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 named “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 and offers a great safe environment which is ideal if you are traveling with your children as a family.
Best Time To Visit
Expect the resort to be much busier in the Winter and to feel more or less empty in the Summer (but it can be crazily hot in Dubai in the middle of the Summer, so beware!). My preference is actually the cheaper and emptier Summer. Whichever season you travel, you are unlikely to have any issues with loungers, etc. There is plenty of room at this luxury resort and plenty of facilities to go around.
The Six Hotels
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 some of the best hotel club lounges in Dubai.
Mina A’Salam is sold as a family resort, the Dar Al Masyaf as a boutique hotel, and the Al Qasr and the new Al Naseem are positioned as luxury resorts. However, they still both have family facilities. For example, the Al Qasr pool has a small children’s swimming area directly next to it. 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. All guests at the hotels on Jumeriah beach get free unlimited access to Wild Wadi.
In terms of which hotel is best, the Jumeirah Dar Al Masyaf villas are best for larger families as these are multi-bedroom villas with their own butler service included. For larger families and groups, these exquisite summerhouses are set amongst tranquil gardens, waterways, and their own exclusive pools. Elegant and spacious guestrooms and courtyards, personalized and generous butler service form this understated Arabian luxury experience.
Every summerhouse has nine to eleven guestrooms, including one suite. Depending on its location, they are named Arabian, Gulf, and Ocean. Each summerhouse also features a typical Arabian Majlis, or living room, where sundowners are served to guests daily before they depart by traditional abra boats, on foot, or by golf buggies to one of the resort’s 50 restaurants.
Jumeirah Al Qasr
Jumeirah Al Qasr in Dubai 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
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.
Dubai’s longest private beach is only steps away, as well as the many facilities within Madinat Jumeirah Resort. Souk Madinat Jumeirah features more than 80 shops, bars, and restaurants. Access to Talise Spa and Talise Fitness, tennis and squash courts, as well as unlimited access to Wild Wadi Waterpark™, are all available to guests.
Burj Al Arab
Burj Al Arab Jumeirah is part of the Jumeirah Group and is located on Dubai most renowned beach, Jumeirah Beach. Soaring 321 meters, Burj Al Arab is the world’s tallest all-suite hotel. With its helipad on the 28th floor and a restaurant seemingly suspended in mid-air, the hotel has already become a landmark and icon on the Dubai skyline. The sail façade represents a true technical challenge, featuring a double-skinned Teflon-coated woven glass fiber screen. It is the first time such technology has been used in the world. Burj Al Arab offers highly personalized service for every traveler, enhanced by private reception desks on every floor, in-suite check-in, and a brigade of exclusive butlers.
Comprising of 142 deluxe suites; 18 Panoramic suites; 4 Club Suites; 28 Two-Bedroom suites; 6 Diplomatic Suites; 2 Presidential Suites, and 2 Royal Suites. Suites offer beautiful views over the Arabian Sea and range in size from 1800 sq ft to 8400 sq ft.
Dining facilities include Al Mahara Seafood Restaurant; Al Muntaha Restaurant on the 27th floor; Junsui Asian restaurant, Skyview Bar on the 27th floor; Al Iwan Restaurant on the lobby level; Bab Al Yam located by the pool and Juna Lounge on the ground floor.
Talise Spa is open daily and offers a full range of relaxing and reviving treatments, featuring the popular La Prairie Caviar treatments. It features the latest Technogym equipment with Kinesis stations as well as an indoor pool and sauna. An outdoor pool and a private beach are also exclusive to residents.
While the Burj Al Arab 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 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
Jumeirah Mina A’Salam is a cheaper option and this hotel forms the gateway to Madinat Jumeirah. It’s also the entry point from which numerous waterways and walkways thread their way to all corners of Madinat Jumeirah.
Completely refurbished in 2015, Jumeirah Mina A’Salam is positioned at the heart of Madinat Jumeirah Resort and is a luxuriously charming boutique-style hotel. 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 and offers authentic Arabian experiences on a beachfront location with family-friendly service.
Even the cheapest rooms here have a nice sea view. I would class the view as “partial sea view” as these rooms are positioned perpendicular to the ocean, so you are likely to face towards land but with the ocean to the left or right of your balcony in a diagonal view from your room. Turndown and housekeeping service across this luxury hotel complex is fantastic and always leave a little gift.
Club Lounge
Three of these Madinat Jumeirah hotels have club lounges. 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
- Pre-dinner drinks and a selection of canapés for ‘Happy Hour’ 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.
My preference is always to choose 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, like club room bookings at the other two hotels, 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 Jumeirah Al Naseem, Jumeirah Mina A’Salam, or Jumeirah Al Qasr, you bypass any queues at check-in. You 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 at Mina A’Salam is located on the second floor of the hotel and has an excellent outside seating area, with views over the Arabian Gulf, to 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. 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.
During the day, you can make use of unlimited complimentary soft drinks, tea, and coffee. As the Mina A’Salam executive lounge is very near the Mina A’Salam swimming pool, 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 terrace of the lounge, 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 & jam, fruit, cakes, nachos & dips, and sandwiches. They will even deliver (free) basic food for kids like chicken nuggets and 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 is much better than the regular taxi drivers in Dubai, so this does seem like a safer option.
Best Beach
The beach is one of the main attractions of any of the hotels in the Jumeirah Madinat complex. As a hotel guest, you are free to use all the beach facilities on the grounds, with the exception of the new Summersalt Beach Club next to the Al Naseem, where you have to buy a day pass even as a guest. In the summer, the beach is beautiful, and the sea is clear and warm.
Pools
Like the beaches, whichever hotel you stay in, you are also eligible to use all the pools in the Madinat. Both the Mina A’Salam and Al Qasr seemed to cool the pool water, which, in the summer, is refreshingly cooler than the seawater temperature of around 34° C. The Al Qasr pool is a little larger than Mina A’Salam’s and is probably slightly better. Both are not that busy, but slightly more so than the beach.
Which Is Best?
Which is the best luxury hotel for a family, couple, or honeymoon? Madinat Jumeirah Al Qasr vs. Al Naseem vs. Mina A’Salam vs. Burj Al Arab? The best luxury hotels within the Madinat Jumeirah complex for luxury and club lounge are the palatial Al Qasr and the new Al Naseem. While supposedly 6-star, the iconic Burj Al Arab Jumeirah is the glitziest, but I find its height and the level of glitz overwhelming, plus it doesn’t have a club lounge. The Jumeirah Beach Resort is stunning and large but more high-rise. I prefer the low-rise nature of the Al Qasr and the new Al Naseem. You cannot go wrong with either.
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