This is only the second review I have written although I have been to several locations in between.
I just wanted to add my name to the growing list of satisfied guests who have stayed here.
It seems to have become the norm to get an upgrade and we were no exception. We had booked a sea view room but were given a suite in the main building upon request. This was very nice with the complimentry wine, fruit, etc.
When the porter was helping us to our room he asked if we were celebrating any special occasions while we were there and I just mentioned that it was my birthday in a couple of days, thinking no more about it. What a surprise I got on the morning of my birthday when the doorbell rang and I was presented with a birthday cake, chilled wine and card. A lovely touch which was totally in keeping with the thought of the staff.
Our room faced the Marina and all the building work going on but we felt that at night it was better than a sea view because of all the lights and activity which is at the heart of the thriving city.
We made use of the frequent shuttle buses going to the malls and when we were malled out just jumped a taxi back.
The breakfast has good variety and we ate a couple of times in the Arabic restaurant Al Khaimi which we really enjoyed and has a great atmosphere including making use of the 'hookah pipes'
All in all a first class choice of hotel and that includes the limo transfers booked through our agent.
We are already looking at the calender for next year

We stayed at the Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort and Spa from the 13th June 2008 to 20th June 2008.
Having visited Dubai 6 years previously we had been recommended this hotel.
It certainly lived up to its recommendations and reviews from other visitors.
We stayed in the main building of the hotel on a half board basis dining in the Brasserie. Excellent food, enough to please the most fussiest of eaters.
We read that you could upgrade to a Tower or Club room but in my opinion the sea view room we had was an absolute delight, no need to pay extra.
We visited the sister hotel the Grosvenor, take the lift to the 44th floor, the bar, the view and the canopies are all superb!!, also try the Budha bar just next door, excellent.
The service in the room was first class, clean towels and linen daily with turn down just before dinner. The hotel staff are very friendly and extremely helpful, it truely is an exceptional hotel and worthy of its 5 star status.

This place is good in parts. The bad parts being the admin/management side and the good parts being the F&B side.

My wife and I and our four-year old daughter recently returned from a six-day break here. I’d booked a sea-view club room as from the reviews they seemed best value. Got to the hotel about 2.00 a.m. on the 6th June to be told that we didn’t have a room as Thomas Cook had booked us in for six nights starting from that evening. After sitting around reception for over half an hour the duty manager was pleased to tell us we would be downgraded to a main building room for that night and be moved later in the day. Eventually, after my repeated demands I got this turned round so we were put in a tower room, again to be moved later in the day.

I suspect it was the hotel who were at fault because every time I asked who had made the mistake I was told the “system was down”, i.e. “we don’t want to tell you”. Thomas Cook, however confirmed that their e-mail to LRM reservations stated our room should be available from the 5th.

Anyway we were put into a tower room with a nice view of the wasteland to the side of the hotel and the roof of the Ritz Carlton and with no extra bed for our daughter so we all ended up in one bed. When the Thomas Cook rep. arrived at about midday to help me sort this out, I predicted that the Club sea view room we would be offered would have a marginal sea-view i.e. not front line but at the side of the building. Guess what was offered, a room with a view of the side of the Habtoor Grand and looking to the left, the sea. After a good deal of negotiating with the DM he offered to leave us in the tower building and move us to the garden/sea-view side the next day and he promised the butler would pack and move our belongings to save us any hassle. This was still day one and we accepted. We eventually got to the pool at two p.m. and when we got back to our room it hadn’t even been made up never mind fruit and canapes. We got ready to go for dinner and rang reception to have a foldaway bed put in. We dumped our used towels in the room entrance so the guy who put the bed in would change them. We got back from dinner to find the foldaway bed in the room and our towels still piled up. He must have wheeled the bed around them! I had to ring down for fresh towels.

Poolside was good with the water spritzers and cherry slush shots as described but never once was assistance offered with towels on sunbeds as described by others. I did see people reserving sunbeds with their towels only to see them an hour later in Wild Wadi.

Cleanliness was generally good but if you close the sliding door for the wc/shower (at least in room 1409) the outside of it has a load of dust balls stuck to it that must have been there ages.

The outside construction can only be heard if you are high up on the balcony of a Tower room, but I found the construction fascinating.

The F&B staff were excellent especially the Maya and the waiting staff in La Fornace. I did see a floor manager in La Fornace giving a waiter a dressing down (don’t know why) and felt he could have done this back of house.

So all in all we appear to have been the unlucky ones compared to most of the posters. We would have been quite happy to have been shown straight to our Club room on arrival and left in peace. Instead I had to fight tooth and nail (in the politest manner I might add) to get something approaching the holiday I’d booked for my family. The upgrade, when I finally got that concession was not offered graciously and I feel we lost the first day of the holiday. I’ll try elsewhere next time we are in Dubai.

P.S. Do you think the butler was there to even assist in packing to move rooms? No!

Thomas Cook were very good and refunded us one day of our accommodation costs which I assume they will try to recover from LRM.

Our first time in Dubai we booked for 7 nights in Le Royal Meridein Beach Resort & Spa for our anniversary. A brilliant choice for a peacefull break in a lovely well ran Hotel with beautiful grounds and right on i't's own strip of beach. We recieved a free upgrade to a tower room due to the occasion; and though the room was slightly late being cleaned it was worth the wait with a great wiew along the coast.

The main point to praise about the hotel is the staff who make you feel welcome from the start and are clearly experienced and well trained. We only ate in the hotel one evening as we enjoy exploring, but the meal in the Prime Rib resteraunt was delicious and the service top notch.

The pools, pool-bars and attendants could't be faulted either with the usual five star treatment. We would definitely go back to this hotel in the future given the chance .