is likely to be buoyant well into the future. Aside from conventional hotels, numerous serviced apartments, and hotel apartments complexes are under development or in the pipeline. An underwater hotel is being developed, and desert resorts have been completed. New hotels will surround the new airports, as they do the existing Dubai International Airport.

The city will soon host the world's tallest tower, and already has the tallest all-suite hotel, the famous Burj Al Arab. Visitors at present hail from places like Europe, the UK, the USA, other Gulf countries, Australia and New Zealand. The regional airline, the Dubai-based Emirates is reaching out across the globe to bring tourists to its home city. It is one of the fastest-growing airlines in an industry beset with challenges over the rocketing price of fuel. While in other countries airlines are folding, or reducing capacity, Emirates is expanding. It has also been joined by the Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways which is also spreading its wings around the world, enticing tourist traffic to the UAE. Hotels will continue to be supported as traffic builds and construction continues. The travel and tourism industry is thus likely to thrive for decades to come, particularly when Dubailand is fully functional.

Farewell To Dubai Beachfront Hotel

The Oasis Beach Hotel on Jumeirah Beach has closed its doors and is in an advanced stage of demolition. A new hotel will be built on the site. Although only a few years old, the Oasis Beach Hotel was more a mid-scale hotel, rated four stars. In its place will emerge a deluxe five star hotel in keeping with the other hotels on Jumeirah Beach, and those that are currently being built including the Rotana, the Sofitel, and the Moevenpick.

Whilst it is always good to herald the opening of new hotels, it is in a way sad to farewell those that served us well. For the hundreds of thousands of people that have stayed at the hotel over the years there will be many memories of happy times.

From a nostalgic point of view we feature our review of the hotel which we published after one of our reviewers stayed there recently:

"It was fairly late when I arrived at the hotel, about a 30 minute drive from the Dubai International Airport. The cab fare was about 70 dirhams ($19 US). The hotel was situated in the midst of the Jumeirah Beach hotels right on the beach, and in from the Jumeirah Beach residence complex, a giant condominium complex of around thirty towers of residential apartments. The four-star Oasis Beach had a good feel about it as I arrived. It is known as the friendliest hotel on Jumeirah Beach, probably because of the informality of the hotel and the lack of a brand name which tends to lend to a more clinical and regimented, or uniform, approach. I was relieved of my bags and directed up the small stairway to the right where the reception counter was. The hotel lobby was extremely spacious, and comprised the hotel's major restaurant and opened into the main bar. The lay out of the hotel was certainly of a tropical flavor and had a definite resort feel to it. My reservation was located by the clerk. I had booked direct with the hotel on a rate of 790 dirhams ($215) a night which included breakfast, taxes, and access to the Club Lounge. I was allocated a welcome pack and key cards for Room 702. The elevator bank (there were four elevators for the hotel's 252 rooms and suites, which is a good ratio).

I and the porter with my luggage alighted at the seventh floor and continued down the hallway to the end room. The carpet was a rich green, red, beige and brown pattern while the walls and ceilings were painted cream. The entry doors and jams were in pastel wood finishes with gold fittings. Right at the end I found Room 702. On entering I immediately smelt smoke, it was undoubtedly a smoking room. I picked up the phone and called reception and they confirmed it was a smoking room and that they would make available another room, a non-smoking room. They said I was lucky as there were few non-smoking rooms in the hotel. Soon after another porter arrived to transfer my luggage and issue me with new key cards for Room 602, an identical room on the sixth floor. He said he would also transfer a number of items which the hotel had made available for my arrival. On a large table was a complimentary bottle of Oxford Landing (Australia) Vintage 2002 merlot, together with two wine glasses, a large fruit basket comprising two bananas, three apples, a bunch of grapes, three apricots, three apples, and two kiwi fruits. There was also a tray of Arabic sweets, and a plate of dates. Amongst this was a welcome letter from the Front Office Manager Fredrik Reinisch welcoming me to the hotel, hoping that I had a pleasant journey and would enjoy my stay at their "oasis on the beach." I was also extended the invitation to the Oasis Privilege Lounge where I could enjoy complimentary newspapers, continental breakfast, refreshments throughout the day, unlimited Internet access, an extensive range of business services, and complimentary pre-dinner drinks and canapés between 6.30pm and 8pm each night.

Transferring down to the sixth floor I entered Room 602. The long hallway had two pastel wood double door floor-to-ceiling cabinets on the right. The first contained 10 spacious shelves one of which housed a four-digit combination safe. The safe was good in that you didn't have to reprogram the code each time you used it. The second cabinet was a double wardrobe with plenty of hanging space, some 17 wooden hangers, two spare pillows, and two pairs of slippers. On the wall opposite the cabinets was a full body-length mirror framed in thick polished bamboo. Down at the end of the hallway was the entrance to the bathroom with an interconnecting door to the adjacent room on the right (which was locked) and a large opening to the main part of the room on the left.

