I stayed in this hotel for 5 nights recently in March 2008. Check in was very quick. We were in a room on the 1st floor looking out at the Dubai Museum. The room is really spacious – the bathroom is very small then in comparison but we were very impressed with it. The only complaint I would have was the noise from the air con – even when it wasn’t on! Nothing ear plugs at night doesn’t block out! The road outside is also busy so I would also recommend ear plugs for this reason. We went to the Sherlocks Holmes pub for a bite to eat as it was a long flight and late in the night. Breakfast in the hotel is fabulous – there is a big buffet of eggs, cereals, meats, cheese and crackers, breads, cakes, pastries, yoghurts, juice etc. Set us up nicely for the day.

I loved the location of the hotel in Bur Dubai. You are a short stroll away from the Bur Dubai Textile Souq and also the creek and the abra’s which cross the creek over to the Spice and Gold Souqs. Taxi’s are reasonable enough to get around to the other sights in Jumeriah and the malls.

The staff in the hotel were very friendly – we were made to feel at home.

We ate in the Indian restaurant in the hotel, Sherlock Holmes pub and the Tex Mex – we would recommend them all. The Ahlan Lounge is open 24 hours and does gorgeous cakes if you get the midnight munchies!!

There is a pool on the 1st floor of the hotel also – there was some building works going on when we were there so it was no relaxing but it was a nice surprise. There is a gym and also a spa. You get a free 10 min massage coupon when checking in and it was great.

All in all I would highly recommend this hotel for its friendliness, location in Old Dubai if you want the culture and its value for money.

Ugh, thank God we stayed in this hotel for only one night! Thanks to other people's positive comments, travel brochure's praises and categorization of four stars I had a high hopes for Arabian Courtyard.
At first I noticed nice location near Dubai Creek, yeah. But the first disappoiment came immediately in the reception. We had just stay few nights in Fujairah, hotel Le Meridien Al Aqah, and falled in love with the amazingly friendly staff. So we thought that most arabians are helpful and nice. But this hotel changed our views. Woman at the reception was rude, at first she said that there was a quiet weekend in the hotel, so most of the rooms were empty. But when we asked can we keep our room for four extra hours because of our flight, she looked at us very surprised and said that we must pay 400 dirham extra "This is a popular hotel and we can't say ´no, we don't have any rooms` because of you" . That was a quite weird but finally we promised to pay 400 dirham. And then she started to claim that the total sum was 800 dirham. So we gave up and went to our room.
Room was an arabian-stylished which was okay, but the bathroom was sooooo small! And the view from our window was depressing. The worst thing was the awful smell: like a mix of cigarette, mould and wet dog! Horrible. Our room was somehow exclusive - And I don't want even know what the standard room was like.
We didn't want to eat in any of the hotel's restaurants after our visit in the cafe/bar/or something on the seventh floor. We read in some information paper that there would have been served cookies. We waited for those biscuits for about half an hour and what we got: three ridiculous tiny cookies! And when we went to the same bar in the evening, there was still something more terrible. Bar was full of people who were tired and impatient and the bartender was.. Can't find words to describe him. For example, he made one drink for fifteen minutes. Still today I can't understand why the hotel took him to work here - I think it would suit him better to work in an old people's home.
I don't recommed this hotel to anyone and I think it's overrated.

We stayed here only one night and for that we are grateful! On arrival we discovered our room not ready. After a long drive in the heat this was more than disappointing as we only had 24 hours in Dubai and wanted to make the most of it. The chap on reception was not at all apologetic and in fact smirked as we asked why it was not ready for the 2pm check in we requested. He just kept telling us to sit down! Never at any stage were we offered a coffee or snack while we waited. We then observed we were not the only ones waiting as several others were in the same boat. Eventually our room was ready and again, no apology for delay. The rooms are average and as ours faced the front, very noisy. Ours smelt of stale smoke. We couldn't use the bar as children are not allowed in, the restaurant staff were very polite but did forget the childrens meal which mean we were well finished before they could start so it was a long long meal. The pool was tiny - we never set foot in it but just took a look. In short, its an ok hotel but not great by any means. The staff generally are very pleasant and the girl on reception when we checked out was lovely but the check in was a bad memory. Would I stay there again? No! The chap outside hailing taxis, etc. was very helpful and polite also.

The hotel is a fairly decent place to stay for an overnight. Rooms are roomy enough and if you are a heavy sleeper you wont be bothered by the noise of traffic that is present 24h a day. Unfortunately to the those that have little interest in prayer times, there is a mosque located right next door so prayers are announce 6 times a day and boy is the early one early. Some of the rooms did have a problem with the Airconditioning and doorbells. I remember staying on the 2nd floor and when someone rang a doorbell, all bells would ring and about 20 doors open. It was actually quite hilarrious but not at 3 am. I do believe that this problem has been fixed.

Sherlock Holmes is a pub on the 2nd floor and a good one. I enjoyed quite a few evenings there with Bangers & Mash and perhaps a beer or 2. The friendly staff was the best.

Breakfast is nothing to write home about but filled the empty spot.