City Seasons Al Hamra Hotel

Positives: Adequate location and many taxi drivers know the hotel's name. Great interior design, very comfortable beds, nice thick soft carpets and overall well-equipped hotel room. Overall, the room looks very nice and it's incredibly spacious! Exceptionally kind receptionists. They behave much nicer than in most hotels. Negatives: Receptionist said breakfast is only 35 AED, then it turned out it was 42 AED on location. Oddly, the staff taking the money for breakfast ostentatiously acted like they were expecting a tip after paying(?). Even though, they didn't do ANYTHING besides just taking the money for it. After all, you go pick the food for yourself and other staff were responsible for preparing it. Internet breaks down frequently: it just stops working. The window is very dirty and the curtains show strong signs of wear, remains of cigarettes stuck onto the window's bottom section. Mosquito net on the window was burnt with a cigarette (probably by an earlier occupant of the room). Lack of a stronger light source in the hotel room. Only 3 small lamps are found in the room. You have to run them all to have some low light.

The hotel is in a central area which is good. They need to update or refurbish the hotel and mainly change the beds , they are too soggy for a 4 star hotel. The breakfast was disappointing , not too many choices of international food , it was mainly their local food. I would suggest they should add more options to their breakfast menu ( grilled potatoes, fish, etc. The breakfast area was crowded in one of the days we had to share tables with strangers. Reception should also learn to be more welcoming and also tell you about the facilities they have in the hotel. I appreciated that I was checked in before time because we arrived early around 12pm, thanks I loved their PIZZA it was delicious.

Centrally located and popular with tour groups, the hotel has great service. If you need something, it's up to your room in a flash. Front desk is helpful. I stayed only one night, and that night I couldn't get the thermostat to get more than 20 degrees. It was freezing in the room. An engineer was sent up to fix this, but didn't work. Finally we just turned off the fan to get warm. The bathtub drain didn't open when we turned it so we had to use a fork to pry it open (see photo) so water could train. Though I was not given a room upgrade (as I had in other 3 hotels in the UAE) room was spacious and cheerful. Not a bad choice for a budget hotel.

Good hotel. Charges an early check-in fee but fairly cheap. “Taxi/ Uber close” to all attractions.

Really helpful staff, well located, friendly