I stayed at the St Regis Saadyat Island in Dubai 2...

I stayed at the St Regis Saadyat Island in Dubai 24-27 December. Unfortunately the stay was a disaster for our family over Christmas and my wife's birthday on the 26th. These complaints were made to several of the staff and yet I have heard nothing back from the hotel management.

This just compounds my disgust at a supposed 5 star hotel.

So lets consider the hotel.

We were in room 686 if I remember rightly. The handbasin was cracked and the level of cleanliness very poor.
My personal preference is for a firmer mattress, when we requested this we had 2 wooden boards placed in the bed directly under the sheets, from the sublime to the ridiculous in one step.

If it had been cleaner it would have been more comfortable to sleep on the floor, needless to say we had the boards removed.

There is ingrained food under the tables on the breakfast terrace, not just from the day or the last couple of days but because the terrace does not appear to be clean.

The sunshade at the lower family pool we were given was very worn out and torn in places.... not a pleasant or functioning sun shade.

We booked a tennis court, we were asked to be at the reception 10 minutes early as they would drive us to the courts, at about 25 minutes past the time the cart came. Only because the valets were frantically trying to find someone in the hotel who could help. When we eventually got to the courts it was locked as it was a pool attendant who drove us there.

Can I remind you you are a very expensive 5* hotel and I do not expect this. I travel regularly and am a Marriott Platinum Elite member. (I did join SPG but do not expect to use this ever again)

Now lets consider the service.

We wrote to the Butler service and requested and extra bed for my 10 year old son, as well as specifying this at the booking. We had a positive response from the butler service. We reminded the lady on check in (Cammel?) and she said "No problems it will be taken care of at the time the beds are turned" and we went to Dinner returning late as it was xmas eve. The bed was not there, we called and someone came and made the couch up. Not what we ordered or expected (and were willing to pay for).

I got a letter demanding extra payment against my credit card, I do not expect to get this sort of demand after 1 day, either take more or trust your partners Elite Members to pay up... a slight on my honesty and a waste of my vacation time. Your front desk is elaborate but slow.

When at last it was time to check out I ordered a concierge to get my family's bags from the room, it never came and I had to rder another after the 90 minute check out process. I made the mistake of being honest and mentioned we had had a bottle of water from the fridge that night. The system then stared billing my credit card multiple times a minute for the 24 AED the water cost until I called the Duty Manager to stop this nonsense and help me get my bill and check out. It had taken the front desk 3 attempts to bill me by now.

I made these complaints to a number of people in the hotel including the restaurant manager about the state of cleanliness and to the from desk as soon as he asked "Did I have a nice stay" when I said "NO" and explained my dismay (I had not yet discovered his incompetence) he did not take any notice and just said "sorry he would take note, which he obviously didn't).

All in all a 1* stay for a 5* price. Unlikely to ever be repeated but certainly to be included on reviews.

Jim Massey