Best Executive Or Club Lounges At Hotels In Dubai
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We have reviewed hotels in Dubai, UAE, with the best club or executive lounges by the beach, downtown, and at the airport DBX to help you decide on the best choice, whether you are traveling as a couple, a family, or as a single business traveler. By reviewing each of these club lounges, in turn, I conclude which hotel club lounge comes in at the top and which hotel I would select as having the best club lounge in Dubai.

Luxury hotels in Dubai include the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah on its own island by the beach, Armani Hotel Dubai in downtown, Al Maha, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa in the desert, Park Hyatt Dubai by the golf course, marina, and creek just 5 minutes from the airport with a great spa and pool, Bulgari Resort Dubai in downtown, Raffles Dubai by Dubai Airport, The Palace Downtown Dubai in downtown, Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach on the beach, Four Seasons Hotel Dubai International Financial Centre, One&Only The Palm on the beach on The Palm, Jumeirah Al Naseem on the beach, Jumeirah Al Qasr on the beach, One&Only Royal Mirage on Dubai beach.

I have compiled a list below containing the club lounges available across luxury hotels in Dubai. There are, in fact, hundreds of hotels in Dubai with club lounges, so I list the lounges in Dubai that I consider to be the best of the best. I will be reviewing each of these hotel club lounges in detail in turn so that you know what you will get if you book a room with club lounge access or get upgraded to a club lounge for free because of your loyalty status.

The best hotel in Dubai with a club lounge on the beach is Jumeirah Al Qasr and Al Naseem & Mina, part of the Madinat Jumeirah hotel complex. The best hotel in Dubai with a club lounge downtown is the Address Downtown Dubai. The best hotel in Dubai with a club lounge by the airport is the Address Downtown Dubai. The cheapest luxury hotel in Dubai with a club lounge and probably the best deal in Dubai if you are looking for a club lounge is Le Meridien Dubai Hotel & Conference Centre.

Bear in mind that the club lounges tend to be better downtown than on the beach because the beach hotels have the beach as their main attraction and attract families who do not necessarily look for a club lounge during their stay. Dubai’s downtown and airport attract business travelers who may well choose a hotel specifically for the club lounge. Therefore, the club lounges downtown tend to be of a higher quality overall.

1. Mandarin Oriental Dubai

Mandarin Oriental Dubai overlooks both the pristine waters of the Arabian Gulf and Dubai’s glittering skyline, Mandarin Oriental Jumeira, Dubai is a stunning beachfront resort with an enviable Jumeirah Beach setting.

Club Rooms and Suites offer exclusive access to The Club Lounge, a sophisticated venue with staggering views catering exclusively for Club Room and Suite guests. The spacious lounge features an open-plan kitchen, a drawing room, and private dining areas, complete with floor-to-ceiling looking out across the Dubai skyline. It offers a private space for guests to relax and socialize whilst enjoying a host of exclusive benefits like check-in and check-out in the club lounge. Complimentary food and beverage offerings include breakfast, afternoon tea, evening cocktails, and canapes served.

2. Madinat Jumeirah Al Qasr, Al Naseem & Mina A’Salam

Set up like an Arabian palace, or perhaps numerous Arabian palaces, surrounded by greenery, waterways, and, of course, the beach, Madinat Jumeirah is an old Arabian town recreated in luxury. It comes complete with a traditional bazaar (the souk, which houses a Starbucks), gardens, wind catchers, and water canals. Riding around the canals and walking around in the Souk is so much fun, if a little Disneyesque, offering a great, safe environment, which is ideal if you are traveling with your children as a family.

There are six hotels on the premises of the Madinat. Jumeirah Al Qasr, Jumeirah Al Naseem, Jumeirah Mina A’Salam, Jumeirah Dar Al Masyaf, Burj Al Arab Jumeirah and the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. Three of these hotels have hotel club lounges in Dubai.

