Your rating of this hotel:
1.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms:
2.0
Service:
2.0
Cleanliness:
1.0
Food:
5.0
Amenities:
3.0
February 2016
I was really hooked, I even decided to write a review, although before that I had only read reviews. I will write as much as possible on the case and only about the hotel.
Although for the uninitiated, I’ll still make a brief lyrical digression ...
We are in the UAE for the fifth time, so we can conclude that we love this country very much (we even thought about acquiring real estate here at one time). But the last visit really unbalanced me and disappointed me a little.
About the country (what has changed for the worse over the past year):
1. Taxi raised the cost of the minimum trip. It used to be like this: landing 3 dirhams, if the trip is less than 10 dirhams, then by default the passenger pays 10, today it’s like this: landing 3 dirhams, if the trip is up to 10 dirhams, then when stopping at a designated place or upon request, the driver presses the “magic "button and ...the amount on the counter becomes 11-50, and once we were "very lucky" and the amount after pressing this button increased to 12-50.
2.
About those taxi drivers. There are very few tourists in the UAE due to the global crisis, and those (according to them) came mainly on "burning" trips, that is, they are not going to spend much money. Those who are in the emirates for the first time can be seen right away, go in a taxi “clinging” to the window (although there may be some other signs, taxi drivers know better) and then savvy drivers begin to drive you in circles, since the roads allow and the buildings are interesting everywhere, respectively, the trip from 10-12 dirhams smoothly turns into 20 (and if it is Dubai and the car passes under a pair of special "gates" that cost 4 dirhams in any direction, then 30) ...
3. There is a glorious store outside Dubai (20 kilometers away): Dubai Outlet Mall, all branded stores at good prices, until 2016 this store had its own huge fleet of buses that traveled (according to their own schedule) to almost all hotels in . Dubai and
Sharjah (I won’t say about other cities and emirates, I rested only in these) gathered tourists and took them for shopping for free. However, according to the guides, something in the legislation has changed and now these buses have been banned so as not to take away bread from taxi drivers. That is, before, tourists were taken for free to spend money, now the policy is this: come to spend, spend “a little” more ....Now about this "slightly". In almost all hotels you can order a car to this shop: for hotels 4 * -5 * the fee is 75 dirhams per person (round trip) with at least 3 people in the car. The hotels are simpler: 180 dirhams for 5-7 people (minivan) also in both directions. In fact, this is how we decided to order a car in both directions for 5 people in our hotel (which is simpler). At the reception, they dialed the number of the transport company and offered to negotiate with them on my own, already here I felt a catch))).
The young man “at the other end of the line”, who was talking to me in Russian and frankly yawning, began to increase the price ...one of the motives just struck me: the price at the reception - 180 dirhams - is for a trip to the outlet and 2 hours of waiting, (now imagine a huge two-story mall, in which there are more than 500 stores (maybe more, I didn’t count), in 2 hours you won’t even have time to understand where to go and what to buy), in general, after 10 minutes of bargaining, we agreed on the amount of 200 dirhams for 5 people (this 4500 rubles at today's exchange rate, 900 rubles per person). You could, of course, try to take a taxi or public transport, but after considering all the options, we came to the conclusion that 200 dirhams for 5 is the lowest price, it would be cheaper by taxi on the weekend (but on the weekend there are a lot of people in the outlet, mostly " local"), and standing in a traffic jam on a weekday will be more expensive. I won’t say anything about public transport at all: from the BurJuman metro (to Dubai) there are 17 bus stops.
Arriving at the outlet, I was completely upset ...Some stores (my favorite ones) reduced their area by half, respectively, and the assortment, prices increased ...and with our dollar exchange rate, it makes no sense to buy clothes and shoes at such prices, and the choice leaves much to be desired, compared to July 2015 he is "none" ...although this is probably a matter of taste ...
The conclusion is this: there are few tourists, and the “locals” (I’m talking about workers who come in large numbers in the UAE to earn money, the citizens of the JSC “roll around like cheese in butter”) really want to eat and try to squeeze everything possible out of tourists, and where it’s impossible - deceive.
