Urban Luxury at Taj Downtown Dubai
India’s most famous Hotel Group is steadily making its presence felt in the city of gold - Dubai. Taj‘ s sole property (for now) sits just nicely in Business Bay - not too far away from the Boulevard but just far enough to not get entangled in it. This location allows for some stunning views of Downtown Dubai but as a result will require you to take any trips to check out the area by car or hotel transport as its just a a little too far to do it by foot comfortably.
Upon arrival you’ll most likely be ushered into the check in area in the main lobby, where you’ll be offered a cleansing welcome drink as a part of a mini goodwill ceremony. It’s a nice touch and immediate sets a positive tone. The service at Taj Hotels is renowned to be second to none and at this property they do try to go out of their way to offer a true sense of hospitality. Check in is swift and shortly after you’ll be free to go to your room or take a little wander around the hotel
While the exterior is nothing to get too excited about the interior design team have done a wonderful job at Taj Dubai, mixing Indian elements with Colonial English touches in a thoughtful yet elegant way. The overall styling is light and bright, offering a much more contemporary than anticipated approach to Indian luxury, which in some cases can come across as a little gaudy.
No such issues here - Taj Downtown for the most part has a lovely sense to it that feels fresh and welcoming, parlaying just the right mix of Indian heritage and modern hotel style to create something truly unique in Dubai.
The Luxury, Club and Junior Suites all have commanding views of the Burj Khalifa and are styled in a mostly neutral color palette that is fresh with a refined sense of opulence. The suites and club rooms obviously grant you access to the Taj Club Lounge (Byzantium Lounge) which is miles ahead of many others in the city. Another benefit of these room categories if you so choose - is the round the clock personalised butler service. If you’re staying with a family this could definitely come in handy.
The room entry offers a nice storage area and a parquet floored hall way that opens out to quite a generous living space with all the usual things you would expect for a five star hotel. There’s a fully stocked pantry and a Nespresso machine neatly stored in a wooden armoire. There’s some nice room tech but no USB ports, WiFi is complimentary for basic but premium connectivity will cost you, the higher the room category the cheaper the WiFi is.
Perhaps the most luxurious part of the room is the bathroom with its beautiful clean lines, marble walls and floors and Molton Brown amenities.
The bathroom has a full size hot tub that neatly sits within a window that looks out towards the king size bed and the rest of the room. Overall the bathroom is spacious, sophisticated and very well appointed with beautiful soft towels and robes offering a real sense of class to your stay.
Speaking of the king size bed, it’s everything that you want, soft, inviting and comfy with great pillows, so you should be guaranteed a good nights sleep. The double glazed windows will also help filter out any unwanted noise from below.
From a culinary perspective Taj Downtown has a pretty strong line up in the form of Miss Tess and Tesoro the day night combo of the same venue. While the Eloquent Elephant is a real winner that neatly blends British Pub Grub into this Indian melting pot of a venue. There’s also the award winning Bombay Brasserie along with the Billionaire Mansion as well as a hit and miss bar called the Unlucky Cat.
Bottom Line:
In all, for those looking for some inner city luxury there’s probably two solid reasons to staying at Taj Dubai. The view and the service. The price point is very reasonable for what’s on offer which only serves to make this urban retreat all the more compelling for out of town visitors or staycationers alike.