The room, as with the hallway, was carpeted in a brown, gold, and burnt orange patterned carpet while the walls were all painted in light yellow. The room was big and airy, very spacious and with a high white-painted ceiling. There was an elaborate bamboo luggage rack on the left and a little further in a long bench cabinet all mahogany with doors and drawers painted black with gold trims. There was also extensive thick bamboo frames surrounding the various components. There was a glass top on the bench with a TV on swivel stand to the left. Channels included local Arabic stations, not only from the UAE but from Egypt, Lebanon, and the Middle East BC channel, CNN, Euro News, Sky, Bloomberg, the BBC, UK Granada, Supermovies, National Geographic, Disney, and French and German TV. The television reception worked fine but the remote control was poor. It may have been faulty. Below the TV was a cabinet containing a fully-stocked mini-bar fridge and to the right of it, a cabinet containing two shelves. One of the shelves contained a tray with two tumblers and two wine glasses. There was an ice bucket on the shelf below. To the right of that was a set of three good sized drawers. On top was a basket of confectionary and snacks, and a large bottle of complimentary mineral water. There was a slim brass desk light and a small chest which contained stationery items (3 marker pens, Scotch tape, adhesive-backed notepaper, and a box of paper clips). There was a directory of services for the hotel and a high speed Internet access data point. Internet access was complimentary and generally worked quite well, although a little slow at times (not uncommon in the UAE). There was also a tray of and coffee making facilities, and a lamp with a rustic black steel base and a white light shade. Backed up on the wall behind the bench was a large mirror with a thick bamboo frame. There was a wicker chair with a thick green and white fabric seat fronting the bench. To the side of the bench was a large armchair fully constructed from thick bamboo with green and white fabric back and seat pads. Behind it was a full length perfectly straight thick bamboo stand with a white light fitting on top.

The windows consisted of sliding glass doors. There was a large glass panel on each side with the door in the middle. The frames were metal painted in white. They opened to a very large balcony which overlooked the Jumeirah Beach Residence towers and glimpses of the Dubai Marina. There was a quite large circular white plastic outdoor table and two chairs on the balcony which was paved in large bone color tiles. The other side of this very large room comprised a king size bed with a large wooden bed head with a black painted center and gold trims with a thick bamboo surround, a large wooden bed side table each side of the bed with thick bamboo frames and consisting of two large drawers, the panels of which were painted black with gold trims, one of which contained a set of Dubai White and Yellow Pages telephone directories, glass tops of each of the tables, one of which had a telephone while both featured a large bone colored porcelain lamp with large beige shades. Above the bed head was an elaborately (very thick bamboo) framed sketch print in vivid colors. Alongside the bed setting was a a 3-seat wicker lounge covered in an olive green, dark blue, and beige patterned fabric. Behind it on the wall was a print similar to the one above the bed head, and in front was a quite large oval-shaped table with a wicker skirting which stretched from the glass top of the table almost to the floor. On top of it were the welcome offerings that I mentioned previously. The air-conditioning in the room was excellent, the lighting was very good, and the spaciousness a real feature.

The bathroom was entered through another pastel wood finish door with gold fittings. It was also spacious with pastel stone tiles laid so the squares appeared in a diamond-shape setting, the walls were all large square beige tiles. There was a full size bath to the right which also served as a shower. The shower was very good but not perfect. It could have done with a touch more body. There was another adjustable shower hose fixed to the wall. Temperature control was perfect. There were two white shower curtains hung across the bath area limiting the light from the room. One was a see-through set of curtains and the other of the block-out variety. The toilet and a bidet was situated on the left while in front was a good size bench done in pine wood with a granite top. The section around the base was curved. The bench extended right down the wall where the toilet and bidet were situated, providing plenty of space for toiletries. There was a phone affixed to the wall near the toilet and a hair dryer fixed to the wall at the end of the bench in front. There was a wide-pinewood frame housing a mirror on the wall above the bench which also contained a wicker basket tissue dispenser and guest amenities from Molton Brown of London. There was a set of scales on the floor and a chrome waste-paper basket.

After checking in I decided to try Charlie Parrot's, a bar in the lobby area. It was quite large, somewhat dark and had a band playing. The theme was that of a jungle with an emphasis on parrots. There was even one (at least) in a cage. Like the hotel generally it was a fairly casual atmosphere. Draft beers included Fosters and drinks were quite reasonable. On my second night in the hotel I had a light meal at Charlie Parrot's and it was very good. I also had dinner one night at Oregano Restaurant on the first floor. It specializes in Mediterranean country cooking from Italys Piemonte and Frances Province region. Its farmhouse interior was rustic and features a wine tasting corner, live accordion music, and original artifacts. There's also the Bazaar Restaurant, based on the theme of an open market place where you can visit various live cooking stations for freshly cooked food, such as made-to-order pizza and grills, this restaurant is open around the clock serving buffet and a-la-Carte meals. An original feature of the restaurant is the classic Citroen Van serving as a French pancake station. In the evenings the Bazaar offers a trip around the world with a different theme buffet every night. There's also the Pool Bar and the Coco Cabana Beach Bar & Restaurant. The hotel has a Health Club, specialty shops, a large swimming pool and heated Jacuzzi in a tropical setting and of course opens on to the white sand and sea of Jumeirah Beach. Overall the stay was fine. The hotel is very friendly and casual, and in a great location, near to Dubai Marina, Dubai Media and Internet cities, and Sheikh Zayed Road."

Well so much for the Oasis Beach Hotel. Lets hope its replacement is a great hotel as well. We look forward to bringing you an update, and a review, when the hotel is finished. In the meantime here's what the operator of the property told us:

"The saying goes that all good things must come to an end and so after 10 years the Oasis Beach Hotel has officially closed on 29th August 2008 after a phenomenal run as the only 4-star hotel on Jumeirah beach in Dubai. Although not a decision made by Jebel Ali International Hotels (we were the management company but not owner of the property), it is all part of being in Dubai and seeing this extraordinary city constantly reinvent itself. An exciting new project is expected to be developed on the existing site."

"We would like to thank all our loyal guests who supported the hotel and its facilities right up until the last day - it has been a pleasure and a great honour to serve you."