Now about the hotel: My husband and I rested in the UAE and in 5 * and in 4 * and in 3 * ...the main thing for us: clean linen, so that there was a place to wash and spend the night ...in the hotel we are at a minimum: sleep and have breakfast. Here, I don’t even know what word to describe my emotions more clearly, probably shock. So the cons:
one.
We arrived from the airport at about 10 pm, no one met us at the hotel (thank you for meeting us at least in the port), we found a small gate in the fence, which is not striking, we went in ...tourists were sitting by the small pool, we asked them where is the reception (the reception is not at the entrance, but in the depths, you’ll find the figs right away), went through ...registered, took the passports, escorted to the room.
2. I think they didn’t expect us at all ...In the room (on the 2nd floor of A28) the boy who saw us off started to fuss))) with us, he moved the beds (although when booking the tour, we clearly indicated that there should be one bed! ) and began to make the bed… We sat and waited… no desire to unpack and change in front of a stranger. I didn’t start to scandal, I didn’t care for everything, I was very tired ...
3. The boy left after 15-20 minutes, and we decided to inspect the room. I have never seen a dirtier hotel in my life. I will attach photos so as not to be unfounded.
There is a layer of dirt on the floor (they probably didn’t wash it for a couple of months, but there is a construction site outside the window), the floor is laminate, very cold, the sun never got into the room ...The next day in the room we noticed the smell of something rotten or sour ...
4. During the cleaning of the rooms, they changed towels, took out the trash and poured plenty of lemon air freshener on the room, apparently to kill the terrible smell. In general, while we were in the room, the balcony was always open for us so as not to suffocate)))
5. There are tables and sun loungers near the pool, and around the leaves fall from the trees, which no one cleans up, or cleans up once a week ...we didn’t catch this happy moment)))
6. You are lying by the pool, sunbathing (and the territory is very small), and one of the staff is constantly roaming around you and devouring with its greasy eyes ...not a moment of rest, not very pleasant ...
7.
Breakfasts are meager, they are taken from the Royal Beach Resort & Spa, everything is standard: scrambled eggs or scrambled eggs, sausages or chicken cutlets, pancakes or pizza, yogurt, porridge, melted cheese, bread, rolls, watermelon, tea and disgusting coffee, milk, but not hungry stay. It should be noted that for a week the porridge has never failed, they know how to cook it perfectly!
8. In principle, everything that I have listed above is the little things in life ...The main horror awaited us at night. Acoustics in the villa is what you need! ! ! You can hear every step along the corridor and stairs, the knock of doors starting from the entrance from the street, ending with each room (we even heard the tourists talking in the room opposite) ...In our part, apparently there was also a utility block ...I don’t know what to call this room ...it looks ordinary room, but the attendants were constantly roaming around there, not only during the day but also at night, while not embarrassed, slamming the door “with all the dope”, for several nights I woke up and watched the time (always different: 2.3, 4.5 in the morning), when I couldn’t stand it , in region 3.
At 4 and 5 in the morning I went out to swear, the “hardworkers” made naive eyes and babbled: “I don’t understand”, after which some chakras opened in me and English swearing flowed, which I had ever heard in American films, after which it came long-awaited silence, hours until 5-30.
9. At 5-30 in the neighboring villa, a rooster began to crow))) and in the mosque, at the "loud" level, the mullah sang a prayer))). In general, we did not manage to sleep even once in a week. But there is something to remember)))
10. A few more nights in a row, the washing machine, which worked all night long, prevented us from sleeping)))
Now about pluses. There are fewer of them, but they are there!
1. During the day, two Russian-speaking employees work at the reception: a girl and a young man. This is probably the brightest positive impression ...Polite, understanding, knowledgeable, they will always help and advise.
2.
Location of the Villa: close to the sea (city beach, if you don’t want to go to Royal Beach, and they take you there for free, at 8-30 to the beach, at 13-00 back, late - walk, 20 minutes), close to the cooperative store, close to restaurants: Sea Waves Restaurant and Kazan Restaurant, which are located in Al Seef Hotel and Sanobar Restaurant.
3. Possibility to use Royal Beach buses.
4. The pool in the villa was clean, perhaps because no one was swimming there, the water was cold, from which we conclude that there is no heating (as well as cooling in the summer heat) in the pool.
There are no more pluses. There are still cons, but let's not be petty, I have listed the main thing that the majority pays attention to.