Mina A’Salam is sold as a family resort, the Dar Al Masyaf as a boutique hotel, while the Al Qasr and the new Al Naseem are positioned as luxury resorts, and all three have club lounges. It doesn’t matter hugely which hotel you choose to stay in because they all share more or less the same facilities; pool and beach in particular. The Madinat Jumeirah complex, as a whole, also offers world-class golf, Sinbad’s Kids Club, an onsite Madinat Theatre, Madinat Jumeirah’s own private beach, the Talise Spa and watersports, tennis, and luxury yachts.

In terms of which hotel is best, Jumeirah Al Qasr offers some of the nicest and best rooms within the Madinat Jumeirah hotel complex, showcasing Arabian Palatial luxury. Designed in the style of a Sheikh’s summer residence, palatial guestrooms decorated in the traditional Arabian style offer stunning views of the sea and the resort in opulent surroundings. This hotel is reached by traveling up an impressive driveway to the entrance.

Jumeirah Al Naseem is the latest addition to Madinat Jumeirah, offering a “Dubai of Today” experience. With interiors inspired by sand dunes, sea breeze, and Dubai’s heritage of pearl diving and Bedouin traditions, its rooms and suites feature spectacular views of Burj Al Arab Jumeirah. Expansive terraces invite the outdoors in, and lush gardens edge the sandy beach, providing pockets of privacy and peacefulness.

The Iconic Burj Al Arab also sits in this complex, and while it doesn’t have a club lounge, you can make use of the rooftop “The Burj Club” as a guest. This is an oasis of seclusion against the backdrop of The Dubai Fountain and Burj Khalifa, offering a Rooftop Pool and Dining. This chic venue offers a Miami-meets-Manhattan vibe, with plush lounge beds, tempting cuisine, and refreshing beverages, all overlooking Burj Khalifa and The Dubai Fountain. The venue also serves shisha and happy hours.

Jumeirah Mina A’Salam is one of the cheapest hotels of the six hotels in the complex, with a club lounge, and was completely refurbished in 2015. The spacious guest rooms are beautifully furnished in an Arabian style. It’s warm and cozy and doesn’t go over the top like the Burj. Each room has a private balcony overlooking the sea, offering authentic Arabian experiences on a beachfront location with family-friendly service.

Jumeirah Al Naseem has the “Family Lounge,” Jumeirah Mina A’Salam and Jumeirah Al Qasr have their “Premium Leisure Club” club lounges. The benefits of booking into Club Executive and Premium Leisure Club rooms is having access to these lounges plus the following:

  • Breakfast served in Madinat Jumeirah buffet restaurants
  • Return transfer for Dubai International Airport
  • Complimentary return transfer for Dubai International Airport
  • Exclusive use of Club Executive / Premium Leisure Lounge
  • All-day tea, coffee, and soft drinks served in the lounge
  • Afternoon tea and light refreshments served
  • Pre-dinner drinks and a selection of canapés in the lounge
  • Late check-out until 2:00 pm based on availability
  • Jumeirah Al Naseem Suite guests enjoy exclusive access to Summersalt Beach Club

Family Lounge at Jumeirah Al Naseem equals to Premium Leisure Club in Jumeirah Mina A’Salam and Jumeirah Al Qasr. Club Executive lounge is reserved for guests above 18 years old.

I always prefer a hotel with a club lounge as this makes traveling as a family with kids so much easier at feeding times, etc. This will limit you to Jumeirah Al Naseem with its “Family Lounge” and Jumeirah Mina A’Salam and Jumeirah Al Qasr with their “Premium Leisure Club” club lounges.

Booking a room at Jumeirah Mina A’Salam with club lounge access means that you are picked up in style from the Jumeirah desk inside the airport, where they offer you a drink and then escort you to your luxury car (with free Wi-Fi as well as TV screens and magazines), a great way to arrive. All the drivers are lovely and share local knowledge as you are driven to the hotel.

Once you arrive at Mina a’ Salam, you bypass any queues at check-in and are whisked from the lobby straight to the lovely club lounge, where you can sit down and relax with a drink or something to eat whilst your check-in is completed.

