Hotel of the Week, Ocean View, Dubai

Quite the loveliest thing about the new Ocean View Hotel, being billed as Dubai’s first four-star beach hotel, are the spacious bedrooms, which are furnished with a mixture of bright white and dark wood and decorated with splashes of sea blue and lime green. They’re more Miami Beach than Middle East, but I thought they were utterly gorgeous.

Beds are dressed in crisp white cotton, bathrooms are sleek and filled with yummy Elemis smellies. With large flat screen TVs, mini bars, powerful hairdressers and high-speed wi-fi in every room, this four-star property could easily be a five-star anywhere else but Dubai.

However, four-star it is and as such the property, owned by JA Resorts, is providing a much-needed slightly more affordable option in a destination stuffed with expensive five-star plus properties, especially for families. Prices are pitched about 10% lower than the neighbouring Sheraton hotel, which boasts an extra star.

And, until mid October customers are being offered a free upgrade from B&B to half-board, which might explain why the hotel seemed pretty busy during my visit in mid-January, just a few weeks after it opened.

Dining options within the hotel are extensive – there are six restaurants and bars. La Rivage, adjacent to the reception offers a plentiful breakfast buffet, the Fogo Vigo is a Brazilian steakhouse, The Deck serves light snacks on a shady terrace near the pool and The Whistler is a relaxing wine and cheese bar.

For guests who like to be in the centre of things, the Ocean View has a prize location right on The Walk, Dubai’s only outdoor retail avenue, in Dubai Marina where you’ll find plenty of places to eat and a few shops.

Disappointingly, most outlets are international brands such as Starbucks, Sunglass Hut and Subway. The Movenpick hotel on The Walk does have a lovely roof terrace on the second floor with cabanas where locals suck on shisha pipes every evening.

The Ocean View plans to open its own outdoor shisha bar, on the 3^rd floor, soon. At the moment, its main evening venue is Girders Bar on the first floor, where you can also dine. It’s already become a popular hang-out for ex-pats, possibly lured by the half-price cocktails during Happy Hour – which stretches into three. In a city that’s as expensive as London, you can see why this is a hit.

Among the worse-for-wear Brits in the bar we spotted Alan Shearer. Turned out his golfing buddies were staying in the hotel, but interestingly he wasn’t, which means he probably missed out on the hotel’s Calm Spa, which I reckon is the best I’ve ever experienced. The large treatment rooms are bathed in blue light, it has properly relaxing candle-lit relaxation areas and my facial came with a foot scrub and arm massage, which were unexpected but totally divine.

Now we come to the hotel’s main selling point, which is that it’s the only four-star on the beach and every one of its 338 rooms has a sea view. However, while it is true that I could see the ocean from my balcony, my view was spoilt by the building site in front of the hotel where they’re constructing a two-storey shopping mall. The fact that Dubai needs another shopping mall like a hole in the head appears to have escaped the developers, but at least when it’s finished in about 18 months time it will provide convenient retail therapy for the hotel’s guest.

This was the view from the balcony of my standard sea view room

In the meantime, they’ll have to put up with noise of the building work, which woke me early in the mornings, even on the 13^th floor. I wouldn’t be surprised if the incessant beep beep of diggers, the banging and the drilling drove a few guests nuts.

The noise is an issue on the outdoor terrace and by the pool, which is in total shade until mid afternoon by the way. If you want to get some sun, you’ll need to head to the beach, which is accessible via a footpath that runs alongside the building site.

Unfortunately, while the sea is impossibly blue and inviting, the currents here are ferocious so guests are advised to stay in the shallow water. The beach is not the best here either as the shopping mall has robbed much of it, leaving only a narrow strip before a rocky ledge that descends into the sea.

I’d suggest to anyone who wants some R&R on the beach or by the pool to take advantage of the hotel’s free shuttle service to its sister property, the luxurious and peaceful Jebel Ali Golf Resort, about a 20-minute drive away.

Guests are able to use all of the facilities at the Jebel Ali, free of charge. Here they’ll also find an 800m long private sandy beach, a choice of outdoor pools (heated to body temperature) with swim up bars, all set within lush, colourful gardens.

The Jebel Ali is a bit out on a limb, which is why it’s so relaxing, but Ocean View guests can have the best of both worlds – a convenient base in the city with the option to spend a day by the beach.

Also worth considering for families or groups of friends are the self-catering 2, 3 and 4-bed apartments in the Oasis Beach Tower, a sister property to the Ocean View, which is also on The Walk. These apartments are spacious, well-equipped and guests can also take advantage of the free shuttle to Jebel Ali.

I’d definitely recommend both properties to clients who want the convenience of staying in the thick of things, who are on a budget and plan to spend only part of their visit by the pool. Just warn them to pack ear plugs.

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