Sarah
When Markus and I were in Dubai, we stayed at various luxury hotels throughout the city (like the Grosvenor House Dubai and Habtoor Grand Hotel). But there was one hotel, that we were particularly excited to try: The W Hotel Dubai (W The Palm) located on Palm Jumeirah.
W Hotel Dubai had just recently opened in February 2019 and I already love W hotels for their dark, ultra-modern look anyway. It might not be everybodies vibe – but it certainly is mine! And the location on Palm Jumeirah didn’t make W Hotel Dubai less interesting!
So when we had the chance to stay for four night we gladly grabbed the opportunity and took the time to thoroughly review this luxury hotel!
Table of Contents
Pin this for later
The location of W Hotel Dubai
W The Palm (official name of the W Hotel Dubai) is located (surprise!) on Palm Jumeirah in Dubai.
It is based on the southern crescent between Kempinski Emerald Palace and Jumeirah Zabeel Saray (so, definitely within a luxurious neighborhood 😉 ).
Since you need to travel along the trunk of the Palm before you get to the crescent, traveling to and from W The Palm takes a while. There is no public transportation around, so you are forced to either have a car or pay for taxi/Uber/Careem when you want to visit the city.
W Hotel Dubai offers some complimentary shuttles to Dubai Mall though – best to check the timings when you arrive!
The Check-In Experience
My check-in experience was sadly “not-so-smooth”. When I wanted to check in without Markus (something I had already done without any problems before in Dubai), they insisted on seeing the booking confirmation.
Does Markus actually want to stay here with ME?
Asking them why they need this confirmation, they explained that Markus had indeed booked for two people.
But they claimed, since he didn’t specifically mention me in a comment, they couldn’t tell with whom he would like to check in. I told them he definitely plans to stay here with me and they hesitated.
That almost felt insulting as I was standing there with my passport with the same name, telling them that Markus is my husband – and still they were unsure whether he actually planned to stay with me in the room he had booked for two people. I know, it’s Dubai. But still, I am his WIFE!
The room card that was not working
Next, I went up to the room and the room card wasn’t working.
I walked all the way back to the lobby and told them it’s not working. And check-in guy (the same that wasn’t sure if my husband wants to share the room with me) didn’t want to believe that the card is not working. His female colleague jumped in, refreshed the card and offered to come to the room with me. Alright, at least.
The Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Upgrade Issue
And then there was the topic with the upgrade. Markus is a Marriott Platinum Elite – so Marriott promises to him to upgrade him to the best available room, including standard suites.
The room I was given turned out to be a nice room with a good view (a “spectacular room” according to the W Hotel Dubai room category) – but not a suite.
However, standard suites were still available to book at this moment on the website. I know this may sound weird to some as this was indeed a gorgeous room. But if a hotel chain specifically promises something to you, they have to stay by their word.
So I went down to reception and very politely mentioned that we are actually entitled to a W Suite and that they are still available. This time I was talking to another lady.
She checked and surprisingly, came to the same conclusion as me. She then gave me the weirdest explanation ever: it’s because Markus is not yet there that they could upgrade me to the better room but not to the suite. Hm. I have trouble believing that.
She then promised to block the suite for us and once Markus would arrive, we could have a look at the suite and decide whether we wanted to change the room.
The Lobby / Hotel Grounds of W Hotel Dubai
At the time I checked into our room I had already had the time to see something of the hotel lobby thanks to the key card issue. And the lobby of W Hotel Dubai IS GORGEOUS.
W Hotels always has this very modern, artsy vibe to them but I felt like W Hotel Dubai really nailed it.
From the lobby, you can easily get to the pools and the beach. The pools (called “The Wet Deck”) pretty much make up the whole central part of the hotel with only a tiny part of it resembling a garden.
I think it was a smart choice to maximize the pool size as this is where guests usually really want to be!
The Room - W Suite
As Markus arrived, we indeed transferred to the W Suite. And the moment we stepped into the room I was glad that I had been so persistent. Because the W Suite was huge and it was fantastic!
The W Suite (which are their “standard suites” consists of a large living room with a seating corner and a big sofa as well as a sleeping room and a connecting bathroom. The shower is seperate and so is the toilet.
The tub is facing the balcony and the bed. I know that not everyone will agree on that with me, but I LOVE open-plan bathrooms!
The whole room is rather dark – most of the walls are covered in a dark tile mosaic that stunningly shimmers. But there is a sophisticated lighting concept, even including buttons for different light settings (e.g. “relaxing” “soft and seductive”).