The club lounge is located on the hotel’s second floor and has an excellent outside seating area, with views over the Arabian Gulf, Palm Island, and the Burj al-Arab. It is a great place to sit at night and relax out under the stars with a cocktail, watching the Burj change color. The evening Happy Hour offers free alcoholic beverages (unless it’s the Holy month of Ramadan when there are timing changes). Alcohol can be expensive in Dubai, so this makes booking the club lounge a great deal. Along with the drinks are snacks, not enough for dinner, but enough to keep you going. As part of the club room package, you also get breakfast served in the Madinat Jumeirah buffet restaurants.

During the day, you can make use of unlimited complimentary soft drinks, tea, and coffee. The Mina A’Salam lounge is by the swimming pool, so you can go for a swim and pop in and get a drink before and after. Although you can’t take the drink out to the pool, you can take it out onto the lounge’s terrace, which has excellent views of the pool, the beach, and the Burj, as mentioned above.

In the afternoon, you can enjoy afternoon tea, scones, clotted cream and jam, fruit, cakes, nachos, dips, and sandwiches. They will even deliver (free) basic food for kids, like chicken nuggets, fries, or pasta with a tomato or Bolognese sauce.

Check-out also takes place in the executive lounge, and you get complimentary transport back to the airport. It is worth noting that the driving skills of the Jumeriah drivers are much better than the regular taxi drivers in Dubai, so this does seem like a safer option.

3. Grand Hyatt Dubai

The Grand Hyatt Dubai Hotel offers the best value club lounge in Dubai. Rates here are in the region of د.إ800 AED per night (I checked for October 2019). Rooms with club lounge access are د.إ1050 AED per night, which works out at around $286 USD, a great deal for a club lounge. The rooms are decent, and the location is fair, close to the airport, which is convenient for short stays although it is not near the beach, which is a disadvantage but all taken into account in the price. The Grand Hyatt has a nice pool and usually comes on at less than half the price of equivalent beach hotels, making this compromise worthwhile. The pool here is great, and there are several pools on-site, including some children’s pools.

The Club Lounge at the Grand Hyatt is very large but can get quite crowded in the evening if the hotel is full. Happy hour during the early evening is popular. The cold food options are excellent, with lots of healthy salads that vary every day, like fish salad, chicken salad, and quinoa salad, along with veggies and fruits. There is a chef station, where a specialty dish is prepared daily, but it is also cold. The hot options are limited to one soup and one hot dish, like fried rice or noodles with sauce and meat. There is also an extensive array of desserts.

Children are allowed in this lounge but are rarely a problem and tend to be well-behaved. The drinks available in the evening include three choices of red wine, white wine, one rosé, a Chilean sparkling wine, a “daily” cocktail, beers, and spirits. Overall the food and drink in this lounge are great, although hot meals are limited.

Book via our concierge, and you will get breakfast for free, regardless of whether you book a room with executive club lounge access. If you have club access, you can choose breakfast in the lounge or restaurant. Breakfast in the restaurant is superb. They have a great choice of Asian, Arabic, and Western options. The free breakfast in the lounge is more limited, so a free breakfast in the restaurant is a nice perk.

4. Address Downtown Dubai

Just 1 mile from the airport is one of the best hotel club lounges in the city of Dubai, but it is not near the beach. The award-winning, iconic flagship Address Downtown Dubai is a landmark of luxury in the heart of Downtown Dubai. Located close to Burj Khalifa and The Dubai Mall, this hotel offers an exceptional selection of innovative restaurants, a refreshing spa, and a state-of-the-art Fitness Centre. Young children can look forward to reveling in the immersive activities in the Qix club.

The hotel is superbly convenient for The Dubai Mall, just a short walk over a bridge connecting the hotel and the mall. It is a great place to waste hours, shopping and people-watching.

Book a Fountain Club Room to get club lounge access at the Address Dubai, which gets you freshly prepared refreshments throughout the day, free two-way airport transfers, 24-hour check-in and check-out, and on-demand pressing for up to two pieces of laundry per stay. More importantly, there is no other club lounge in Dubai with a dreamy terrace overlooking the fountains, a beautiful experience.

The overwhelming recommendation from guests staying at this hotel is that you must book the club lounge as part of your package, as the benefits you get outweigh the cost. Once you have booked a club room, everything from being met at the airport to being taken back for your homeward flight is handled.

