Poor experience with hefty price tag!
May 29, 2026 LottieLovelock
I wasn’t going to leave a review but after speaking with the hotel who gave very little remorse or apologies, and seeing that it wasn’t a unique experience looking at the reviews from the past week or so, I feel it is only right when people will be spending a considerable about of money to stay here .
Unfortunately, the experience fell…
Read more
I wasn’t going to leave a review but after speaking with the hotel who gave very little remorse or apologies, and seeing that it wasn’t a unique experience looking at the reviews from the past week or so, I feel it is only right when people will be spending a considerable about of money to stay here .
Unfortunately, the experience fell significantly below expectations, particularly considering we paid over 6,000 AED for a two-night stay and had specifically chosen Rixos as a brand we had been eager to experience.
The issues began even before arrival, as it proved extremely difficult to contact the hotel. I attempted to call multiple times over the course of three days without success and ultimately only received a response after contacting the hotel's Instagram page. This was not a reassuring start to what we expected to be a premium experience.
Upon check-in, we were not informed that despite our hotel booking, access to the à la carte restaurants would require additional payment. Had this been made clear beforehand, we may have reconsidered whether the stay represented value for money, especially during a premium-priced national holiday period. Instead, this information only became apparent after arrival, leaving us feeling misled. I find it shocking that there isn’t a discount available to those who have already paid a premium to stay, you are treated like any regular person who has walked in off the street rather than a customer who has paid a lot of money already.
The experience continued to disappoint when we found our room had a persistent damp smell throughout the two nights. We did not request a room change as we had already been informed at check-in that the hotel was operating at full capacity and that guests staying longer than us were being prioritised.
Additionally, at check-in we were told we could check out at 12pm while continuing to use the hotel facilities until 6pm on our departure day. Based on this information, we planned our final day accordingly. However, when we attempted to use the lunch buffet, we were informed that this would require an additional charge (!!!!). This directly contradicted the impression given to us at check-in and left us feeling that we were unable to fully use the hotel facilities in the way suggested or in the way we believed we had paid for.
While we understand that prices may increase during busy holiday periods, charging premium rates while simultaneously restricting access to facilities unless further payments are made feels unreasonable and misleading. More concerningly, the experience left us feeling as though shorter-stay guests were treated differently to those staying for longer periods.
This was especially disappointing as we had genuinely been looking forward to trying a Rixos hotel for some time. Sadly, following this experience, it is unlikely that we would choose to return or recommend the brand to others.
Read less