And finally, a hotel where you can simply turn off all lights from your bedside with one click!
On top of everything, our W Suite had a huge balcony that stretches from the living room to the bedroom.
Apart from the lighting concept (that also includes an automatic nightlight) I particularly liked that W put a lot of efforts into small details.
For example, there is not only international power plug that can be used with a variety of plugs but also USB outlets and a clock already with charging cables (Micro USB, USB Type C and Lightning for iPhones).
There is also a console with audio in and HDMI – meaning you can play your music and watch your movies on the big curved TV in your bedroom (or the other in your living room). Unfortunately we could not try this as they forgot the cables in our room and reception as unable to organize some upon request (they were “out of cables”). I hope this was just by accident and is not a general problem.
Anyway, you could clearly see that there was love in the detail (like candies on your bed after turndown and a steamer on top of the usual iron for dresses)
The In-Room Amenities of our W Suite
I always care a lot for the in-room amenities when traveling. Not only because they make my life easier – but also because these details can just ruin everything. Or be icing on the cake.
Luckily, at W Hotel Dubai they were to be icing on the cake! The bathroom amenities were among the largest I have seen in such a hotel and they had a really good quality!
Next, the W Suite in W Hotel Dubai did have a Lavazza Coffee Maker as well as some teas to select from. For me, that’s always a big plus!
And last but not least, there was the “mini” bar. Actually, the “mini” bar was not at all small. There was a huge selection of snacks and drinks in it (although, as always, pricey).
The room was even ready for any Martini party you want to throw! 🙂
Explore our W Suite in 360°
Pictures don’t do hotel rooms justice all the time? Well, then I have something new for you!
I have partnered up with Wolowo – an online tour creator that makes it possible to create 3D Tour that you can navigate around. There is even additional pictures and info spots that you can click – If this doesn’t give you a feeling of the room, well, then you need to visit the place yourself I guess! 🙂
To move around simply drag the image – and click the white hotspot (the white dot with the black border) to move to another room / panorama!
If you are a blogger and are interested in taking 3D panoramas like this with your smartphone too – then contact me or Wolowo. They have a product called the Wolaptor to make this super easy.
And if you are a hotel that would like to have a similar tour for your hotel: Shoot me an email to [email protected] – I can do this for you too!
The Pool at W Hotel Dubai - The Wet Deck
The pools are amazing. Point made. There is no way you will not love these multilayered, hip pools with Cabanas and lots of chairs in the water. The Cabanas need reservation – but that’s for free and super easy to do.
The water in the pools is pleasantly cool and the best way to refresh when Dubai gets really hot!
The Main Pool(s)
The Main Pool(s) is where you will stay most of the time. It’s only open to guests stayed at W Hotel Dubai and it is huge!
One detail that I really liked was that you pool staff will bring you fresh water and even green apples for free as much as you want. They even put it into a cooler with ice cubes so you can refresh yourself. I have already seen some hotels in Dubai offer free water (like Grosvenor House) – but W puts two apples in on top.
It’s not a pricey item – but I highly value these small gestures (and in fact, many guests do). They also bring around free ice-cream from time to time (bonus points!!!).
The Wet Deck
There’s a bar and a second smaller pool (The Wet Deck) with a kind of a swimup bar (although, there are no pool bar chairs and the bar is awkwardly high).
The Wet Deck is also where W The Palm holds it’s famous “not another ladies day” event on Sundays. If you choose to visit these, it’s 150 AED for pool access, unlimited drinks and a selection of bites from 12pm to 4pm for ladies – and boys can come along for 250AED!
Related article: Ladies days in Dubai – Instagrammable pools and drinks for free!
I initially planned to attend the ladies day, but was then put off by the fact that the hotel pool was blocked to hotel guests during the event. I think this is not a smart move – W The Palm should probably just hand wristbands to paying outside guests for the drinks and the food.
Actually, if I were the hotel management I would offer a discount to hotel guests. But instead even denying access to parts of the hotel to paying hotel guests if they choose to skip the (otherwise good valued) offer is not a smart move in my opinion.
The beach at W Hotel Dubai
The beach of W Hotel Dubai is facing the “palm leaves” of Palm Jumeirah (as are all hotels on the crescent of the Palm).
The sand is fine and well maintained, however it changes its structure a bit inside the water. The water inside Palm Jumeirah is absolutely free of waves and lukewarm.
