Arabian Park Hotel

The Arabian Park Hotel is more about functionality than aesthetics. Surrounded by vacant lots and busy thoroughfares, the hotel is generic looking and lacks any stand-out decor. Inside, the space is clean and well-maintained. The relatively small lobby area is dominated by a large Emirates Airline check-in desk, which highlights hotel’s main clientele. The overall ambience is busy with check-ins and check-outs, as many of the guests here are transit passengers with overnight layovers in Dubai.

The on-site Cheer’s Pub has the most character of any of the common areas. The floors are covered with blue plaid carpeting and strings of international flags hang from the ceilings while stained-glass Tiffany-style lamps hang from the wood-paneled bar area. The hotel's restaurant, the Park Cafe & Grill retreats back to the hotel’s bright and polished -- but generic -- look. Buffet stations are spread across the white walls and colorful chairs provide plenty of seating.

The hotel is is surrounded by large areas of vacant land and feels removed from the hustle and bustle of Dubai. However, it's only a 10-minute drive from the airport and a two-minute drive or 10-minute walk to the Al Jadaf Metro Station, where guests can take the Green Line. From here, passengers travel along Dubai Creek and cross over to Old Dubai, and the Dubai Museum at Al Fahidi Metro Station 2 is six stops away and takes approximately 50-minutes to reach. The WAFI Mall, one of Dubai’s first malls, is eight-minutes away by car and accessible via the hotel’s free shuttle service. 

The Arabian Park Hotel has 318 rooms that fall into one of two categories: Standard and Superior King Balcony. All of the rooms have air-conditioning, sitting areas, free Wi-Fi, mini-fridges, kettles, and flat-screen TVs. Colorful prints on the walls and fuchsia bed runners add cheer to the otherwise plain, but light-filled, rooms. Bathrooms are functional with shower/tub combos and single sinks. The rooms facing the busy roads that run by the hotel can be noisy, and rooms facing the adjacent cemetery have an eerie view but experience less traffic noise. 

The Arabian Park Hotel offers a surprising number of amenities for a value property. Freebies include Wi-Fi, and a shuttle service to the airport (every 30- minutes), the city center, the Al Jadaf Metro Station (every 20-minutes), and the nearby WAFI Mall. A free hot breakfast is served in the morning at the on-site restaurant, Park Cafe & Grill, which is open throughout the day and offers buffets during mealtimes. Guests can order mixed drinks at the Cheer’s Pub, a cozier alternative to the hotel's more sterile common areas. There's also a deli that serves sandwiches and salads and the hotel has a business center and a couple of meeting rooms. On-site activities include a small fitness center with just a few benches, treadmills, bikes, and an elliptical. The outdoor Olympic-size outdoor pool is one of the property's highlights.