First ever Eid Staycation (July 2015)

" I WISH I HAD MORE VACATION DAYS."

Hi there Folks 😉,

Today's post is a review of a Hotel Apartment.

First and foremost this was really the very first first time we (me n my husband) had a Staycation after our marriage in December 2012. So this was kind of a honeymoon trip too for us; away from work, away from family members and nothing to disturb us. Just peaceful and happy moments of love and being loved.

NOTE: THIS IS NOT A SPONSORED POST AND ALL THE CONTENTS ARE PURELY BASED ON OUR EXPERIENCE ONLY.

After much thinking and discussions we decided to book our 2 Night Stay at Emirates Grand Hotel Apartments from 17/07/2015 to 19/07/2015. We considered the following while we decided to stay here:

1) Instead of being in Ras Al Khaimah we decided to spend our Eid Holidays in Dubai.

2) This property has a good view of Sheikh Zayed Road and Burj Khalifa on the front side and the views of Al Wasl and Satwa areas on the back side. Front side is always busy and bit noisy because of the never ending flow of vehicles on the Sheikh Zayed Road.

3) Very well aware of the property and it's location

This hotel apartments is located on Sheikh Zayed Road and on the opposite side of Financial Center Metro Station. Moreover before this property became a hotel apartment, I used to work in the very same building, where my workplace was situated.

It is less than 5 minutes walk to Financial Center Metro Station (Red Line) and using the metro you can commute to any nearby locations easily. Moreover buses and taxis are easily available too and there is no difficulty in finding the location.

4) Close to Malls and other Attractions

EGHA is very close to Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa. Using the metro it takes less than 5 minutes to reach Dubai Mall Metro Station and another 15-20 minutes walk through the Metro Link connecting to Dubai Mall. Else there is the option of riding the Feeder Bus F13 if you don't want to use the Metro Link. The time to reach Dubai Mall kind of remains the same depending on the traffic on the roads leading to Dubai Mall and Downtown area.

Other than Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa, you can ride the metro to Mazaya Center, Mall of Emirates, Times Square Center, Ibn Battuta Mall, Oasis Center etc towards the Jebel Ali side and to Zabeel Park, Burjuman Shopping Center, Union Metro (Deira), Deira City Center, Dubai International Airports, etc towards Rashidiya side as well.

5) Easy availability of Food and other necessities.

This property is close to lots of food outlets like Pizza Hut, AppleBees, Tim Hortons, KFC, Subway, Wendys, Chowking, StarBucks, Coffee and Costa and other restaurants and cafes as well. Union Cooperative Society Hypermarket is located on the back side of this property and there are few supermarkets nearby as well.

Banks, Clinics, Pharmacies etc are nearby as well.

Moreover you have the option to head over to any food courts, ATMs etc in the nearby malls as well.

Now let's move on to the review part...

1) The property being in the center of Sheikh Zayed Road, we felt really good.

See collage of a night view and an evening view of Sheikh Zayed Road and Burj Khalifa as seen from the room

2) We made the reservations directly with the hotel and the price was cheaper compared to other booking websites. The price was the best we could get for a 2 day getaway considering the location and the prices will definitely be on the higher side during holidays and such.

3) We booked a Studio room (double occupancy).

4) Our booking was inclusive of all taxes, breakfast and free internet; plus an additional 10Dhs Toursim Fees.

5) We had requested for a room in higher floor with a view to Burj Khalifa with balcony; and we were given a studio apartment on a corner on the 15th floor with a small balcony which had a great view to Sheikh Zayed Road and Burj Khalifa. Room was very spacious and was well maintained.

We are thankful to Ms. Dilrukshi who arranged our reservation and to Mr. Rajan at the Reception for processing the payments and then to Ms. Jenny who helped us with our check-in and check-out in a matter of few minutes and for accommodating our requests. She provided us our complimentary Wifi details and briefed us about the restaurant breakfast timings.

Wifi connection was good and fast.

Below is a collage of the view from Room, the spacious bed and the round side table with 2 chairs.

6) Room was really spacious and big and had electricity outlets, built-in wardrobes, a spacious 2-seater sofa, TV (channels were limited), another tea table, dressing table with a chair.

7) Inside the wardrobe there was an iron box and ironing table, cloth hangers, safety deposit box, and extra pillows.

8) The bathroom was spacious, clean, fitted with a bath tub, had enough face and bath towels, free toiletries (but no dental kits), fitted hair dryer etc.

9) The room had a pantry area with a refrigerator, an electric kettle, toaster, stove, oven, washing machine, enough utensils, bowls, plates, cutlery etc. Everything was so neat and clean.

10) EGHA have a rooftop restaurant - Panorama Restaurant with a 360 degree view of the area and it is really awesome. This restaurant serves buffet breakfast from 7:00 am (I think) and have lots of options available as well. But the restaurant serves breakfast only. The staffs are really helpful and hard-working here.

You can take a walk around the balcony outside of the restaurant as well.

11) The rooftop is equipped with a small gym and swimming pool. We didn't use these facilities but had a tour around.

12) From some online reviews we noticed that housekeeping was done only on alternate days, but to our surprise when we came back after at night our room was cleaned, bed was arranged, refilled the pantry, bathroom was cleaned and replaced all the used towels etc.

13) The reception staff were pleasant and helpful. Housekeeping staff are meticulous and clean and did their work very well. The restuarant staff was really helpful too.

Overall Rating of the Property, Facilities and Location: Out of 5 I will give it a 4.5 score

Will I recommend this Property: Yes, I definitely recommend this property. If you are travelling as group of 4 or more people this property would be the best. They have different room options available ranging from Studio apartments to Two Bedroom Apartments.

Kindly check with the hotel directly for best offers and room options. You can do a comparison through other sites like Booking.com, Tripadvisor.com, Dnatatravels.com, Agoda.com and many such similar sights. I'm sure you will be able to lock a good deal.

Incase you want to contact the hotel directly here is their details and make sure to mention that you are checking about Emirates Grand Hotel Apartments; because they have another hotel on the opposite side of this property named Emirates Grand Hotel. So inorder to avoid any confusions and issues later mention EGHA.

Emirates Grand Hotel Apartments

Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE.

Tel : +971 4 3230000

Fax : +971 4 3230003

Email : reservations@emiratesgrandapartments.com

See my TripAdvisor Review for our stay at EGHA