In general, welcome to Villa Al Khalidiah Resort, we never go there again)))
I was really hooked, I even decided to write a review, although before that I had only read reviews. I will write as much as possible on the case and only about the hotel.
Although for the uninitiated, I’ll still make a brief lyrical digression ...
We are in the UAE for the fifth time, so we can conclude that we love this country very much (we even thought about acquiring real estate here at one time). But the last visit really unbalanced me and disappointed me a little.
About the country (what has changed for the worse over the past year):
1. Taxi raised the cost of the minimum trip. It used to be like this: landing 3 dirhams, if the trip is less than 10 dirhams, then by default the passenger pays 10, today it’s like this: landing 3 dirhams, if the trip is up to 10 dirhams, then when stopping at a designated place or upon request, the driver presses the “magic "button and ...the amount on the counter becomes 11-50, and once we were "very lucky" and the amount after pressing this button increased to 12-50.
2.
About those taxi drivers. There are very few tourists in the UAE due to the global crisis, and those (according to them) came mainly on "burning" trips, that is, they are not going to spend much money. Those who are in the emirates for the first time can be seen right away, go in a taxi “clinging” to the window (although there may be some other signs, taxi drivers know better) and then savvy drivers begin to drive you in circles, since the roads allow and the buildings are interesting everywhere, respectively, the trip from 10-12 dirhams smoothly turns into 20 (and if it is Dubai and the car passes under a pair of special "gates" that cost 4 dirhams in any direction, then 30) ...
3. There is a glorious store outside Dubai (20 kilometers away): Dubai Outlet Mall, all branded stores at good prices, until 2016 this store had its own huge fleet of buses that traveled (according to their own schedule) to almost all hotels in . Dubai and
Sharjah (I won’t say about other cities and emirates, I rested only in these) gathered tourists and took them for shopping for free. However, according to the guides, something in the legislation has changed and now these buses have been banned so as not to take away bread from taxi drivers. That is, before, tourists were taken for free to spend money, now the policy is this: come to spend, spend “a little” more ....Now about this "slightly". In almost all hotels you can order a car to this shop: for hotels 4 * -5 * the fee is 75 dirhams per person (round trip) with at least 3 people in the car. The hotels are simpler: 180 dirhams for 5-7 people (minivan) also in both directions. In fact, this is how we decided to order a car in both directions for 5 people in our hotel (which is simpler). At the reception, they dialed the number of the transport company and offered to negotiate with them on my own, already here I felt a catch))).
The young man “at the other end of the line”, who was talking to me in Russian and frankly yawning, began to increase the price ...one of the motives just struck me: the price at the reception - 180 dirhams - is for a trip to the outlet and 2 hours of waiting, (now imagine a huge two-story mall, in which there are more than 500 stores (maybe more, I didn’t count), in 2 hours you won’t even have time to understand where to go and what to buy), in general, after 10 minutes of bargaining, we agreed on the amount of 200 dirhams for 5 people (this 4500 rubles at today's exchange rate, 900 rubles per person). You could, of course, try to take a taxi or public transport, but after considering all the options, we came to the conclusion that 200 dirhams for 5 is the lowest price, it would be cheaper by taxi on the weekend (but on the weekend there are a lot of people in the outlet, mostly " local"), and standing in a traffic jam on a weekday will be more expensive. I won’t say anything about public transport at all: from the BurJuman metro (to Dubai) there are 17 bus stops.
Arriving at the outlet, I was completely upset ...Some stores (my favorite ones) reduced their area by half, respectively, and the assortment, prices increased ...and with our dollar exchange rate, it makes no sense to buy clothes and shoes at such prices, and the choice leaves much to be desired, compared to July 2015 he is "none" ...although this is probably a matter of taste ...
The conclusion is this: there are few tourists, and the “locals” (I’m talking about workers who come in large numbers in the UAE to earn money, the citizens of the JSC “roll around like cheese in butter”) really want to eat and try to squeeze everything possible out of tourists, and where it’s impossible - deceive.
Now about the hotel: My husband and I rested in the UAE and in 5 * and in 4 * and in 3 * ...the main thing for us: clean linen, so that there was a place to wash and spend the night ...in the hotel we are at a minimum: sleep and have breakfast. Here, I don’t even know what word to describe my emotions more clearly, probably shock. So the cons:
one.
