Just returned from an 11 day holiday at Towers Rotana and was very impressed with the hotel and staff who worked there – which enhanced our stay.
As we knew this wasn’t going to be a traditional ‘beach’ holiday, we selected this hotel due to the location, which was perfect for all our activities. Very close to two metro stations (Emirates Towers and Financial Centre) – it made getting around very easy.
We were able to walk to The Museum of the Future from out hotel (as was situated on the other side of the road and no more than a 10 minute walk), with the Financial Centre metro station being a two minute walk and very easy and effective to get to all destinations at a low cost.
We had booked a family room, which was advertised as sufficient for the three of us, however as it only consisted of one bedroom and separate lounge, the hotel staff did have to arrange for a single bed to be placed within the lounge area as only the king size bed provided and didn’t really want my 14 year old son joining us in there each night).
Whilst the room was large, with also a separate WC as well as one within the bathroom, other aspects of the room let it down, with a small wardrobe and only one bath rope provided – despite there being three of us in the room. Nevertheless, it provided us a nice base for our adventure.
We did stay on an all inclusive basis, whilst all drinks at the pool side bar were included, alcoholic drinks were not served until 12 mid-day. Beer on the AI was cans of Tiger beer and it did seem they used proper spirits with drinks, as it was always Tanqueray when I ordered a gin and tonic.
Drinks within Longs Bar was a little messy, as you had to be eating to get drinks on the all inclusive and therefore if all you wanted was a quick drink before going out, you ended up paying for it. The staff were also very strict with children within the bar area, as they allow smoking in there, kids have to be seated in the lounge area and have to leave by 9.30pm each night.
The only other bar therefore was Elevate – which is where the pool is located and changes into the nighttime bar once the sun has set. Trouble is, this is outside with no air conditioning and sitting outside when it was close to 41 degrees was not pleasant. Therefore most evenings were wither spent away from the hotel, or back in the room watching TV.
The food on offer at ‘Flavours on Two’ was OK. It is not the largest of restaurants and got very busy at breakfast with a wait of over 10 minutes for a table during the busy periods. Lunchtime and evening meal times were far more relaxed and restaurant close to empty. Whilst not a lot of variety, the food was always tasty, but despite being under heat lamps, it was usually warm at best. Drinks were provided by the waiters, who were always very attentive and would bring beers, wine and soft drinks when required.
We also ate twice at Longs Bar – but from the AI menu which was burgers, chicken fajitas, pies, stews etc – the nice steaks on the main menu were sadly not included.
Whilst we did not use any of the fitness equipment or spa, we did spend a few hours most days at the pool, which whilst a little on the small side, but was adequate for our stay (August) as this was classed as low season, so no problem with getting a sun lounger and access to the pool. It’s not really one for swimming nor playing catch etc), but decent for a dip and a cool down. This was not attached to the hotel, as situated on the sixth floor of the adjoining building (which is their car park), so you have to go out of one of the side doors, across a small car park and then up to the sixth floor via two lifts. You do get fresh pool towels when you arrive and they also provide beach towels upon request.
In summary, a good located hotel that ideally caters for couples, rather than families, albeit if you decided to get a two bedded room, this may then be more suitable. We did benefit from the AI package but choose to skip breakfast most days and grab something when we were out and about. Lunch and dinner were OK, certainly would be better if the food was kept nice and hot.
Hotel is well maintained and clean and the staff are extremely friendly and always on hand to assist and help, arranging taxis and the excursion desk is also very useful.
