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Reviewed: The Ritz Carlton Dubai Marina

Dubai tower blocks

The Ritz Carlton Hotel, Dubai is located in the Dubai Marina district right next to the chic café-lined JBR Walk. Jumeira Beach Residences (or ‘JBR’ to those in the know) provide a backdrop of pale tower-blocks while views stretch across lush landscaped gardens, over a wide beach and out to the blue seas of the Arabian Gulf.  The five star hotel is just six storeys high which makes a refreshing change from the Dubai hotels and sky-scrapers which tower over city.  It’s Mediterranean style gives the hotel a pleasant resort feel, especially as it’s by a golden sandy beach.

Arrival

We flew from the UK to Dubai with Emirates on a night flight and arrived at our Dubai hotel, The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai Marina at around 10 am.  The lobby is impressive with a fountain, chandelier and huge windows showcasing a fabulous view out to the Gulf. Our bags were whisked away and after a quick breakfast on the outside terrace we were told that our rooms were ready and waiting and after checking-in we went to unpack and freshen up.  Our rooms were in a newly refurbished wing with wonderful views overlooking the gardens and beach.

Ritz-Carlton, Dubai Lobby

The Room

The morning was already hot and it was lovely to walk into the cool and spacious deluxe room. Accents of pale green in the décor with dark wood furniture added to the air of calm.  I was greeted by a colourful fruit platter, dates, almonds and dried apricots and a mini power breakfast of berries and a fruit smoothie – in case we’d not already had breakfast.  Then I spied the macarons and I knew I’d be happy here!  I also knew I’d have to pace myself…

All rooms and suites in the hotel look out to sea and my room had a balcony which was visited by two bright green Parakeets! The room had a 47” flat-screen TV, Nespresso machine and a nifty tablet by the bed to operate the lights, air-con, fan, alarm-clock and even order room-service. Importantly there were plug sockets by the bed – great for charging gadgets while keeping them to hand. Hallelujah! The feather bed was huge with a selection of pillows and signature linens.  It was fabulously comfortable and I slept soundly throughout my stay. There was, as I’d expect, a nightly turn-down service.

Ritz-Carlton-deluxe-room

Check up to date prices and availability for the Ritz Carlton Dubai Marina

The wardrobe was walk-in which lit up on opening the doors and housed an iron, ironing board and electronic safe along with the usual shoe-cleaning, sewing kit and RC branded beach bag.  The wooden hangers were not fixed to the rail so no wrestling required – one of my hotel pet hates. My tiny gripe here is that the closet was a bit on the small side – especially if I’d been two people staying a week.

Bathroom

The bathroom was pale marble and dark wood with double sinks – essential if Mr Jones is with me.  There was a magnifying mirror (eek) and plenty of soft white fluffy towels and robes – slippers appeared by the bed at turn-down. There was a decent hairdryer, although I prefer to bring my own, and a plentiful supply of Asprey toiletries. There was a large marble bath-tub and a fabulous oversized rain shower. The WC and bidet were housed in a separate area.

The Grounds

Time for a quick nap before lunch so I decided to go down to one of the five pools and bag myself a sun-bed. There’s a separate adult only pool for those that like a little quiet time. The gardens are green and lush and well established with plenty of palm-trees, cabana beds and water features. There’s also a 350m sandy beach to soak up the sun or take a camel ride on one of the hotel’s resident humped friends. I found myself a shady nook and caught up on some shut-eye. I wanted to be fresh for the afternoon’s activities.


More Dubai inspiration


Ritz Carlton Dine-Around

A dine-around to sample some of the hotel’s restaurants was our enviable task for the afternoon.  We started off at the resort’s new Palm Grill for some casual beach-side dining and tried a selection of delicious hot canapes and drank Tiki Pops which are the Grill’s range of mocktails.  They’ll also make up a beach box for you so you can picnic on the sand.

Next we headed inside to Blue Jade restaurant where we took a sushi masterclass followed by a Sake masterclass – a first for me. Dominik the hotel’s master alchemist wooed us with Sake infusions of ginger, one of cucumber and even sparkling Sake.