The lounge itself is large with a wonderful view and probably the most comprehensive food offering, in terms of filling you for all meals and 4 hours of alcohol in the evening, of any executive lounge in Dubai. You can grab something to eat and drink at breakfast, followed by lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner served along with free drinks during the longest happy hour of any club lounge I have come across, with the exception of the Ritz-Carlton, where you can drink from around midday.

The chef who creates the lounge’s food is excellent, and the food is consistently delicious and of high quality. The view of the fountain shows, with the Burj in the background, is one that you will never get tired of. This low-key, relaxed, easy-going lounge is the perfect place to grab a bite or drink. The wine is particularly great. Try the Malbec, and the carrot juice is not to be missed.

5. Grosvenor House Dubai

The Grosvenor House Dubai feels very much like a proper Luxury Collection hotel, with a brilliant location close to the beach, next to the marina walk, and with plenty of great bars and restaurants in the hotel, including Sidarta Lounge, Buddha Bar, Torro Torro, The embassy, etc. The hotel’s main breakfast selection is so good that the locals and ex-pats come here for breakfast.

The Grosvenor House has great views of the marina from their rooms, which is a great way to wake up. Many rooms have a nice balcony overlooking Atlantis. The club lounge is one of the best in Dubai. Overall, this is your best option if you are a Marriott Bonvoy member and are looking for luxury and the best Marriott or SPG Starwood property to earn and redeem your points, particularly if you are traveling as a couple. You also get access to all the beach and pool facilities at Le Royal Meridien via a free and regular shuttle between the two hotels, or you can just run across Al Sufouh Road between the hotels, so you get the best of both worlds.

The food in this club lounge at the Grosvenor House Luxury Collection is very good. Breakfast is amazing (though the restaurant breakfast is a bit better), lunch is provided, followed by afternoon tea time and pre-dinner drinks. Afternoon tea is extravagant! Eggplant spaghetti and a large salad, anyone? This is a proper meal and the largest spread I have ever seen for afternoon tea at a Marriott. Overall you can treat this lounge as if you have booked half or even full board, as there is enough food to fill you up.

6. Le Royal Méridien Beach Resort & Spa

If you are a family, you may actually prefer to stay at Le Royal Méridien Beach Resort & Spa over its sister hotel, the Grosvenor House, outlined above. This has large free-form pools with bridges, gorgeous grassy lawns adorned with palm trees, and a beach alongside. The decor in the rooms is fresh and modern, and the balconies are large with lovely views, the best of which looks over the gardens and beach. There is a large club lounge here that serves breakfast, but do bear in mind that it does get very busy at breakfast. The breakfast here in the lounge is extremely good, much like you would expect in a normal restaurant, with a vast buffet. After breakfast, it quietens down, and you can enjoy snacks and drinks. It picks up again and gets busy at happy hour when they serve free drinks and light bites.

For a family, the pool at the Royal Meridien and having a beach will add to your holiday, but if you are traveling as a couple or on business, you may well prefer the pool at the Grosvenor House over the beach at Le Royal Meridien. Le Royal Meridien beach and the hotel itself are full of holidaymakers who have booked packages from all over the world, as well as lots of kids and sometimes mosquitos in the greenery. It doesn’t feel exclusive. The pool at the St Regis Saadiyat and at the Grosvenor house feels more exclusive and could be considered as an alternative if you are set on a beachside resort. For more insight, read our comparison, Le Meridien vs. Grosvenor House.

7. Jumeirah Creekside

I include Jumeirah Creekside in my listings as it is a great cheap luxury hotel that gives you 1 day of access to all the Madinat Jumeirah grounds, beach, pools, and facilities for a hugely discounted price. Jumeirah Creekside is very competitively priced and has a nice club lounge with the usual offerings: breakfast, afternoon tea, all-day drinks, and evening alcoholic drinks and canapes. The food in this club lounge is arguably as good as the food at the Address in terms of quality. The staff are very attentive, and the hotel has good pools, very nice gardens with duck ponds and turtles, free unlimited entry to Wild Wadi, and shuttle buses 10 minutes from the airport. There is an Irish Village next door for entertainment, and you’re a 10-minute stroll to the Metro and one stop away from the City Centre Mall.

