IntercityHotel Dubai Jaddaf Waterfront

IntercityHotel Dubai Al Jaddaf Waterfront

373.75 AED

3.5

Rating

3.5/5

Flyctory.com Pros

Lovely area with a great potential
Nice rooftop pool

Flyctory.com Cons

Some technical issues in the room
Weak breakfast performance with drink rip-off
Complimentary, but really weird and smelly parking garage

The very last hotel night on my mileage run to Jakarta and the Emirates was a stay I was really curious about. While I have introduced you to a couple of IntercityHotels (by Deutsche Hospitality) before, this is in fact the only outlet of the chain in the United Arab Emirates. I was really curious how the brach is transiting into the hospitality world of the Gulf Region. Later, I will compare it to IntercityHotel Bonn in a review battle. Here are my thoughts about the IntercityHotel Dubai Jaddaf Waterfront.

IntercityHotel Dubai Al Jaddaf Waterfront – Location

The Al Jaddaf Waterfront is a rather new recreational area South of the Dubai Creek. During my visit, there was quite a lot of construction work. The most prominent sight in the area is likely the Mohammed bin Rashid Library. There are some other hotels and stores in the area. However, the picturesque area has definitely not reached its full potential.

I would not walk the route with heavy luggage, but Al Jadaf metro station is rather close to the hotel and connects to Dubai Old Town nicely. Thus, the location is not too bad if you want to explore Dubai by public transport. If you come by car, the hotel offers complimentary self-parking. This is a feature I really appreciate. However, even with the rather mid-sized rental car I had, the too narrow parking lots with a lot of pillars and walls around was a challenge. I just cannot deny that the air in the garage was bad and came with a terrible smell as well. Thus, this parking experience was not really welcoming.

IntercityHotel Dubai Al Jaddaf Waterfront – Room

I had one night at the hotel. The flexible rate, including breakfast for the Thursday to Friday in October 2024 stay was 373.75 AED. The room category I had booked was a King Superior one.The room had a nice, but not overwhelming size, coming in a design close to the European IntercityHoitels. I really liked that the room came with some amenities with a fridge. Some of the features of the room were very bothering, though. I wondered why the work desk has a universal power outlet, but the outlet next to the bed only comes with U.A.E. / British format. Furthermore, the outlet was that low over the table that you could at least not use a standard local power plug in it. Additionally, the chair was obviously not in best quality and already had some cracks.

The shower bathroom had a reasonable size. Basic amenities are provided in dispensers. The shower just had a combined shower gel and shampoo. The quality of the tiling around the shower was rather questionable, but that is rather an aesthetic than a functional aspect. The view from the room was really nice and underlines the potential of the Al Jaddaf Waterfront area.

IntercityHotel Dubai Al Jaddaf Waterfront – Breakfast & Food

And then there was breakfast. The European IntercityHotels have improved a lot during the last years in that regard. The service offered in Dubai was rather poor. The range of items was at most average and did neither meet the standards of the brand in Europe nor the standard in Dubai. Bread was just toast and croissants, for example. The omelettes from the buffet were almost cold. The most ridiculous feature were drinks. The hotel offered apple and pineapple juice, coffee and one basic kind of tea. Orange juice, other teas or other coffee drinks like espresso were available for a nominal charge only. I was not the only guest in the morning who complained about this rip-off.

The breakfast service was also rather weak. There were just some eight people in the breakfast area during my visit, including me. I just grabbed some additional items from the buffet while the waitress was completely cleaning my table and continued even though I in the meantime standing next to it and claiming that it is my stuff. I do have a certain level of understand for that when you have a packed large buffet area, but don’t get it in a small area with a few guests. I did not feel like testing the hotel restaurant in the evening and went for the room service. The mixed grill platter (69 AED)was really nice, the service was overall good. The hotel restaurant offers a nice range of meals.

IntercityHotel Dubai Al Jaddaf Waterfront – Service

The welcoming was friendly. However, it is a bit weird that you are asked as an H-Rewards Gold customer whether you have stayed at an IntercityHotel before. There was also no special welcome or perk for status customers. It felt a bit of chaotic, also because they forgot to scan my passport and asked to get it back when I had already put it back to my backpack. The WiFi in the hotel is excellent.

The rooftop pool of the hotel is a real beauty. It is not overwhelmingly large, but comes with a nice view, including the one of Burj Khalifa. There is also a pool bar, a cafe and a small, but rather nice gym next to it.

IntercityHotel Dubai Al Jaddaf Waterfront – My View

If I were Deutsche Hospitality and opened my very first IntercityHotel in Dubai, I would have tried to do it especially good. Maybe some regional guests choose this place and like it. They might go for other hotels of the branch in the Middle East or Europe. At the breakfast latest, you see that this has obviously not been the philosophy behind this hotel opening. In the city, which loves hotel breakfast and brunches, how can you do that? How can you charge people for a tea of their choice or an orange juice? I just don’t understand that. The hotel would have so much potential being an ambassador for the brand. I would not book it again.