The Retreat Palm Dubai MGallery by Sofitel Review: Why I Wouldn’t Stay Here Again
This hotel was disappointing from the moment I tried to check in.
I had a reservation, showed up, and ended up canceling it on the spot.
I did take a few photos assuming I’d be staying there,
so I figured I’d at least share those.
First, the location is on the outer crescent of Palm Jumeirah,
roughly around the middle of the eastern side. On paper, it’s the kind of spot that should guarantee a great view.
On the way there, I even passedAtlantis, The Palm.
I put it into the navigation and arrived nearby, and my first reaction was… huh?
After driving past all the flashy neighboring hotels,
this one looked surprisingly small and underwhelming: The Retreat Palm.
The rate was around $596 per night,
and even compared with other hotels in Dubai, UAE,
it definitely wasn’t cheap.
The hotels right next door were wildly expensive because it was peak season, so this one may have looked cheaper by comparison, but it was still pricey—and once I saw it in person, the building itself felt way too small.
At that point I figured, well, we’re here anyway, so
I handed the car over for valet and went inside to check in.
Starting with the lobby,
it just didn’t feel luxurious at all, which made the disappointment even worse.
Even the lobby café felt this low-ceilinged and tiny.
Honestly, it didn’t feel like a five-star hotel—more like some random business hotel.
The reception desk was tiny too.
Anyway, when I tried to check in, a crowd had gathered,
and there were only two staff members working, so we waited quite a while.
Then there was another issue during check-in.
And really, what bigger problem can a hotel have than this?
Even though I had a reservation, the room wasn’t ready.
They apologized and said if I could wait a little,
they’d upgrade us and asked whether we wanted to relax
in the club lounge. They said they’d come get us soon, so I agreed.
I thought, fine, if they’re upgrading us, sure.
The hotel is low-rise, so the 7th floor is the top floor,
and one staff member escorted us up to the lounge.
At that point I wasn’t furious yet,
and they told us to enjoy a little coffee break in the lounge.
They said we could help ourselves to drinks and snacks,
then the staff member left.
The lounge was small too,
and honestly, it wasn’t very impressive.
The interior somehow felt dated, cramped, and oddly tacky.
I picked Palm Jumeirah
because I wanted that resort-style atmosphere…
Anyway, there were a few snack options,
but I wasn’t hungry, so I barely touched anything.
When I booked this room,
I had debated whether to reserve an executive room
with lounge access, and wow, I’m so glad I didn’t.
Accor properties really do vary
way too much depending on the country and the individual hotel.
At first I thought,
surely they’d have the room ready within 30 minutes at most.
But after a long time passed, no one came for us,
and there didn’t seem to be any staff in the lounge either.
At the check-in counter they had also handed us
some strange gift sprayed with perfume,
and it turned out to be a weird bracelet… like, what even was that?
It looked like something
you’d find at a highway rest stop gift shop—a health bracelet vibe. Did they really think guests at a five-star hotel in Dubai would be excited about that?
Seriously?
I also snapped a quick photo of the hotel information sheet.
It came out blurry, but I wasn’t reading it closely anyway, so I just took it casually.
I stepped outside the lounge and the view was definitely beautiful.
The horizon stretched out wide,
but what stood out even more was the construction site view.
Maybe this was the price I paid for booking without doing enough research.
To be fair, though, there were
barely any Korean reviews of this hotel, so it was hard to gather useful info.
But now you’re reading mine, right?
In my opinion, this place is not it. There are much better options.
So what happened next?
We waited in the lounge for over an hour,
and it got to the point where I genuinely wondered
if they had completely forgotten about us, so we went back downstairs.
There were still tons of guests, the staff still looked overwhelmed, and when they saw our faces, they almost seemed startled—maybe that was just me.
Our room still wasn’t ready,
and only after we came back down did they start calling around
and pretending to check on things. I was losing my mind.
At that point I thought,
even if we stayed here, the service would probably be a mess, so I decided to cancel immediately.
Once I said I wanted to cancel, they started apologizing again,
and a manager came out offering us a suite with a better view
and all kinds of promises.
But I was done. I told them no thanks,
cancel it right away,
and that their service was unacceptable.
We had spent over an hour stuck in a weird holding pattern, unable to do anything, and I couldn’t tolerate it anymore.
Once we complained,
the other people sitting in the lobby waiting
seemed to realize they were in the same situation,
and more guests started speaking up too.
Is it really good service
if the tone is polite but nothing actually gets solved?
The Retreat Palm Dubai MGallery by Sofitel—
yes, the name is ridiculously long—but anyway,
this place seriously made me wonder how the hotel is being managed.
While my husband was dealing with the complaint,
I stepped out to see what the pool looked like.
True to the hotel’s small scale, the pool was pretty tiny too.
Honestly, after seeing it, I felt like not staying there was the better decision.
They did seem to have various activity programs,
and while I doubt many people reading this will still want to go, consider this a heads-up.
I even filmed a video while I was there.
That’s the blogger instinct, I guess.
We booked another hotel right then and there
and moved immediately. And that hotel was
Fairmont The Palm Dubai.
It was similarly priced, maybe a little more expensive,
but the difference in quality was absolutely wild.
I kept thinking, why didn’t I just book that one from the start instead of choosing somewhere so strange?
I loved that hotel so much
I could probably write two or three separate posts about it.
Now that felt like an actual hotel.
Anyway, since there was basically nothing on Naver about this Palm Jumeirah hotel,
I hope this review of The Retreat Palm Dubai MGallery by Sofitel
was helpful.
Enjoy Dubai, everyone!