For UNLIMITED access to all the Madinat Jumeirah grounds, beach, pools, and facilities for a cheaper price, you need to pick the Jumeirah Emirates Towers, and you can book a club room here to get access to their club lounge.

8. InterContinental Dubai Festival City

The InterContinental Dubai Festival City has excellent management, staff, concierge, lounge, and a good spa, and is, overall, the best when comparing InterContinental Marina vs. Festival City.

InterContinental Dubai Festival City offers excellent facilities, including a gym and pool, and is close to the airport (closer to the airport than the Marina InterContinental), the old town, Deira, and overlooks the creek. The location isn’t overly exciting with two hotels and a shopping mall but remember. Taxis are cheap if you want to get elsewhere!

The rooms at InterContinental Dubai Marina and Festival City are large, with a comfy king bed and good pillows. The bathrooms have a bathtub, walk-in shower, two sinks, and a separate room with a toilet and bidet. Book a Club Room or Club Suite, and you get an elegant and spacious room with a Nespresso machine and access to the club lounge.

The InterContinental Dubai Festival City has a Club InterContinental executive lounge, which is one of our favorite brands of the club lounge. Just take a look at the Club InterContinental in London!

At the InterContinental Festival City, the Club Lounge is nothing short of excellent and is located on the 26th floor, split into five large sections with seating for about 20-25 people in each. The Club offers breakfast, afternoon tea, a daily cocktail hour, and a paid bar until the Club closes at 1:00 am.

The lounge staff a this InterContinental are friendly, polite, very professional, and recognize regular guests as “usual guests”. It is considered by many to be exceptional and looks similar to the club lounge of the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai. It takes up all the crescent side of the 26th floor. Food offerings are great in the morning and evening.

Breakfast offers a selection of cold cuts, cheese, lots of fresh bread and croissants, and eggs cooked freshly, so you can order omelets, Eggs Benedict, scrambled eggs, etc. For drinks, there is fresh-squeezed orange juice and delicious tea (www.tchaba.com).

The afternoon tea is slightly disappointing. If you’re used to a layered tray of afternoon tea goodies along with a buffet, you will not get this here. You get a small basket of sandwiches and cakes.

Cocktail hour food is limited to tasters of hot savory food, aiming to showcase or upsell the restaurants within the hotel, offering a taste to help you choose where to dine in the evenings. Free-flowing Moet is reported along with other alcoholic drinks, including an extensive wine offering that is all complimentary (at both hotels). Strangely, no dress code is enforced here. Guests turn up to the lounge in slippers and swimming trunks and are still let in.

The pool area at Festival City is nice, with lots of palm trees and maybe five or six separate (albeit some very small) pools split between the Intercontinental and Crowne Plaza sides, though guests of both hotels appear free to use either.

The big pool on the Intercontinental side is perspex at the creek end of the pool, so those with goggles on can put their head under the water and see straight down about six stories to the promenade below. There are also shallow ledges where one can lie in a few inches of water and are some mini-infinity pools with Jacuzzi jets. The pool tends to be busy, so be prepared for most sunbeds to be taken.

The rest of the hotel is modern, with plenty of layers of terraces looking out over the creek, and perfect for alfresco eating and dining.

9. InterContinental Dubai Marina

The Marina around the InterContinental Dubai Marina is a more exciting and lively location than its sister hotel, InterContinental Dubai Festival City.

Rooms at InterContinental Dubai Marina and Festival City are large, with a comfy king bed with good pillows. The bathrooms have a bathtub and walk-in shower, two sinks, and a separate room with a toilet and bidet. Book a Club Room or Club Suite, and you get an elegant and spacious room with a Nespresso machine and access to the club lounge.

In the club lounge, breakfast is very good, and afternoon tea and happy hour offer a good selection of nicely presented dishes with a good selection of alcohol for happy hour. There is a very nice and attentive service, but prosecco is offered instead of champagne.

The pool at the InterContinental Dubai Marina is not nearly as nice as the pool area at Festival City. Instead, you have one triangular urban pool surrounded by skyscrapers. In fact, depending on when you visit, the skyscrapers can block much, if not all, of the sun from around the pool. This can be a relief on hot days but a pain on colder days.

