Taj Downtown Hotel Dubai: A Review

We recently went to Dubai as part of a larger trip to Mauritius. Given that we had to change over in this city anyway, we thought that we may as well explore it. When looking for hotels, we wanted something at the heart of it all, whilst still being affordable. Here is our review of the Taj Downtown Dubai, a hotel that met all of our criteria whilst looking.

The Lobby and Service

When you enter the Taj, you go straight into the centre atrium. It is a huge room, which extends upwards a few floors. In fact, some of the restaurants are on the balconies here. We found the hotel staff incredibly friendly and helpful. When we arrived, our bags were taken and we were immediately walked over to the desk and received a welcome drink.

The lobby is also almost entirely white, which made it seem very clean and luxurious. Calming music played in the background and the floral display in the middle left a lovely aroma.

We arrived at the Taj a good seven hours before check-in, which after almost 12 hours of travelling, was not ideal. However, the staff were amazing in helping us. They upgraded us on the spot so that we could get a room as soon as possible and were then taken down to breakfast.

This excellent service continued all the way through our stay, whether at a restaurant, bar or simply asking for advice. We also received complimentary tokens to spend in the hotel restaurants and bars whilst we were there. All in all, an excellent review of the Taj Downtown Dubai so far.

The Room

Our room was a Burj View room, located on the 25^th floor. The first thing we noticed was the gorgeous view over the city scape. We could even see the fountains from our room, something that we took advantage of on the last night.

The bed was large and comfortable. It felt uber-luxurious and was everything that I would expect of Dubai. We had a large smart television and a mini bar, although the prices in this were rather high! The air conditioning also worked a treat, making our room a peaceful haven in the middle of a busy city.

On to the bathroom now and, my oh my, it was reason enough to book again. There was a large window between the bath and the main room, meaning that you could enjoy the view from the bath. There were also speakers here, so you could enjoy the television too!

Our bath was large and deep, with a selection of bath salts. The floor was a crisp, neutral tile that complimented the white stone. The real show-stopper though was the rainfall shower. Complete with as much Molten Brown as you needed (no, seriously) and a powerful shower, this small room became a sauna during your wash. It was, without doubt, the best shower I’d ever had.

Food and Drink

No review of the Taj Dubai would be complete without mentioning the food. Starting at breakfast, you had a large selection at the buffet. Pastries, cakes, cooked food, Indian or Arabic cuisine; you name it, it was here. There was also a set-menu, which you could just keep ordering from.

Our waiter was always amazing and would keep coming over and encouraged us to eat more food. When we arrived, we were given some ‘welcome pancakes’ and, when we left, some ‘goodbye cake’. Top marks there.

As we were only here for two nights, we had to pick our choices carefully. As we were bed and breakfast, the dinner was not included. Most restaurants here would have cost about £100.00 per dinner for two.

However, the new tapas restaurant, Meda, was on a special 50% off deal, so we decided to go there. The meal and service was again amazing, with some of the best tapas I’ve had outside of Spain. A particular highlight though was their Tiramisu, complete with coffee jelly.

On the second night, we were lazy and thought that we would build our own pizza. This was expensive, at about £20.00 per pizza (no dominoes 50%!), but after exploring we didn’t want to go anywhere. The food was brought up on a lovely table, with complimentary dates too. It was also very tasty and we managed to watch the light shows from our room.

Lastly, the Taj Downtown Dubai happens to be home to Treehouse, a rather instagrammable bar. With the downtown almost circling you, it has a cool atmosphere, especially at night. The cocktails were also very good.

Location

To end this review of the Taj Downtown Dubai, we need to mention the location. From our window, we could see the Burj, the fountains and the mall. As far as views go, I can’t think that we could get a better one.

There is also a shuttle bus running most hours to the mall, which takes about 5 minutes. You could probably walk there easily, but as there was building going on it was tricky. Either way, you can easily reach the main sights. A taxi is also very cheap and cost us the equivalent of £4.00 to get to the mall.

Dubai is far larger than you think it is. To get to the Creek or the Palm, you need to catch the metro. The red line runs through the heart of the city and is not too far from the Taj. However, it is a bit of a pain to get to with the main roads, so make sure that you get a taxi. From here, it does take a while to get to either end, but it is not too bad.

The Verdict

I think that the Taj Downtown Dubai offered a great value for money. I felt that I was continuously being pampered and was in a great place to see the city.

* cover image source Expedia

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