The Emirates Towers are well known landmark in Dubai — probably one of the earliest (coolest) skyscrapers in the city. They look futuristic and very attractive.
My wife and I booked a room there for the weekend. The rate is AED 1,100 per night. This is not entirely outlandish for Dubai hotels.
But is the basic room in Emirates Towers hotel worth that much? Here’s what I found out, what I liked, and what I didn’t like about the hotel.
The Lobby
Aside from the luxurious chairs and couches in the lobby, there’s something about its atmosphere that I didn’t like. It is brightly lit and there isn’t any music playing, so it doesn’t have the usual 5-star hotel lobby relaxing experience.
It does have convenient access to the Boulevard shopping center, which is a small collection of high end shops, a couple of restaurants, and a Starbucks.
The Room
We stayed in the basic room, so that’s what I’m gonna talk about here. But unless they remodeled other rooms and specifically neglected remodeling these basic rooms, most of what I’m gonna say here probably applies to the rest of the rooms and suites in the hotel.
The TV
The room got a small, old TV box — about 21 inch screen, and it is far from the bed or the sofa. What’s more, the picture quality is bad. I don’t know if it’s a faulty TV or a faulty signal.
The TV won’t remember the last channel you set it to when you switch it off and back on. So every time you turn it on, you’ll have to endure a few seconds of Al Jazeera news before you can change the channel to sports, music or something…
All of that doesn’t make watching TV very pleasurable.
The Bed
It’s a decent, clean, and comfortable bed. The pillows are fluffy and it felt good to be tucked under the cool comforter.
The Bathroom
I was really looking forward to a clean, luxurious bathroom. To me, that’s one of the best things of being in a 5-star hotel. And with Emirates Towers hotel, I wasn’t disappointed, but it still left me with a lot to wish.
First thing I noticed is the toilet had a weak flush. Conservatively speaking, it took more than 5 tries to get the job done. Then again, I’m known for producing stubborn floaters.
The bathroom is cramped. In whatever tight space there is, they managed to fit a toilet and a bidet next to it. Bidets are common in hotels over here, but I find that they just take up space. I never met any person that uses them.
The bathtub, which is separate from the shower, is deep and spacious enough even for a 6-foot-tall person like me. The bathtub got its own shower head, but neither I nor my wife could figure out how to turn it on. I think it was broken.
The shower is nice, though the knob that controls the water temperature is complicated and confusing to use.
Other Annoyances
Here are other things that definitely need to be changed, upgraded, remodeled in Emirates Towers hotel rooms.
The air conditioner is difficult to set. Now you may think that I’m just stupid for, first, not knowing how to set the water temperature and now the AC, but trust me, I’m a technical person and should know these things, and so is my wife.
Take this as an example:
There isn’t a button to switch the AC on and off. To switch off the AC, you have to press one button two times (that will give you control of the fan speed), then press another button a couple more times and that will set the fan speed to zero, which effectively switches off the AC. It’s like a code that needs to be figured out.
And for some strange reason, some light bulb got turned on by itself in the middle of the night. I got up to see what happened, flipped a couple of switches, but then it turned back off on its own…I just went back to sleep…
Also, the furniture is clearly old and worn out. The rooms need remodeling.
Oh, and I was also annoyed by the low quality of the pen and notepad provided.
So, is there anything GREAT about the room?
Yes, actually. One side of the room is all window with a beautiful view (as beautiful as views get in the Dubai barren desert). There’s also this long and cool looking sofa. Additionally, free internet access is provided to guests.
And here’s another picture of the view from the room
The Pool
The pool was okay. It wasn’t big by any standard, but still fun. The water temperature was comfortable. Some people workout at the hotel gym then come for a dip at the pool. There’s also a nice hot tub and a separate shallow pool for young kids.
So is it Worth it?
The room rate is AED 1,100 per night. It’s definitely not worth that much, but don’t take my word for it. Even the hotel management thinks so. That’s why our package included an AED 200 gift voucher that’s redeemable at some of the stores in the Boulevard shopping center. Good thing there’s a pharmacy among those stores, so we were able to spend the voucher on some essentials.
Of course, in this review I didn’t take into account that the location of the hotel is probably convenient for business people who want to be close to business centers in Dubai. We went there for a weekend fun, and while we enjoyed our time, the hotel was not really suited for a weekend escape.