Hotel Riu Dubai

Ah, sunny Dubai – one of the few places you can guarantee sun in our winter months. We headed out there with our two little ones (6 and 5) pre-Christmas for some sun and relaxation.
The hotel itself is situated out of the city but only about 20 minutes away and taxis are very cheap (and very accessible) so it’s easy to head to the city for some sightseeing or shopping, or a meal out if you’re going stir crazy.

The hotel itself is spacious and clean and the food is great (especially if you go for the more Eastern dishes as they spice things so beautifully). Plenty of choice and the kids were very happy. The sand itself is full of shells and prone to a jellyfish or two so if you have toddlers we would recommend beach shoes or jellies. Not that our kids were particularly fussed by the beach as there are a number of pools (be warned they get deep fairly quickly) and an amazing kids’ zone of water slides and pirate ship (not that deep).

The Animation Team were a big hit with our children with them both begging to go to kids’ club both morning and afternoon. Pirate Day was a particular favourite as the kids not only got to get dressed up as pirates but went on a treasure hunt around the resort, stopping at one of the outside bars for a juice / mocktail afterwards (heaven for our 6 year old!).

All the staff are so lovely and friendly and were great with children. We had an accident where our littlest tripped and hit their head on the corner of a sun lounger (ouch!) and the lifeguards leapt into action to assist and then the medically trained Security staff made sure he was A OK, even changing the dressing the next morning. So lovely to know that all the staff are trained and happy to help.

Perhaps the only drawback is the positioning of the hotel – directly under the flight path (not a problem for our plane obsessed family, and you get to see the hotel from the plane!) and facing a slightly odd way so the beach is the only part that gets the sun all day (not the pools). Just one to note if Mum and Dad are sun worshippers.

The kids want to go back so that tells you all you need to know though!