W Hotel Dubai also has lots of sun loungers for their guests on their beach – which we really liked!
Unfortunately, there was a bit of algae in the water when we visited. It might be due to the net that W The Palm uses to mark the border of the swimming area (it was full of algae). We thought that it might be a protection measure against jelly fish, but we still almost swam into one of these blue blubbers.
I think the beach on Saadiyat island in Abu Dhabi was nicer – but still, Palm Jumeirah offers really amazing bathing opportunities 🙂
The Spa at W Hotel Dubai
The Spa at W The Palm follows the same design aesthetic as W The Palm in general: it is dark with vivid colors, dominated by shades of pink and purple.
There is a ladies and a gentlemen area with a sauna, a steam rooms, showers and relaxation chairs. Free water and nuts were provided as well.
Food and drinks at W Hotel Dubai
As we were occupied a lot in Dubai (and had dinner at both Burj Khalifa as well as Burj Al Arab), we basically only had breakfast and sundowners / drinks at W Hotel Dubai and can honestly only review these offerings!
Breakfast at Via
Let’s start with this. Ice-cream sandwiches. Yes, you heard me right – there is ice-cream for breakfast! I have never seen that in a hotel – but I loved it and it certainly is one of these cheeky little details meant for millennials!
But don’t worry, there is also “regular breakfast” – meaning there is a salad bar, freshly baked bread and really good sweet bakery (including muffins and donuts) as well as everything for English breakfast.
On top, there is an Omelette station and additional warm dishes. You will also find some Arabian items like Hummus and Labneh as well as Pancakes, Muesli, Porridge and fresh fruit.
The focus was definitely on Western breakfast with very limited to none Asian or Indian items. This was completely in line with the visiting guests and the food quality was excellent.
Also, there were quite some “hipster” items like Chia Pudding and Quinoa porridge with almond milk (and – I can’t stop mentioning it – ice-cream sandwiches!!!)
SoBe Rooftop Bar
Perched on the rooftop on the 5th floor you will find SoBe – a hip bar for drinks with sunset view and some food items (South/Central American inspired).
We even went up to SoBe twice because we liked the vibe and the view so much.
Wednesday is ladies night at W Hotel Dubai with four free drinks (really good quality) and some selected dishes for 35AED.
Don’t go for the food as the dishes are ridiculously small, even for this low price – but DO take the drinks!
From 4pm-7pm they have a “Double down” offer – 2 for 1 drinks at sunset is definitely a good deal! And should you prefer staying by the pool, no problem: Wet Deck also has a “Double down” offer from 5pm-7pm!
Other restaurants at W Hotel Dubai
W Hotel Dubai also has two more restaurants and a shisha bar.
The shisha bar was sadly not operating yet at the time of our visit. But it definitely looked as if it was worth visiting!
For the restaurants, we didn’t have the time to visit them as we had dinner plans for Burj Khalifa and Burj Al Arab already. But, according to some other guests we spoke with, the Italian restaurant must serve some really amazing Italian cuisine!
Related article: Top things to do in Dubai – the ultimate list!
The Staff / Service at W Hotel Dubai
As you probably noticed throughout the article, we had some issues with the staff – mainly during check-in though. The staff at the pool was incredibly friendly and funny and so was everyone working at SoBe and at Via (breakfast).
We feel like some of the (smaller) issues have to do with the hotel being so new (like the missing HDMI cables). From what we have already experienced at other W Hotels around the world, the service at W Hotel Dubai was slightly sub-par.
However, this was just one experience and we would 100% give W Hotel Dubai a second chance!
Wrap up - our personal verdict on W Hotel Dubai
We always try to be as honest as possible when reviewing luxury hotel (regardless of whether sponsored or not) as we know how crucial the hotel decision is for your holiday experience.
And while there were a few issues with the staff and service level, we still genuinely loved staying at W Hotel Dubai and we can warmly and whole-heartidly recommend this place to you.
They probably already won my heart with the ice-cream sandwiches. But then on top, this place just feels so….instagrammable. Like it’s made for millenials. Not like that glitzy, shimmery golden kind of luxury hotel. More like that “fuck-yeah-I-am-a-rockstar-baby” kind of luxury.
It’s definitely not the first hotel in Dubai I would recommend for grandparents. And probably not for families as well (despite the ice-cream). W Hotel Dubai is for young affluent customers (or young at heart). And it’s a close call for me to decide between Grosvenor House in Dubai Marina and W Hotel Dubai Palm Jumeirah!
