We have stayed at this hotel many times during our ex-pat days in the early 1990's when it was owned by the Intercontinental chain and was perhaps the best hotel in Dubai at this time.

We had heard that the hotel was now part of the SAS Radisson group and during a stopover in DXB on returning from India we decided to give it a try once again.

For those who prefer to stay in the city rather than along the Gulf coastal strip, this hotel's location is still hard to beat with its Creek facing balconies giving granstand views of the dhow anchorage ( although rich men's pleasure boats are squeezing the traditional dhows further down the Creek - shame on the Dubai Municipality!).

Although this is still a first rate hotel its design is dated and it is not difficult to spot why the Intercontinental group have sold it on.
Standard rooms are still very acceptable in terms of living space but the bathrooms are small and in today's world are somewhat old fashioned, rather like old THF Post House bathrooms in the 1970's. In today's de luxe hotels one expects walk in showers etc; and its is difficult to see how this could be achieved within the design constraints of the hotel. Radisson have done their best however with what is available to them and there is no call for complaint over the facilities in general.

The hotel has numerous restaurants, so you are spoilt for choice and the food generally is of a high standard, although we would advise giving the noodle bar a miss based on our experience.

The hotel has a reasonable pool and fitness area and for those in need of retail therapy, its own shopping mall and is also in walking distance of the souks or a short taxi ride to the more famous shopping outlets.

Pricewise the room tarrif is realistic and probably represents reasonable value for Dubai.

Stayed 8th / 9th Jan 2008. Good location on the creek (10p to cross), and walkable to Gold Souk. Shopping malls a short taxi away, Jumeirah beach is a 30 mins taxi ride away (cost 60 Dirhams, less than a tenner). 15 mins to airport. Be aware traffic in Dubai is now a nightmare at peak times. Been to Dubai 4 times over last 10 years and its just gets worse. Took 30 mins to get to Jumeriah beach at 11am, took 2.5 hours to get back at 4pm. They are building a railway scheduled 2010, but the moment theres 2 million people all running cars (as its 10p a litre) and only one highway. It may be 7 lanes but its madness.
Anyway hotel is good, nice pool and gym, staff are very helpful and the rooms are well equiped especially the Royal Club rooms on the upper floors where you can also use the Royal Club lounge on Floor ten for free drinks, buffet breakfast (avoiding the hussle and queues in downstairs cafe), afternoon tea and great views of the creek.
The only issue is that its not on the beach. So okay for couples, or a stop-over, but if you have kids they'll prefer the larger beach resort hotels that have clubs, larger pools, activities and the sand. Of course they are twice the price, so we just went along to Oasis Beach hotel on Jumeirah (where we had stayed before and knew the facilities are excellent) and just joined for the day. Week days are £12, weekends £24. You use all the facilites and are given towels, locker etc. Cheaper than staying on the beach but not as convenient as being there.
So in summary SAS Deira Creek is a great city hotel for a stop-over, do a day trip to the beach, but if your planning a weeks holiday in Dubai you want to be staying on Jumeirah Beach.

We stayed here for eight nights.

It was absolutely lovely. We didn't want to be beach based, (if you want this go to Jumeirah beach area) we wanted to be in the town, and Deira is the business district.

From outside, the hotel looks pretty average, all this changes the minute you walk inside. Beautiful but at the same time very relaxed. This is mainly due to the staff, with a superb level of service, which is the hotels greatest strength. At the same time this is a sleek operation from room service through to restaurant service.

The food is lovely, give Boulvar a go everyday for your breakfast. we've never had better. Palm Grill does beautiful steaks and has some great wines available. Also Sumbaiya, Japanese restaurant is fab. Don't miss the buffet.

Theres a great swimming pool overlooking Deira Creek.


If you choose to stay in Deira, theres plenty to do and see, especially if you just want to wander, look, see, soak up the atmosphere. The traditional wooden boats, Dhows, used to transport everything imaginable to India, east Africa and so on, are a delight to watch. And, enjoy riding the water taxis (Abra) across the creek. (will cost you 1 Dirham, around 15 pence).

Enjoy the buzz of the city, the friendliness of all the people and the knowledge that you are in the safest city in the world

Stayed at the Radisson SAS over Christmas. From the entrance the service was great (as to bwe expected from the Radisson chain). We stayed in the Club Suite which had both a seperate bedroom and a lounge basically adjoining rooms, and as we had our little girl with us suited us fine during the evenings when she would go to sleep we still had the lounge to occupy.It was very spacious and always clean. I felt the staff could not do enough for us constantly asking if we needed anymore water or if the mini bar needed refilling, new towels or generally making sure we are comfortable. The one touch room service button was great and service for food or anything else was prompt. I would reccommend this Hotel as it is very central to Dubai and with some great views. We were on the 9th floor with fantastic views over the creek in the morning and the evening when the boats would be going up and down. We had two balconies so you could take your pick where to reside in the evening and relax. There is also 11 resturants on site and many shops to spend your well earned cash. The food was great in all the returants we tried especially the Persian resturant and the Japanese resturant.
I would definetly recommend this hotel to anyone planning to stay in Dubai who is not fussed about being near the beach even though the beach is a 10-15 minute drive away and they generally provide everything you need at the beach.

Excellent.