Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental — a magnificent palace, but certainly not a luxury hotel experience.
Let me start with the positive: the building is absolutely spectacular! The architecture, interiors and sheer scale are impressive. However, there is one major problem: you book an expensive five-star hotel but end up living in what feels more like a public museum.
There are constant tours, crowds of visitors and large events attracting up to 7,000 people. The lobby often feels more like a tourist attraction than a private luxury hotel. These events also create serious traffic jams at the entrance, so sometimes you even have to sit in traffic just to get back to your hotel.
Walking to the beach, pool or spa in beachwear while passing crowds of people in business suits and formal outfits feels rather ridiculous. And constantly changing clothes just to go swimming is not exactly my idea of a relaxing holiday.
The gym was another adventure. The fitness centre in our wing was closed, so we had to walk to the opposite end of this enormous palace — 15 minutes each way! During the first few days, we also got lost in the endless corridors. A simple one-hour workout could easily turn into a 90-minute expedition.
Housekeeping was disappointing, and one incident raised serious security concerns.
One day, we returned to find our room door left open, with a vacuum cleaner inside and no staff members present. We moved the vacuum cleaner outside and entered the room. Only several minutes later did someone knock and explain that the room was still being cleaned.
Leaving a guest room open and unattended, with personal belongings and valuables inside, is completely unacceptable. We should not have to worry about the security of our possessions in a hotel of this category.
On another occasion, rubbish placed right next to the waste bin remained untouched for an entire day. Eventually, we put it outside the room, and only then was it collected. Room-service trolleys were left standing overnight and well into the following morning.
At the beach, restaurant staff simply moved my clothes to another location without even checking whose belongings they were.
Communication with reception was particularly frustrating. It was almost impossible to reach the front desk using the telephone in our room. And when we finally managed to get through, the response was downright rude. I was genuinely shocked by such an attitude in a hotel of this category.
The most concerning incident involved medication. We gave the staff our own cooling pack and simply asked them to freeze it for transporting medication. We handed it over approximately 36 hours in advance. Yet, despite having more than enough time, they failed to freeze it. After a long wait, it was returned merely chilled, not frozen.
Frankly, I find it astonishing that a hotel of this calibre could not manage such a simple request. More importantly, this created unnecessary concerns about maintaining the required temperature for our medication. It was both disappointing and worrying.
To be fair, some employees were genuinely pleasant and professional. I particularly appreciated the restaurant manager, who listened carefully to our feedback and made an effort to improve the situation. Unfortunately, those improvements were short-lived.
My conclusion: luxury is not just marble, gold, chandeliers and magnificent architecture. True luxury means exceptional service, attention to detail, privacy, security and effortless comfort.
In my personal experience, the level of service at Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental simply did not match its five-star positioning or its very high price.
Absolutely worth visiting as a palace. But would I choose to stay here again? Definitely not.
