One&Only Royal Mirage

This was our third stay at the One & Only Royal Mirage although it has been some years since our last visit stay but I am delighted to say that once again we really enjoyed our holiday. Our room, quality of the food, restaurant options on the complex and most importantly the quality of service were excellent. We booked a Deluxe King Room in the Arabian Court and loved it. We wanted an elevated room so that we could enjoy the balcony and views of the wonderful gardens / pool. The rooms are very spacious with a lovely bathroom with a separate bath / shower. We had arrived early morning, as many of the flights from the UK do, and whilst there were no promises the hotel said that they would do everything to get us into our room asap and managed to do that by 11am which was great. We booked the 'Stay a Little Longer' package and so had breakfast / dinner included and along with a 15% discount. Breakfast was fab with so much choice, and it was lovely to be able to sit outside (although we did need a jumper on some mornings). As for dinner then you are able to dine in the buffet restaurant as part of the package - if you choose to dine in any of the other restaurants (i.e. Beach Bar & Grill, Eauzone, Tagine etc.) then you get a discount on your bill. We did try the Beach Bar & Grill (excellent), Eauzone (very good) and Tagine (was our least favourite but we dined during Ramadan and probably arrived too late). We also tried the Saturday Buffett at Bubbalicious in the Westin Hotel - the choice of food on offer was incredible, overwhelming in fact, as was the quality but it was very popular and pretty manic. It was very much a 'arrive and chill' holiday for us and given how well we were looked after by all the staff then there was even more reason not to stray too far ! Whilst no fault of the hotel, it is worth noting that building in and around the Marina area shows no signs of abating and there are several skyscrapers being built very close to the hotel complex at the moment and so not the greatest sights to enjoy when chilling around the pool. It's an expensive place to stay but in this instance you very much get what you pay for and we would be very happy to return at some point in the future.

Pure perfection from start to finish! If you’re looking for understated sophistication in Dubai look no further. 10/10 from the moment we arrived. The staff, the location, the resort, the facilities are incredible. The service you receive is world class. We visited friends who were staying at other famous hotels and couldn’t wait to get back to ours each time. You realise just how special the place and staff are. We already rebooked for next year before leaving! If I could list out everyone’s names I would. Sue at Eauzone, Jizz at Olive’s. Also the loveliest host at Olive’s (Argentinian lady - sorry can’t remember her name). Samuel on the doors, Fisal in Tagine and all the wonderful ladies on front desk. Thank you so much!

I should note I’d just left a 5 star review a few days ago after at The Palace for a week. I almost knocked it down to 3 stars due to the chaos beforehand and the terrible communication and incompetence of the reservations team however they made up for it during our stay so I gave 5 stars and left out the details. I’ve unfortunately deleted that review after a few days ago they made an unauthorised a payment to my credit card after we checked out for almost £1500 with no explanation I’ve emailed the hotel straight away asking what it’s for and they can’t explain it. They’ve said they can’t find any evidence of it so I’ve provided screenshots from my bank. I sent a detailed email showing how much we should have paid (per my confirmation emails and the invoice we had when we left for food) and how much we have been charged. The extent of the replies has been (this amount is correct - we are right and you are wrong) and at the same time are denying they took the extra funds and at this stage are not refunding me. I’m an accountant and have quadruple checked my bank statements and invoices and can see they’ve charged us for 8 nights instead of 7. The main problem with the admin behind this hotel is it’s like “computer says no.” They can’t provide real answers to questions; they don’t take time to understand what the problem is and instead they send copy and paste emails that give no real information. We booked this hotel for 7 nights originally and due to flights changing, we needed to amend the booking to 6 nights - quite simple. I emailed the hotel, they told me I could do that free of charge and to make the request via booking.com. Great. I did the request via booking.com and had an email back stating “applicable rates will apply, please enact the change via booking.com” (after telling me the same day it’d be free of charge and I had enacted the change via booking.com). I did this 4 times and had the exact same copy and paste email (applicable rates will apply, enact the change through booking.com). I asked what the rates are and the response was…applicable rates will apply. I stated I had enacted the change and could they please change the dates as this was now 1 day before our arrival and had been going on for a whole week. I was told - making the change via booking.com It’s like you’re being responded to by a Bot but you aren’t - it’s a real human at the other end. When we checked in it took someone 40 minutes to change our booking from 7 nights to 6 and I showed them all the emails and correspondence I had with the hotel (via the booking.com messaging portal) and he kept telling us why we needed to do it via booking.com (like we were total idiots) - I must have said about 20 times all the correspondence and change requests had been done via booking.com and he was not listening or just did not understand. We were upgraded to an Executive Suite for our troubles and the stress caused and we had a lovely stay (again albeit with teething problems - inaccurate breakfast orders etc). Our flights changed again and despite changing our reservation at check in from 7 nights to 6, we needed to add on an extra night to stay for 7 nights in total. We were quoted 3 different rates and in the end I ended up agreeing it all with Daisy Lau over WhatsApp because it was easier (their assistant manager and had given me her number at the start because I think she realised how awful the experience had been). We checked out with a 150AED invoice which we signed and left thinking they’d resolved everything and we’d be back. And now after a week a £1500 unauthorised charge which we’ve reported to American Express, no explanation, no apology and again - not reading emails, not looking at the evidence I’ve given them of how much we should have paid vs how much they’ve charged us. They are an absolute nightmare to deal with and honestly this will be the reason we can’t return. There are hundreds of 5 star hotels in Dubai and whilst this property is stunning, the stress before and after from sheer incompetence makes it pointless coming here. Go elsewhere

We have been coming to this hotel for 10 years and the staff are what makes the hotel shine. From the pool attendants, to housekeeping to the welcoming gong on arrival everyone makes you feel special. We have stayed at other hotels in Dubai; modern, high rise, ultra luxury but we return to The One and Only as the staff make us feel like family. Thank you to all the staff for making every visit special!

An absolutely beautiful place to hide from the city and relax in comfort. All employees are wonderful, always smiling, helpful and genuine. There is always someone around to help you, be it in the lobby, at entrance gates, or even just opening a back door for you! The grounds are very spacious, we didn’t even know if it was full of guests, we only saw many people during breakfast and at the pool but it was all managed well, no long wait. Definitely a place to return :)