Al Habtoor Palace - Preferred Hotels & Resorts

Al Habtoor Palace - Preferred Hotels & Resorts gives you a polished Dubai base with the sort of after-hours choice that matters when the day has already been busy: a spa, a fitness centre, a rooftop pool, several restaurants and a private beach reached by shuttle. The setting is grand rather than casual, and smart-casual dress applies in the restaurants, so the flip-flops may need to wait a little longer than usual.

You can make the stay as sociable or as self-contained as you like. There is a concierge, room service, free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel and a 24-hour reception. English is available for dealing with the hotel, which keeps the practical side of the stay straightforward.

The hotel dates from 2015 and has six floors. Its rooms and suites are arranged for couples, with twin-bed rooms available when sharing a double bed is not part of the holiday plan.

The address is in Al Habtoor City on Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The hotel sits about 6 miles from Dubai city centre, with Business Bay, Jumeirah Beach and Burj Khalifa among the nearby points of interest.

You are not staying directly on the beach. Instead, a complimentary shuttle takes you to a private beach in Jumeirah, where sun loungers, parasols and beach service are available. That gives you two different rhythms in one stay: city access from the hotel and a beach day when the sea is the better idea.

For arrivals and departures, an airport transfer is available through the hotel. Car hire is also available, while the concierge can help arrange excursions and tickets.

For a straightforward stay for two, the Deluxe rooms keep the useful things close at hand: air conditioning, a private bathroom with bath and shower, tea and coffee facilities, water, a television, toiletries, bathrobes and slippers. Blackout blinds are particularly welcome when Dubai has been doing what Dubai does best outside your window. Selected rooms are accessible, and soundproofed rooms are available for sleepers who prefer the city to stay on its side of the door.

The twin-bed categories suit two travelling companions who would rather keep their own sleep space. The suites are the step up for a couple wanting more of a named, occasion-style stay, with choices ranging from the Double Suite through to the Royal and Chairman suites. The cards below give the exact dimensions and capacities, so the useful question here is simpler: do you want an efficient room for two, separate beds, or a more formal suite for the whole stay?

A desk, high-speed internet access, safe, wardrobe and private bathroom cover the practical end of the evening. Room service is available when the sensible dinner is the one eaten in a robe, and the hotel also provides laundry, dry-cleaning and ironing services when your luggage has lost the argument with the heat.

Breakfast is a buffet, served from 6:30am. BQ Tea Garden covers breakfast, lunch and dinner with Euro-Mediterranean cooking, while Sidra runs from breakfast through to dinner with healthy dishes, herbal infusions and signature coffee. BQ Tea Garden adds cultural entertainment to the meal, which gives the evening a little more going on than simply finding a table and staring at it.

For dinner, World Cut Steakhouse concentrates on steaks and seafood and opens until 1:00am. Le Patio serves Middle Eastern food in the open air, with a choice of shisha flavours, and remains open until 3:00am. The Polo Bar follows the classic New York sports-bar line, with leather and wood interiors, and also stays open until 3:00am.

The Roof Gardens is beside the rooftop pool, open during the day from 9:00am to 7:00pm. Smart-casual dress applies at the restaurants, while the poolside setting is more relaxed. In practical terms, you can start with an early buffet, eat properly later, or keep the evening going without leaving the hotel.

The rooftop infinity pool is the obvious place to let the day slow down. Poolside cabanas give you somewhere to settle with a book or a drink, while the surrounding greenery keeps the setting from feeling entirely made of glass and traffic. If you prefer sand to tiles, the complimentary shuttle to the private Jumeirah beach provides loungers, parasols and a full change of scenery.

Silk Spa is the more serious recovery option, with massage, facials, hammam, sauna and jacuzzi treatments. It has six treatment rooms and uses MARGY’S products. The fitness centre is equipped for strength training and general exercise, and there is also a tennis court if sitting still starts to feel like a technical challenge.

Away from the hotel’s own facilities, the concierge can arrange excursions, including La Perle. That gives you a cultural evening option when you want something organised, rather than another round of deciding whether to go back to the pool.

The hotel is on Sheikh Zayed Road in Al Habtoor City, with Dubai city centre about 6 miles away. An airport transfer and vehicle hire are available through the hotel, and the concierge can assist with tickets and excursions. Free Wi-Fi covers the hotel, and a 24-hour reception keeps late arrivals from becoming a logistical drama.

Check-out is at 12:00. Early check-in and late check-out can be requested. The hotel also offers express and private check-in and check-out, lifts, accessible facilities, luggage handling, a safe, currency exchange and an on-site ATM.

Laundry, dry cleaning, ironing, shoe shining and a business centre cover the less glamorous but genuinely useful parts of travel. Power uses Type G sockets and 240 volts. The hotel welcomes children and offers babysitting, while smoking areas are available.