For the first destination on our trip across Asia, we spent four nights in Dubai. Ultimately, we stayed at the 298 room St. Regis Downtown Dubai. Though the property is absolutely massive, standing 23 stories tall, it was relatively quiet during our stay as we visited during Ramadan.
The opulence of Dubai is overwhelming even before you land. The city has so many high end hotel options centered around multiple massive malls and tourist attractions which can make it difficult to find a place to stay.
Since we were traveling with our 10 month old son, we knew we didn’t want to be out on the beach but rather somewhere that was more walkable. We would head to the beach at some point during our trip but didn’t want to have to drag a car seat with us everywhere we went. Thanks to a Marriott Bonvoy double nights promotion, I really wanted to try and stay at a Marriott property and the St. Regis Downtown Dubai seemed to fit our needs well.
Booking Our Stay at The St. Regis Downtown Dubai
Hotel pricing in Dubai is wild with some properties going for thousands of dollars per night. Thankfully, due to the amount of opulence in the city, you can often find very high end hotels for a reasonable rate.
I booked our four night stay at the St. Regis Downtown Dubai via Marriott.com for 4,274.40 AED, which is roughly $1,163 two months before our stay. At just under $300 per night, that was already a good price for a St. Regis property in the heart of Dubai. However, I continued checking rates and, as prices would drop, I would rebook.
Ultimately, our four night stay came out to 2,922 AED or just under $800 for the entire stay. Personally, I’d consider four nights at a St. Regis property for under $200/night one heck of a deal.
The St. Regis Downtown Dubai Location
The St. Regis Downtown Dubai is located along Marasi Drive in the Business Bay neighborhood of Dubai. The hotel overlooks a man-made portion of Dubai Creek and is walking distance from the Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, and many corporate offices and high-rise apartments.
The entrance to the hotel is clearly marked with illuminated St. Regis signage on the building an a large St. Regis logo at the driveway entrance.
A secondary entrance is located at the rear of the property which is located along the Dubai Water Canal Boardwalk. Unfortunately, during our stay, this entrance was closed due to construction along the boardwalk.
The St. Regis Dubai Downtown Lobby and Check-In
Our flight from Amsterdam arrived in Dubai after midnight and it was past 1:00aa local time when we arrived at the hotel. I reached out to the property in advance to let them know that we wouldn’t be checking in until after midnight. Given flight timings to and from the Middle East, this seemed like a very common occurrence.
Our Blacklane dropped us off curbside and two bellman approached the vehicle and loaded all of our luggage onto a cart. As our bags were being loaded, a third member of the team escorted us inside. This was my first stay at a St. Regis property and I was impressed before ever stepping inside.
After entering the property, the check-in desks are located off to the left while the remainder of the lobby is off to the right.
We were shown to one of the waiting desks where a helpful clerk took our passports and completed the check-in process. The check-in process took less than five minutes and we were upgraded from a Superior King Room with a Downtown view to a Deluxe King Room with a view of Dubai Creek.
Room keys in hand, we made our way through the lobby towards the elevators. To the right of the entrance and the check-in desks are a few different seating areas along with the concierge desk.
One thing that you’ll notice upon visiting this property is that it is large, especially for a St. Regis. A long, wide hallway leads to the rear of the property where the majority of the hotel’s dining establishments and the elevators are located.
Throughout our stay, there was a member of the hotel team stationed in front of the elevators that would call one for you as you approached.
The St. Regis Downtown Dubai Guest Room
We were assigned Room 704, a Deluxe King Room on the 7th floor, a short walk from the elevators.
Upon entering the room, the first thing I noticed was how massive it was. This place was honestly larger than my first apartment. Standard rooms at the property average roughly 700 square feet. A long hallway greeted us which led past the closet and bathroom into the main living space.
To the left is the primary closet which is absolutely massive. It’s so massive in fact that we were able to put ATX Jr.’s crib in here so he could get some sleep and not be disturbed when we were moving about the room.
Inside the closet you’ll find hangars, extra pillows a robe, luggage stand, iron, ironing board, and safe. Strangely, though the iron and the ironing board are in here, I was unable to find any outlets to plug it into.
