This is the best hotel I've ever stayed in! Funnily enough we ended up in this hotel by mistake, as we booked on lastminute.com into the Jumeirah Beach Hotel for an Executive Room, but when we (luckily!) rang from Sydney to check all was OK before getting on a flight, they said we were not booked into that one, but the Mina A Salam, which is run by the same Jumeirah Beach Complex. We were a bit disappointed... until....... we arrived at Dubai and there was a man waiting at the DOOR or the PLANE to escort us through customs and get our bags for us. Then we were driven in his Mercedes to the hotel, and taken up to a dedicated Executive check in lounge. Our room was not quite ready (it WAS 7am!!), but in the lounge they gave us breakfast, and towels so we could shower. We got to our room after not too long, which was stunning, large and beautifully decorated, with a balcony overlooking the pool and the sea. Beautiful bathroom too with lots of complimentary toiletries. We went straight out to the pool, which was gorgeous, and overlooked the famous Burj al Arab. THe staff were so friendly and helpful, bringing around fresh fruit and snacks for free. We could go back to the lounge for afternoon tea, evening cocktails, and all of our meals. There is a lake which links the other Jumeirah hotels, and leads to the Souk and gym, and is a nice trip by little boat around the resort. This is the perfect way to ensure you get over your jetlag from Australia, as we arrived at 7am, lay by the pool dozing all day, had an early night, relaxed the next day and by that evening we felt fine. There are masses of restaurants around the resort serving ANYTHING you could possibly want. I can't recommend this hotel enough.

As good as everyone here says, simply a stunning resort.

The Ocean Deluxe Room in which we stayed was well appointed and spacious with a great ocean view from the balcony.

The service is prompt, polite and genuine - they really care about the quality of the service.

Dining on the resort and in the Souk is varied, both in cuisine and in price range and you will find something you like.

The beach is well kept and not too packed with loungers, drinks and food service on the beach is efficient.

The pool is a bit small, but a short abra (boat) ride takes you to the superior Al Qasr pool, which you are free to use (you have the run of the resort regardless of which hotel you stay in).

FInally, the kids are well catered for with a decent kids club with a fun splash pool with slide, and complimentary access to Wild Wadi next door is thrown in, so they will be more than happy with that.

Just go, it's great, you will love it.

We have just spent the most incredible 9 nights at the MAS. We loved every single minute of our stay.

The rooms are fabulous and well designed, we had a view of the Burj Al Arab and beach which suited us fine as the balcony (5th floor) got the sun first thing. From the minute you get there to the minute you leave you know you are staying somewhere special.

The small touches like, walnut body scrub, lavender massage oil, coconut lip balm, chocolates, sweat bands etc left on your bed each evening were lovely suprises. The housekeeping is so discreet we were never disturbed and they visit both morning and evening. Towels are changed twice a day, and toiletries replaced. We don't know the make of the shampoos etc....but they are great, they are packaged in their own Jumeriah branding...but they smell of almonds and are luxurious. Hairdryer is good quality, so save on the packing and use theirs, it is also well positioned in a draw on the dressing table. The MAS provide tea and coffee in the room (caffetiere with 2 bags of coffee per day). Other hotels we have stayed in don't provide this and we love a morning coffee on the balcony.

The MAS is Arabic themed and is very tasteful, if you want modern and contemporary then JBH is probably more your thing.

We used the Abras to get to Souk and Al Qasr, we used the golf buggies to get to JBH (we have stayed at JBH twice before and went back for a bit of nostalgia).

Nothing comes cheap, but then you get what you pay for. We did try Zeng He's and it was divine, we love Trader Vics in the souk and recommend their cocktails, try the Tiki Puka Puka..........fabulous! In room private dining is great, this way we shared the food as sometimes we weren't that hungry, it is also very reasonable in price. We had the breakfast buffet every morning and this is tremendous (very calm at 8 am each morning), we ate there once on an evening and it was fantastic, however we left feeling totally stuffed and had to retire to bed early........far too many tempting puddings and the cinnamon apple crumble finished us off!

The roof top bar at the Al Qasr is not to be missed, the views are fantastic. The Bhari Bar in the MAS has similar views, but personally we felt that ex patriots spoilt the ambience of this bar for the paying guests, particularly on Thursday and Fridays, they took over the place with their bad behaviour and rudeness to the bar staff who are so courteous even when being treated appalingly, quite how they hold their patience is unbelievable. They are a credit to the Jumeriah group.

Dubai has no smoking policies which we thought was great, however this isn't applied rigidly and the bars are full of smoke. This was only apparent in the MAS and AQ as JBH seemed to apply the policy as did The Palace One & Only where we stayed for 4 nights before the MAS.

We would suggest checking your bill regularly, someone had kindly had a meal and drinks at the Al Qasr and charged it to our room, thankfully we spotted it and it was removed without question. I am sure this was a genuine mistake on behalf of the other guests.

Our other tip would be to put your swimwear in your hand luggage as rooms are not available until 2pm. This way if you have an early flight arrival you are not fully clothed in the heat and you can shower at the beach toilets then lay on a lounger until your room is ready. The hotel will ring your mobile to let you know when the room is ready. The pool is relatively small at the MAS, but it was peaceful and that is what we wanted, the AQ has a much grander pool and is only a 3 minute Abra ride away. The fruit skewers and ice lollies are a nice touch, as is the evian face spray and cold towels.

Overall the hotel is out of this world, the service is impeccable, we will be back......................or maybe the Al Qasr........ haven't quite decided yet, but we will return to the Madinat for sure.

My husband decided to surprise me and take me away for our 1st wedding anniversary so he took me to Dubai and booked an executive suite at Mina A Salam.
When I saw the hotel I thought it was absolutely beautiful but when I got to the suite I was amazed. It was very spacious, clean, stylish and very comfortable.
The view from our room was stunning.
The staff was very friendly and useful.
I had a great time and we will definitely go back there. Well, if I had the money I would go back there even today. ;0)
I definitely recommend this hotel.
''Simply the best'' I mean both the hotel and my husband of course.