Recent Stay - March 24 - 1 April 2008

I saw the Taj Palace on the Internet and looked like a nice well presented hotel. When turning up there my first impressions were great, entered the lobby very nice, open, relaxing. However once entered our room located on the 7th floor, i was not impressed at all, it was just far to small, not much space at all.

Dissapointed as there was no balcony with our room. I had breakfast booked for my 8 day stay, and when i went down to eat on the first day, it all looked so nice. I got some potatoes, when i sat down to eat, i bit the potatoes, it was raw and not even cooked properly and just puked it out. The scrabled eggs werent cooked properly all gooey, Had some sausages, cut in half and all white fat started coming out, looked disgusting and realy put me off breakfast. Over the next few days i noticed the potatoes were cut differently so i thought they may be cooked well, but NO they werent. The sweet croisants section was nice.

Therefore i wouldnt reccoment you book breakfast with your stay, best to eat out.

There was no free wireless internet access, youd think there would be staying in a 5* hotel. You have to pay 3dhs PER MINUTE if you want internet access in the hotel. Your better off going to the internet cafe round the corner and pay 5dhs PER HOUR or 3dhs PER HOUR using your own laptop.

There is only one pool on the 11th floor roof top (no indoor pool), with a jacuzzi, however there is always lots of people in there so not relaxing as much. Also with the sun so hot in months like april-august its not very pleasant in the pool as the heat could probably get to your head.

You have lots of shops nearby, restaurants (mc D's, Pizza Hut, Subway, KFC, Hagen Daz etc) and shopping malls, smal kids funfair all within walking distance.

The best place to stay i would reccomend is Golden Sands 3 or 5 apartments. They have 2 pools, great service from staff, big rooms, balcony, free internet access, rooms have kitchens, washing machine, fridge, cooker and everything you need. Its best as sometimes its nice to be in your room and cook your own breakfast, bring lunch or dinner from out and eat comfortably!!

Hope this review has helped...

The pleasant stay in this hotel is unforgettable, especially the good staff, great breakfast, ample rooms and one of the best house keepings we have ever experienced! It really worths every penny you spend! Wish the best for the organizers.
Tehran, Iran

I stayed in this hotel a few times and all experiences have been wonderful. Here are the (+ve) & (-ve) things about it.

(+ve)
- The rooms are very spacious with a bathroom in each room. All my stays in this hotel were in 2 or 3 bedroom suites.
- The kitchen is large, with a large living room.
- Great restaurants on the ground floor. I loved the Turkish restaurants.
- Prices are excellent.
- The hotel is located in the city centre, so you're wihtin close proximity to a shopping mall + there is a supermarket in one of the buildings around the hotel.
- When staying in the 2 or 3 bedroom suite, there is a small room for the maid with a toilet + a storeroom is available to store your luggage.
- A large balcony connects the living room with the 2 bedrooms. So the windows are actually french windows that open into the balcony.

(-ve)
- The view from the window is not that great. Surrounding the hotel are buildings, buildings & more buildings. However, the view from the restaurant down at the mezannine floor are great.

You will probably like this property a lot more if you have not sampled other Taj properties in India which are always fantastic. If one were to compare this hotel with others available in Dubai then it will fare much better.

The rooms are very large. While they are better than most clinical Dubai hotel rooms they lack the warmth and personality one would expect for the price. One constantly gets the feeling in all aspects of the hotel that they are penny pinching in their expenses. The tea bags are awful, the toileteries are limited, one constantly has to ask for small things like shower caps. The food at breakfast does not compare to international standards. While everyone is very eager to please the staff are not well trained. The hotel did not send a car pick up as promised but instead asked us to get a cab which they would pay for. During checkout they decided to errorneously charge us for the entire contents of the room eatables and drinks which they reveersed after we were upset.

Avoid the Turkish restaurant by all means. The staff in he restaurants hate serving guests. The hotel should close the restaurant.

The good part - the hotel is close to lots of interesting eating places and markets. Stroll across for a meal. This is a rarity in Dubai.

After 10.30 pm the roads close to the hotel also has unsavoury transactions occurring on the streets. However they do not bother touists walking by.