We arrived from the airport at about 10 pm, no one met us at the hotel (thank you for meeting us at least in the port), we found a small gate in the fence, which is not striking, we went in ...tourists were sitting by the small pool, we asked them where is the reception (the reception is not at the entrance, but in the depths, you’ll find the figs right away), went through ...registered, took the passports, escorted to the room.
2. I think they didn’t expect us at all ...In the room (on the 2nd floor of A28) the boy who saw us off started to fuss))) with us, he moved the beds (although when booking the tour, we clearly indicated that there should be one bed! ) and began to make the bed… We sat and waited… no desire to unpack and change in front of a stranger. I didn’t start to scandal, I didn’t care for everything, I was very tired ...
3. The boy left after 15-20 minutes, and we decided to inspect the room. I have never seen a dirtier hotel in my life. I will attach photos so as not to be unfounded.
There is a layer of dirt on the floor (they probably didn’t wash it for a couple of months, but there is a construction site outside the window), the floor is laminate, very cold, the sun never got into the room ...The next day in the room we noticed the smell of something rotten or sour ...
4. During the cleaning of the rooms, they changed towels, took out the trash and poured plenty of lemon air freshener on the room, apparently to kill the terrible smell. In general, while we were in the room, the balcony was always open for us so as not to suffocate)))
5. There are tables and sun loungers near the pool, and around the leaves fall from the trees, which no one cleans up, or cleans up once a week ...we didn’t catch this happy moment)))
6. You are lying by the pool, sunbathing (and the territory is very small), and one of the staff is constantly roaming around you and devouring with its greasy eyes ...not a moment of rest, not very pleasant ...
7.
Breakfasts are meager, they are taken from the Royal Beach Resort & Spa, everything is standard: scrambled eggs or scrambled eggs, sausages or chicken cutlets, pancakes or pizza, yogurt, porridge, melted cheese, bread, rolls, watermelon, tea and disgusting coffee, milk, but not hungry stay. It should be noted that for a week the porridge has never failed, they know how to cook it perfectly!
8. In principle, everything that I have listed above is the little things in life ...The main horror awaited us at night. Acoustics in the villa is what you need! ! ! You can hear every step along the corridor and stairs, the knock of doors starting from the entrance from the street, ending with each room (we even heard the tourists talking in the room opposite) ...In our part, apparently there was also a utility block ...I don’t know what to call this room ...it looks ordinary room, but the attendants were constantly roaming around there, not only during the day but also at night, while not embarrassed, slamming the door “with all the dope”, for several nights I woke up and watched the time (always different: 2.3, 4.5 in the morning), when I couldn’t stand it , in region 3.
At 4 and 5 in the morning I went out to swear, the “hardworkers” made naive eyes and babbled: “I don’t understand”, after which some chakras opened in me and English swearing flowed, which I had ever heard in American films, after which it came long-awaited silence, hours until 5-30.
9. At 5-30 in the neighboring villa, a rooster began to crow))) and in the mosque, at the "loud" level, the mullah sang a prayer))). In general, we did not manage to sleep even once in a week. But there is something to remember)))
10. A few more nights in a row, the washing machine, which worked all night long, prevented us from sleeping)))
Now about pluses. There are fewer of them, but they are there!
1. During the day, two Russian-speaking employees work at the reception: a girl and a young man. This is probably the brightest positive impression ...Polite, understanding, knowledgeable, they will always help and advise.
2.
Location of the Villa: close to the sea (city beach, if you don’t want to go to Royal Beach, and they take you there for free, at 8-30 to the beach, at 13-00 back, late - walk, 20 minutes), close to the cooperative store, close to restaurants: Sea Waves Restaurant and Kazan Restaurant, which are located in Al Seef Hotel and Sanobar Restaurant.
3. Possibility to use Royal Beach buses.
4. The pool in the villa was clean, perhaps because no one was swimming there, the water was cold, from which we conclude that there is no heating (as well as cooling in the summer heat) in the pool.
There are no more pluses. There are still cons, but let's not be petty, I have listed the main thing that the majority pays attention to.
In general, welcome to Villa Al Khalidiah Resort, we never go there again)))
Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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