For Craig’s 30th birthday we wanted to stay somewhere luxurious but also reasonably priced for Dubai. After a bit of searching we both picked the same first choice of staying at Dukes hotel on the Palm, which was handy!

The Location for Dukes Hotel The Palm

Dukes Hotel is right on the base of the Palm, so it wasn’t too far in taxis to go elsewhere in the city. If you stay on the leaves at the end that cost will go up. The whole thing is a one way system which is a bit of a nightmare – wouldn’t like to be driving there! Taxis are the main way to travel unless you stay right near the metro, so this was definitely ideal for us and one of the main reasons which we picked it.

It was always easy to get a taxi outside quickly too which was very useful, you don’t want to be stood waiting around in the heat.

The Facilities

We arrived at Dukes Hotel The Palm fairly early in the morning and our room wasn’t ready to check in. Therefore we headed up to the gym area to shower and change.

The gym was pretty nice looking, and was quite busy but there was enough space. I definitely wouldn’t have minded a visit if we hadn’t had such a packed schedule already! The shower facilities were good though and had the place to myself pretty much which was nice!

Once we returned from our day out, we came back to check in to our room, which was on the 13th floor, facing inwards to the opposite balconies. Dukes Hotel The Palm is set up like two towers with a connecting bridge on the 14th floor where the gym and indoor pool were. Sadly the indoor pool was undergoing maintenance whilst we were staying so we didn’t get to visit that. But it looked really nice and would probably be cooler than the outdoor one!

The Room

When we got into the room they had left a birthday card and birthday cake. It was a few days early but still really sweet of them. Plus they gave us another one on the Friday when it actually was his birthday! Yay cake!

The room had a huge walk in shower in the bathroom which was awesome, as well as a little kitchen area with a large fridge and some basic cooking facilities. All we used this for was the fridge but the studio rooms were cheaper than the basics on booking.com when we were looking! If you fancy a look you should open the above link for rooms and prices in a new tab!

The bed was big and comfy, and we both had a robe and little slippers. The hairdryer wasn’t as nice as I would have hoped for a fancy place but never mind.

We always had new water left for us every time we went back into the room too, which is exactly what you need in that heat! So that was appreciated.

And an even better touch, we got back from the Tropicana beach party at Barasti, they had put balloons in the room, written happy birthday in palm leaves and made a pretend birthday cake out of towels. They even put my tiny jaguar who I take on trips on there too which was cute! Very impressed really was a lovely touch, really made it special. Jasper the Jaguar approves.

Bars and Restaurants

I can’t comment much on the food, as we only ate at the beach bar for lunch one day since it was actually pretty reasonably priced. I had a yummy and healthy poke bowl though, which felt good after eating and drinking rather a lot at Barasti the night before… They do a bottomless brunch every Thursday though, and the breakfast buffet looked unreal every time we walked past.

We saw in Craig’s actual birthday in the main bar with a signature Duke’s martini from the trolley (treat yo self!). It was a really classy place, wasn’t very busy but there were enough people around to make sure there was a bit of an atmosphere.

We also visited the smoking room bar before, where I had a really tasty apple martini and Craig enjoyed a cigar. We were the only people in there on the Thursday night though, which is why we thought to move to the main bar for the midnight birthday celebration.

The Pool and Beach

The outdoor pool at Dukes Hotel the Palm is a beautiful infinity pool which was great fun to hang out in. However I will say that if you are short (I am 5’3 for example) you can’t touch the bottom of the pool. I had to swim or stand on the ledge by the infinity bit, no standing in there for me! This did have its upside however, as there weren’t really many kids playing in it and splashing around. There is a little kids pool too so they were all in there.

There was also a separate lazy river, which was completely awesome! It was pretty long and featured a few bridges with during water and waterfalls throughout. Sorry girls if you don’t want wet hair this probably isn’t for you, wet hair unavoidable. It was so much fun! There weren’t loads of rings either so it wasn’t crowded like they sometimes are at waterparks, very serene. Although if water parks in Dubai interest you, you can read about Aquaventure at Atlantis The Palm here!

The beach was lovely, with a roped off section of sea to swim in with great views of the city skyline. The sea was so warm it was like taking a bath!

Both the pool and the beach had plenty of loungers and umbrellas. Plus there were some bean bags on the beach too by the Corona bar down there. The pool bar did waiter service as well so you didn’t need to move a muscle which was perfect!

I recommend staying at Duke’s the Palm for your trip to Dubai!

Honestly it’s probably my favourite hotel I have ever stayed in! The room was beautiful, the service was impeccable, the lobby was incredibly grand and I loved the pool and beach area. Seriously, this place has its own lazy river – what more could you want!