Between the closet and bathroom you’ll find a built in which houses the in-room minibar as well as a coffeemaker and ice bucket.
I found the mini-bar to be well stocked. You won’t find any alcohol available here, though you can order it to your room.
The menu for the mini-bar is as follows. All prices are in United Arab Emirates Dirhams which has an approximate exchange rate of 3.5AED to $1.
Next to the mini-bar is the control panel for the room lights. This was my greatest frustration with our stay as it was impossible to figure out. The controls were far from intuitive and even after four nights in the room we still hadn’t figured them out.
The bathroom was next off of the hallway and could have been its own room given its size. It has a full sized walk-in shower, though it lacks a door which is a pet peeve of mine, oversized soaking tub, and dual vanities. A large mirror runs the length of the bathroom.
The shower is a decent size and has a rainfall showerhead as well as a secondary, adjustable showerhead. I’ve never been a huge fan of rainfall showers so I appreciate having the choice between both.
The property featured toiletries from SACHAJUAN and Sodashi which were in reusable bottles inside of the shower.
Across from the shower, next to the sink, is the oversized soaking tub. While Mrs. ATX and I were both excited about the large tub, we both prefer showers to baths, the only person in our group that used it was ATX Jr. for his nightly baths.
A large sink area with double vanities provided plenty of space for both of us throughout our stay. Wash cloths, toiletries, bottled water, and glasses were waiting on the vanity when we arrived.
Additional toiletries and towels are located on a low shelf underneath the sink.
More towels were waiting for us on the large towel rack at the entrance to the bathroom.
The toilet and bidet are located in a separate room, which is always a welcome feature both at home and when traveling. The St. Regis Downtown Dubai also has an amenity that has never made sense to me, a phone next to the toilet. Who in the world is using this?
The bathroom is separated from the bedroom via a floor to ceiling sliding wooden door. This gives you the ability to completely open it, or close the bathroom off entirely.
Maybe it was the fact that we didn’t get to our room until well after 1 AM but, this was quite possibly the nicest standard hotel bedroom I’ve ever seen (excluding our overwater villa in the Maldives). Everything felt open and spacious and the decor was the right amount of opulence without being over the top. Everything just felt fresh.
The bed is located in the center of the room and flanked by two nightstands. One side had a lamp while the other had a fun light fixture hanging from the ceiling. A bench sat at the foot of the bed which we primarily used for luggage.
Across from the bed we found a large wooden desk with the TV mounted above it, hidden inside of a sleek black wall. While I didn’t expect the TV to take up this entire screen, it was laughably small once we turned it on.
On the desk you’ll find a lamp, phone, notepad and pen along with a small leather box containing an assortment of paper clips, a highlighter, sticky notes, and an eraser.
At the rear of the room is a wraparound seating area with an overhead reading light, coffee table, and side table. Even with the odd, curved, design, I found it to be very comfortable and ATX Jr. and I hung out here a decent amount during our stay.
Finally, the back wall of the room is made up of wall to wall and floor to ceiling windows. The windows were somewhat dirty but the views of the surrounding buildings is fantastic, especially at night.
Aside from the impossible to use lighting panel and the comically small TV, this room was fantastic for our needs.
The St. Regis Downtown Dubai Food & Beverage
There are six food and beverage outlets on property, Ginori Terrace, BASTA!, TABŪ, The Library, The St. Regis Bar, and Pool Bar. We ended up visiting four of them during our stay.
Ginori Terrace is a gorgeous indoor/outdoor space in partnership with porcelain tableware maker Ginori 1735. It is located at the rear of the property and has an exit to the boardwalk, which was under construction during our stay.
The St. Regis offers its afternoon tea service in this space though we preferred to the terrace to enjoy a late night cocktail after returning from our daily excursions. It is open daily from 8:00a to 12:00a.
My drink of choice was the Old Fashioned while Mrs. ATX chose to switch it up each night. Unfortunately, the hotel struggled in the cocktail department and hers weren’t very good. Her Aperol spritz came out flat on more than one occasion.
The Library, which is situated between the Ginori Terrace and lobby, serves as the hotel’s coffee shop and bakery. We got coffee here most mornings, though the prices are on the steep side.
