Lovely hotel with all the regular stuff you'd expect from a 5 Star establishment but nothing extra special as everything in Dubai seems to be done on a hugely commerical scale. Personally, I don;t see the point of travelling all that way for shopping! The malls (albeit fantastic) are unecessary, unless on a holiday, you are a shopaholic handbag freak that gets the shakes when they haven't been to Bluewater for at least 3 days! I couldn't get my head around the fact that I was in Dubai and yet standing in front of M & S with Debenhams & Boots around the corner! weird!!

Although the food was good, the ambience was lacking and we struggled to find other placess to eat that didn't have that 'Disney Feel'. The Spa treatments where outstanding ( and trust me I've been to the best)!

It's not a place that I personally would go back to but that said, if your looking for 'winter sun' and especially if you have kids, then this is a great place for you. Its safe & theres plenty of family based activities but for us it was a bit like a 5 star Butlins (Dubai, not the hotel)!

I wouldn't recommend it for couples that enjoy an ambling holiday of peace & quiet with quaint restaurants and culture - if you want that then hold out until June & go for the South of France or southern Italy...oh and if you don't like Disnleyland or shopping malls then forget dubai in general!

We stayed at Mina a Salam for 7 nights before coming here for a final 3 nights. Let's just say that after 1 night we were phoning other hotels to move locations. Not to say that the Ritz isn't nice, but for the money it is nothing compared to the Mina and the staff are not up to par.

We had a problem with our room. It was badly furnished, dirty, noisy, but these issues were easily overlooked.

However the big issue was we had asked for a room with a door between the bedroom and the living area (where our kids would sleep) and stated this was very important (my husband needed to work, we would order in dinner once the kids were asleep ect ) Anyways, the closet style doors with open slats between them were useless. This might not be a problem for most but it was important to us. When we asked politely for an alternate accommodation we were promised 3 times that someone would look into it and get back to us. After no response I left a message with the hotel manager, no reply again. For three days we could not get a reply or a resolution and so we just enjoyed the great pool, beach and weather and made the best of it. And just because my kids were tired from not being able to get to sleep and the fact that my husband had to go inside in the afternoons to get some work done was not going to cloud our holiday .... well maybe just a bit.

The Mina A Salam has a better beach, pool, rooms (by far!), restaurants and SERVICE and at a price of about 20 pounds more a night for a suite.

Our stay from 18/02/08 - 22/02/08 to say a cultural shock after staying in the Madives for 14 days is an understatement - Dubai is a building site and will be the new Benidorm sad to say but true.

Our friends had stayed previously and enjoyed the Residence and Spa 4 years ago (Sept baking hot still a building site!!!) We chose this time The Ritz Carlton and we all thought this was the best choice, we were not interested in staying at any of the large glitzy hotels. The Ritz was just perfect to end our celebration. The Club rooms for us were the best choice, the staff, service and quality of the food and drink was just what we hoped for. Weather was warm/sunny/cloudy chilly one evening.

Pool area for kids and an Adult only pool with jacuzzi, and bubble bed. Bikes delivered beverages to the pool, comp fruit kebabs etc.

On arrival and departure we were treated superbly, nothing was to much trouble. We had a fab time at the races, sit down meal with drinks, panoramic opening doors leading to balcony seats to enjoy the races. It was a superb evening booked by the Ritz and taken by their transport no problems. We also visited the Gold Souks, river taxi for photos, linen Souks and the boys played the Emirates Golf Course. Would we go back to Dubai probably but only if we could stay at the Ritz!!!

This is the third time I have stayed at this hotel over the last 4 years. Thought I would point out the pros and cons of Dubai and this hotel.

Pros

Weather is almost guaranteed in Dubai during the winter. Mid Feb was a little chilly in the evening and defintiely take a sweater or pashmina.

No upset tummies

The Ritz Carlton is one of the most comfortable hotels in Dubai. The staff are its greatest assets.

The Ritz Carlton has a Kids Club which is complimentary. Although it would only really be suitable if your children were under the age of 8.

The Club Lounge (free champagne and premimum brand drinks served almost 24 hours a day). You do have to have the drinks in the Club Lounge. No taking them to your sunbed.....

The hotel has a complimentary mini bus to the shopping malls, gold souks etc a couple of times a day.

Taxis are cheap and can take you to say the Royal Mirage Hotel(where all the best restaurants are in my opinion!) for approx £1.50.

The Ritz Carlton gardens and pool area are delightful. Although they were nearly full the hotel always seemed to be quiet.

They always seem to give me an early check in. Do send them a nice email beforehand if you want this. They will always try and do what they can

The private beach is lovely

Cons

There are approx 15 high rise office type blocks behind the hotel completely dwarfing the hotel which is only 6 storeys high!

The restaurants are quite formal and La Baie is very expensive

The price of alcohol and non alcoholic cocktails are verging on the outrageous. Evian water nearly £7 a bottle and no alternative offered. A small beer £6.50.......

The Spa is again too highly priced. A 25 min massage was over £40.