Perhaps the hardest task of the afternoon (not) was to head over to the Lobby Lounge and choose which was our favourite pastry. The hotel was so excited to have Dustin Baxter, pastry chef, join them that they doubled the size of the pastry counter! It’s a wondrous thing indeed filled with jewels of confection and sweet delights.

Pastries

La Baie Lounge is the perfect spot for sundowner drinks as day turns to dusk and the tower blocks of JBR walk start to twinkle as night falls.

La Baie Lounge

Breakfast happens in Caravan and is a lavish affair with a hot and cold international buffet which can be enjoyed outdoors or inside.

Terrace Ritz Carlton

Our farewell meal was Arabic-style from Amaseena Restaurant set up in a Bedouin tent on the beach. Our meal was eaten in Caravan (breakfast and Friday Brunch venue) due to the weather. I loved the mezze-style dips, hummous, kebbeh, stuffed flat-breads, falafels, meatballs and rice dishes. We finished with some traditional sweet treats. There is an Italian restaurant on site, The Splendido, although we didn’t have the chance to eat there. The food at Ritz-Carlton, Dubai was outstanding, the presentation thoughtful and inventive and the service excellent throughout.

The Spa

The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai Spa Outdoor Lap Pool

I sneaked a peek in the spa, although I didn’t have time for a treatment, and I left feeling that it’s definitely somewhere I’d have liked to spend some time.  There are 12 treatment rooms, private spa pool, indoor and outdoor relaxation areas, plunge pools, aromatherapy infused steam rooms and Hammam scrub rooms.

Disclosure: Many thanks to Dubai Tourism and The Ritz-Carlton Dubai who kindly hosted my visit to Dubai. All opinions and views, however, are entirely my own. No matter how many macerons are left in my room. This article contains affiliate links. This means that if you click on these links and make a booking we receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps with the running costs of this site and is very much appreciated.

First photo of me at Ritz-Carlton, Dubai Marina – Photo Credit: Kathryn Burrington www.travelwithkat.com

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The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai Marina

 

Sam

Saturday 14th of November 2015

I really love the look and feel of your blog.. I live in Dubai and think the RC is awesome too:)

Suzanne Jones

Saturday 14th of November 2015

Thanks Sam. Dubai must be a fabulous place to live. Have you tried the RC Friday brunch?

April on The Travelbunny | The Travelbunny

Saturday 4th of July 2015

[…] Shopping, History and Culture – who knew Dubai had so many sides to it? And finally a hotel review of the Ritz-Carlton Dubai Marina – a word of warning don’t read this one if […]

Emily-Ann Elliott (grownupgapyear)

Wednesday 6th of May 2015

Wow, this looks amazing! Any hotel that greets you with macarons gets the thumbs up from me ;)

Suzanne Jones

Wednesday 6th of May 2015

My thoughts entirely!

Shikha (whywasteannualleave)

Monday 27th of April 2015

That lobby looks SO impressive and I'm very impressed indeed that they gave you welcome fruit, nuts and macarons! I really like the idea of having a separate adult only pool so that there's something for everyone and the rooms look quite spacious. I have the same pet hate with hangers in some hotels! I'm spending a night at the Ritz Calton Abu Dhabi next month so if it's anything like this, it looks like I'll be in for a treat ☺

Suzanne Jones

Tuesday 28th of April 2015

If the RC Dubai is anything to go by you'll have a fabulous time in Abu Dhabi:) I'll look forward to reading about your stay there - have a good trip!

Annette

Sunday 26th of April 2015

I got to visit the Ritz in February for an afternoon with lunch on the Palm grill and absolutely fell in love with this lovely Hotel. Hope to get to stay here on my next visit to Dubai, I so need to explore more of this country

Suzanne Jones

Sunday 26th of April 2015

The Palm Grill is so chilled and I loved the little buckets of food there. You're so right about Dubai - so much to explore, I'd love to go back and see some more of it :)

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