The Library is open daily between 8:00a and 12:00a, though they will do last call 20-30 minutes ahead of time. On a couple of occasions we picked up a late night snack to take up to the room for after ATX Jr. went to bed.
Next to The Library and Ginori Terrace is BASTA! This is the property’s primary dining establishment and is open between 6:30a-12:00a daily. In the mornings, breakfast is served here before transitioning to an Italian restaurant for lunch and dinner.
We only ate breakfast here one morning during our stay as we usually prefer to eat while out and about. The breakfast is fixed price at roughly $40 USD per person and includes a large buffet as well as made to order dishes. The staff was nice enough to make ATX Jr. his own special pancake unprompted, which was a very nice gesture.
Directly above BASTA! is The St. Regis Bar. If you don’t know what you’re looking for you’ll walk right past it, like I did the first time, as it is hidden behind a large, unmarked door.
Upon reaching the top of the stairs, you can turn left to enter TABŪ and there is a large bar area directly ahead with nothing behind it. I assumed that the bar had closed for the evening but later determined that this space is used for the nightly champagne sabering ritual.
The bar entrance is to your right as you reach the top of the stairs, just look for the gold door handle.
Stepping inside, you’re hit with the smell of smoke as the bar also functions as a cigar lounge. Fortunately for me, there was only one occasion where I encountered someone smoking here.
The bar itself is gorgeous with low lighting and dark wood paneling that made the space feel secluded yet inviting. These photos were taken after last call as the lights were being turned up.
As you may notice, there are no barstools at the bar. Instead, guests have a variety of seating areas to choose from. The St. Regis Bar was never even close to full during our stay, likely due to the Ramadan holiday.
At the back of the bar is a six person, high-top, table located in a separate room. This space is more private but you still have bartenders walking through.
The staff here were extremely friendly and remembered my order prom the previous night when I returned; I worked in the bar each night after my wife and son went to bed. Each drink was served alongside a trio of olives, potato chips, and mixed nuts.
Of the two food and beverage outlets we didn’t visit during our stay, TABŪ is the property’s high end Japanese restaurant with a separate entrance off of the street. It is open between 12:00p-1:00a Sunday through Thursday and from 12:00p to 2:00a on Fridays and Saturdays
Finally, Pool Bar is located on the pool deck overlooking Business Bay and the canal. It is open from 10:30a-6:30p daily.
The St. Regis Downtown Dubai Spa & Fitness Center
The spa and fitness center at the St. Regis Downtown Dubai arr located on the 3rd floor of the property. While we didn’t utilize it during this stay, the property has a full service spa which features six treatment suites with en-suite steam rooms and saunas. The spa also offers a range of mani-pedi services for guests.
Across from the spa entrance is the fitness center which has a decent selections of cardio equipment, machines, and free weights. Floor to ceiling windows allow plenty of light into the space but the frosted glass provides privacy.
Along the rear wall of the fitness center is a countertop with chilled and room temperature water, towels, and fruit available for guests.
The St. Regis Downtown Dubai Pool
The pool at the property is tucked away, practically hidden from the rest of the property. The entrance is just past the fitness center and, once you step outside, you’ll need to follow the path around the side of the building.
At the rear of the building you’ll find the large pool area. The pool is partially covered to offer guests a reprieve from the Dubai heat, we visited in March and temperatures were in the 90s, but had a portion for those looking to get a tan.
I stopped by in the morning, just as the pool was opening, so the adjacent Pool Bar wasn’t open yet. Like the other bars on property, there were no barstools available and guests could order drinks to their table.
Summary
Our stay at the St. Regis Downtown Dubai was absolutely spectacular. The attention to detail from the staff really helped push this from good to great. The room was nice and spacious and there were plenty of on-site amenities to keep us occupied while on-site.
My only complaints are with the light controls in our room as well as the walkability of the property. My hope is that the latter will be resolved once construction along the boardwalk is complete.
Due to the sheer number of luxury properties available in Dubai, I would likely stay elsewhere on my next visit but, I certainly won’t have any complaints if I have to stay at the St. Regis Downtown Dubai again.