Blue Bay Resort

“Ok for a last minute getaway”

We booked this just a week before we were due to arrive as a last minute getaway. It was just me and my 13 year old daughter. We went with an open mind as we are used to 5 star properties in Dubai but just fancied a quick break. When we arrived, the hotel impressed me, it was clean and modern. We d… more

We booked this just a week before we were due to arrive as a last minute getaway. It was just me and my 13 year old daughter. We went with an open mind as we are used to 5 star properties in Dubai but just fancied a quick break. When we arrived, the hotel impressed me, it was clean and modern. We did have an issue at check in where they couldn’t find our booking, but it turned out the booking was there on the ‘back’ system rather than the front system. They gave us a room in block 6000 for the night and said that they would move us the next day. Block 6000 was quite a distance from the main hotel past the aqua park. When we attempted to walk back to the bar after dropping our suitcases off we were greeted by a couple of aggressive stray dogs, so we turned around and went back to the room. The room itself was clean but basic and the shower head was full of mildew. The next morning reception contacted us to show us to a room in block 2000. This they told us was a junior suite. It had a sofa bed and a double bed and was more modern and cleaner than the previous room. It was also on the main site and near the pool and restaurant. The aqua park was great but I didn’t like the road that you had to cross to get to it. On a couple of occasions bikes and cars came round the corner quite fast, nearly hitting us even though there is a zebra crossing there. The downside to the hotel was the food and drink. I went with an open mind as it isn’t our usual standard but on a couple of occasions there was nothing at all that appealed. On one night, they had an event taking place for the locals and when we arrived at the restaurant at 8pm, they were already taking food away and replacing it with rather more appealing food for these guests that we were not allowed to remove the cling film from. They also had a chocolate fountain which my daughter was told to get away from. I understand it was end of season, but surely wait until the restaurant has closed before hiring it out and producing better food. The only bonus to this was that the left overs was back in the restaurant for lunch the next day. The queues for the drinks were long, I dread to think what they are like during busy periods and the drinks were like syrup, so I spent the week on hot chocolate and wine. We found the WiFi stopped working for the last 3 days we were there and the shop owner told us it is because it’s ready for closing. Apart from reception, I found all the staff to be miserable and grumpy. They didn’t want to be there and were counting down the days until they could go home. Overall, it was a nice hotel for a quick getaway, but if it was for our main family holiday I would have been very upset with the standard. If you are not into watching the entertainment in the evening, then there is nothing else for you to do.

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