Amazing property - lots to do, lots to try!
Nov 21, 2024 Departure28767189840
We had an absolutely amazing time at the Palm Atlantis. Originally I had reserved the Palm Queen room with extra beds for our 2 boys, but during checkin was offered an upgrade to Terrace Suite for extra payment. The front desk executive, a tall fellow I forget his name was very friendly and sold me on the upgrade.
I took the upgrade and our room…
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We had an absolutely amazing time at the Palm Atlantis. Originally I had reserved the Palm Queen room with extra beds for our 2 boys, but during checkin was offered an upgrade to Terrace Suite for extra payment. The front desk executive, a tall fellow I forget his name was very friendly and sold me on the upgrade.
I took the upgrade and our room was absolutely wonderful. The extra washroom and added living space and bigger balcony made the stay even more comfortable. We also got a crib for our 1 year old baby.
With the upgrade, we got free access to the Imperial Lounge which offers happy hours, complimentary drinks from 5PM - 7PM, however I did not get a chance to enjoy this much, as the kids wanted to stay at the Aquaventure park. You see, we checked in on a Saturday and the waterpark stays open until 9PM on that day, so my boys would absoloutely not leave the park until closing time.
Still the Imperial Lounge offers complimentary light snacks, juices and drinks which works out great for the kids. On the second day, I did get some free time to check on the happy hours and ordered a cocktail which was quite well made.
The Aquaventure water park had plenty of rides for both my boys as the minimum height requirement is 1.25m for most of the rides. The kids enjoyed the park thourughly and so did I.
The beach is nothing too great but you can't really blame the resort for it because there's hardly any wind in Dubai and thus barely any waves. Still the beach area is well maintained and the deck chairs and everything is in good shape. The swimming pools are nice and the hotel staff held a game of pool basketball in the family pool, which me and the boys enjoyed a lot - go team Teletubbies!
We were also offered the half board option but did not take that because we like to mix, match and try different cuisines and the same old buffet can get boring. This was a good decision seeing that there are lots of restaurants in this hotel. However, barring Ayamna, which serves lebanese cuisine, the vegetarian options are quite limited in the other restaurants.
Ayamna was absolutely wonderful. The food quality, taste, ingredients and the service were all top notch and they offer a plethora of vegetarian dishes. We ordered several entrees and enjoyed all of them. Our server, Dante did a splendid job and we had a fantastic dining experience thanks to his recommendations.
To switch things up we decided to try the Gordon Ramsay pizzeria on our second night. This was quite a below average experience. Firstly they would not allow us to dine-in since we were not interested in their unlimited pizza offer and wanted to go for the a-la-carte menu. Their excuse was that they had limited seating space and hence we would need to take away our orders and have it in the room. We ordered our food and I had my family go back to the room while I waited for the pizzas to get ready. In the meantime I checked the outside seating area and it seemed they had sufficient space there, so I don't understand why they would not allow dine in for a-la-carte orders.
Because our terrace suite had quite a good dining area, as well as ample balcony with great views, as compared to the restaurant, it all worked out fine in the end, but still its a stupid policy on their part. The pizza themselves were quite average and there was nothing great about it except the price. They service was quite crummy as well as the staff had some kind of attitude and were not too friendly which we did not experience in Ayamna. Offering chilli flakes and oregano with takeaway pizza is customary everywhere but I wasn't offered any and when I asked for it, the lady made a sour puss as if I was being too demanding. The food taste and ingredients can be described as average at best.
There are several great bars in this resort each with a very different vibe which I got to try. My absolute favourite was the Arabian Terrace which had a relaxed, lounge vibe. I tried a couple of coctails there and each one was very well crafted, way ahead of its competition.
The other bars I tried was the Wavehouse, which is a cross between a pub and arcade so you can bring kids along if they are a bit older. The staff are quite friendly here and its great place for having a few beers or wine as the cocktails are quite average.
I also tried Studio Frantzen. The bartender here is very friendly and helpful and he mixes great drinks, so I would suggest it for cocktails. This one has more of a romantic / couples kind of vibe. But if you enjoy cocktails and specially gin based ones, Arabian Terrace is the place to go. I tried this cocktail - Akbari nadir something and it was simply amazing. Sahara breeze was also very refreshing.
Lastly, the hotel staff and room service were quite prompt for most of our stay. Only during checkin and checkout they took forever to bring our luggage. The facilities are also very good. One small complaint would be that the shower drain is a bit too slow and takes some time to drain out but I think this is overall an old property and we did not mind it too much to make a fuss about it.
The thing that they got going for them is the Aquaventure water park which we enjoyed a lot. All in all an amazing property which we would not mind visiting again.
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