Lately we visited Dubai again, one of our favorite holiday destinations in the world, and had the opportunity to stay in the up and coming Dubai Waterfront. We had set our eyes on the Radisson Blu Hotel, which seemed to have a great location. In this blog you can read everything about our experiences during our stay.
Dubai, once a small fishing village in the Arabian Gulf, today it’s a sun soaked modern metropolis. Visiting Dubai you get the idea and feeling that everything is possible, it breathes a sense of possibility and innovation. It offers impressive coastlines, beautiful deserts and incredible cityscapes. Truly memorable experiences for all visitors, memories are just waiting to be made here.
Location
It’s The Radisson Blu's Waterfront location that got us enthusiastic and excited about this hotel. Dubai has many great districts, and we stayed in a few of them before, but never did we stay in or near Downtown Dubai. And that’s where the Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Waterfront comes in. They’re located in one of the largest and most impressive waterfront developments, known as the Dubai Water Canal district in Business Bay, Downtown Dubai. The area is becoming internationally known as one of the top business and leisure locations. Enough reasons for us to touch base here and check it out for a few days.
Downtown Dubai
You’re at just 15 minutes walking distance from the famous Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall and the Dubai Fountain, also known as Downtown Dubai. A very popular tourist destination and place to visit in Dubai, because it offers it all, commercial, residential, entertainment, hotels, shopping and leisure.
Must things to do in Dubai Downtown are visiting the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Mall. The Dubai Mall offers over 1200 retail outlets, and the Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world, it amazes me every time I look at it and best thing is that from the Radisson Blu Waterfont we had unobstructed views over the Burj Khalifa and Downtown.
Also check out our blogs about the Observation Deck at the 144th floor of the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo for much more information and some fun things to do in the Dubai Downtown area.
Checking in to Room 1109
You wouldn’t think it when you see the pictures, but we really had a standard king room. It makes me curious to see what other room categories and types look like, but in our case, the standard room was just perfectly fine.
Our room was located on the 11th floor of the hotel, and by far the best part of it, we had Burj Khalifa views!
Seeing that impressive Burj Khalifa is something that just never gets boring. Having those views from your own balcony is simply magical.
The standard rooms are very spacious with a king-sized bed and a large bathroom. The large bathroom has two showers, great thinking, and all amenities you can think of, including bath salt and a bath flower to pamper yourself. Well done for the bottle of sanitizer in the room.
FireLake Grill House & Cocktail Bar
Beside the impressive views from our room, the FireLake Restaurant is really the highlight of this hotel. The restaurant offers a truly stunning setting for dinner, with Burj Khalifa views, a dream! It’s almost like looking at a painting.
They serve the best of the Midwest using open flame techniques, FireLake is your place to go for smoky, satisfying flavors the likes of slow-roasted short rib and coal-roasted lamb.
Try their delicious dishes or one of their famous cocktails while enjoying the views.
The Larder
This is the place where you kick-start your day with the daily Super Breakfast morning buffet. They also serve a lunch buffet here, which we did once during our stay, and was fantastic. That is also served buffet style, so you can take whatever you like and as much as you like. Both breakfast and lunch are high quality ingredients and food. You can even finish your day here for dinner if you wish.
Makar
Then there is Makar Restaurant, something different, but that is what makes this place fun and worth going to! It’s their in-house Scottish lounge where you can relax in one of their big leather armchairs and enjoy a real Scottish whiskey. They serve a small menu of bar snacks and sharing plates.
Recommended here is the sharing plate which includes all menu items in small portions, delicious! They offer a wide range of sports matches on their televisions, just a great atmosphere and good food.
Pool
It’s Dubai, where temperatures easily hit 50 degrees Celsius in Summer, every hotel has to have a pool here. So does this one of course. You can find the pool on the third floor, where you will also find the gym and spa facilities.
The pool has the perfect temperature to cool down from the hot Dubai Summer temperatures. There is a lifeguard on duty all the time, who hands out towels for you to use during your stay at the pool.
Then there is also a pool bar serving drinks and food. The views from the pool include impressive high-rise buildings and the new Waterfront area.
The hotel also has a small souvenir shop located on the ground floor. There are also two separate hair salons, one is exclusively for men, the other for women. Also located on the ground floor is Abraj, the hotel café. Offering a menu with juices and superfood snacks, health teas and Instagram-ready coffees.
Overall review Radisson Blu Dubai Waterfront
It wasn’t our first time visiting Dubai, and certainly won’t be our last time, but it was in fact our first time staying in the Downtown Dubai area. And I can tell you, that was really good and worth repeating! This Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Waterfront is located at walking distance from it all. And with all the construction work going on, there’s so much more to be added in that area too. Mark my words, in the coming years Dubai Waterfront is going to be the new hotspot!
Also, you’re close enough to all the attractions and highlights, yet far enough for a quiet location and environment, the perfect blend.
This blog was written by travel writer and Traveltomtom team member Ashley. She stayed at the centrally located Radisson Blu Hotel Dubai Waterfront on behalf of Traveltomtom, and wrote this blog about her experiences.