A nice touch is the loungers that sit in the shallows of the water. I always enjoy lounging on partially submerged loungers that you can immediately dip your toes into the water from, so these are great, but the rest of the pool area is not as impressive as the one at InterContinental Festival City.

10. Le Meridien Dubai Hotel & Conference Centre

The club lounge at Le Meridien Dubai Hotel & Conference Centre is called the Royal Club, it is a “hotel within a hotel” at this property. It sits within its own club building, with rooms, an executive lounge, and even a private, exclusive rooftop pool just for club lounge guests. This hotel and club lounge is ideal for a layover as it’s right by the airport (not that you would know) or stay longer. It is also one of the cheapest luxury Marriott Bonvoy hotels in Dubai. It is a great deal on both Bonvoy loyalty points and cash.

Le Meridien Dubai Hotel & Conference Centre is a destination in itself. The hotel is huge, with at least five pools, several gyms, and restaurants. The hotel “Le Meriden Village” also has 18 restaurants, bars, a pub, pools, and so forth. In the evenings, the village is vibrant, and the Indian restaurant, in particular, is genuinely very good. As a Platinum member of Marriott Bonvoy, you get included in the Royal Club lounge (or, should I say, the Royal Club building). The clubrooms are large and relatively luxuriously done, and the service is personalized and attentive.

Since the entire building of the hotel is club-level, the club is in the lobby and is probably the best part of the hotel. The food is excellent, and the managers and chefs are always super helpful and accommodating and even offer vegan food. The club serves food and drinks three times a day, breakfast, tea, and happy hour. Each sitting was a full meal, and the latter evening offering included alcoholic drinks.

This is one of the cheapest 5-star luxury Starwood (now also Marriott Bonvoy) hotels in Dubai, and as a Platinum, you get quite a high-end hard and soft product at a great deal.

11. Ritz-Carlton Dubai Beach Hotel

The Ritz-Carlton Dubai Beach Hotel club lounge is a good club lounge with an Asian feel and an indoor and outdoor seating area. It offers breathtaking sea views, a personal concierge, and 5 good food presentations during the day, including a full American breakfast. Alcohol is served from around midday, including Prosecco-type fizzy bottles, wines, beer, and spirits.

However, this lounge should be avoided during summer and winter vacation periods as it becomes unruly, with kids screaming and crying. Families are attracted to this hotel for the grounds and beach, and the fact they can cash in their Marriott Bonvoy points for a beachfront vacation in the sun, but this really detracts from the hotel experience as the club lounge becomes too full. We have outlined the best hotels in Dubai with a beach for families to help you make a better choice.

At these busy periods, the club lounge breakfast, lunch, and evening “Happy Hour” food offerings are cleaned out within 30 minutes. Clean plates run out, and the place feels too crowded.

Regardless of the time of year you visit the Ritz-Carlton Dubai Beach Hotel. It is worth noting that as a result of the large beachfrontage and gardens at this resort, it is constantly used as a venue for outdoor events. This is a problem as the PA and sound systems used at these events are very noisy, and lots of loud music is played. Parts of the outdoor space tend to be “closed” or fenced off for these events. The result is that many guests refuse to return after describing it as “one of the noisiest resorts ever. It never seems to calm down!”

If you visit this Ritz-Carlton in the winter, the pool is so cold that it is unusable, which is why we sit this Ritz-Carlton at the bottom of our list of the best hotels in Dubai with executive lounges. Yes, this hotel has a beach, but it is not the best choice, unlike the Ritz-Carlton Al-Wadi out in the desert, which is a must-do bucket list hotel and a wholly different experience with an amazing location, great activities, beautiful pools, and great food. For a proper and truly private beach experience, you need to switch to Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach, which is superior in every way.

Note: Benefits & upgrades subject to availability. Benefits offered correct at the time of writing. Terms & conditions apply. Enquire for more information. Benefits offered correct at the time of writing but may be amended at discretion of the vendor. Posts may be sponsored by the proprietor or brand being appraised. All opinions remain our own & are in no way influenced.