We were on the final legs of our 1.5-month-long Middle East trip where we traveled to the UAE and Oman. During this trip, we stayed in various hotels, ranging from budget to really high-end ones.
Right before our flight back to Singapore, we’ve got 2 nights to spare in Dubai. For the second night, we stayed in the luxurious Waldorf Astoria Palm Jumeirah. For the first, we’ve decided to stay somewhere more wallet-friendly, and closer to the city centre.
This post is a review of our stay at the Courtyard Al Barsha, Dubai Hotel.
Booking
We booked our stay at Courtyard Al Barsha for 198.45 AED (US$54) a night. This booking got us a Standard King Guest Room. On top of that, we also applied our Suite Night Award (SNA) Certificate that we received upon reaching the 50-night milestone this year.
We decided to use our SNA here at a Courtyard as we have some certificates that are expiring at the end of the year and we don’t foresee ourselves staying in enough luxurious Marriott properties to be able to finish using them.
We received an email from the property informing us of our upgrade to an Executive Suite a couple of days before our actual stay. This is the highest room category available in the property, making us really excited for our stay.
Location
The Courtyard Al Barsha, Dubai is located in the Al Barsha neighbourhood. It is a 5-minute walk from the Mall of the Emirates. Although it is only a short walk, it can be quite tiring in the brutal summer heat.
Check-in
As we arrived at the property, we were greeted by a modern check-in lobby. It was 12 pm in the afternoon and the lobby was relatively quiet.
There wasn’t anyone else waiting to check in, so our entire check-in process was very quick. As we checked in, the staff thanked us for our loyalty to the brand and informed us of our room upgrade. She also explained to us the various amenities on the property and their basic information.
Executive Suite
The Executive Suite measures 65 sqm large, with 2 distinct living spaces. The bedroom and living room are separated by a small walkway which can be closed with a sliding door.
The entire decoration within the room is similar to a modern condominium. It is dominated by grey and felt fabric, together with dark oak wooden furniture.
There is a large 55″ TV in the bedroom that has Google’s Chromecast built-in. We always appreciate this feature as we can then play our own entertainment on the TV without a pesky HDMI cable and laptop.
The executive suite comes with a full-fledged walk-in wardrobe that’s probably larger than the size of our bedrooms back at home.
Living Room
There are TVs in both the living room and the bedroom, with the bedroom having a slightly larger sized one.
Our room also came with a rather basic mini-bar, with instant coffee packets, tea bags and plenty of water bottles. The mini fridge is not stocked but provides ample space if you want to store your beverages.
Bathroom
There are 2 bedrooms in the executive suite, with a main bathroom attached to the bedroom and an auxiliary bathroom right beside the entrance.
The main bedroom features separated toilet and shower spaces, together with a free-standing bathtub in the middle.
There are even 2 hand washing sinks which we seldom find in properties like these.
Amenities
Gym
There is a small gym and a spa centre located at the HC level. Although small, the gym is well-equipped and should suffice for a quick workout during our stay.
There are both cardio machines and a wide selection of dumbbells to carry out most of the common workouts.
Swimming Pool
The swimming pool is located on the rooftop of the property, together with a poolside bar. At the pool, you’ll get a vast and open view of downtown Dubai. Even though the view was great, it couldn’t rival the view we got during our stay at the Al Seef Dubai.
Breakfast
Breakfast is served daily at the Flavours Restaurant from 630 am to 1030 am. The restaurant is located right beside the check-in lobby, so it’s very easy to locate.
We’ve got a daily complimentary breakfast for 2 courtesy of our Marriott Platinum Elite status. Do check if your room rate comes with complimentary breakfast included.
The selections here are very similar to what we’ve had at Courtyard Abu Dhabi, but we feel that the overall quality is much better. I really liked the taste of the Chow Mein noodles and even got a second serving.
Conclusion
The Courtyard Al Barsha, Dubai is a great property to stay in, especially if you want to explore the Al Barsha neighbourhood. There is plenty to do around the area, especially if you want to visit the Mall of the Emirates to try out the world’s first indoor ski resort.
The property itself is exceptional in terms of price-to-quality ratio. We’ve received great service throughout our entire stay.
Coming in at only US$50 a night, this is a hotel that we’ll recommend to anyone in a heartbeat, assuming you can get a deal similar to ours.
