Help! Toddler friendly hotel stopover in Dubai

[RuthB4]

My husband and I are going to be flying from the UK to New Zealand with our 2 year old and 5 month old baby. We're planning to stop for two nights in Dubai to break the journey and make it more bearable for the little ones.

I'm finding it really hard to find any online help as to which hotel or resort might be good to stay at!
We're not interested in sightseeing. We'd be really happy just to swim in the hotel pool and play on the beach; just slow down to toddler time and needs basically.

I know Dubai is also incredibly expensive so we're hoping to avoid the really expensive hotels if possible, unless they turn out to be the best places for young families in which case we'd consider forking out to make the trip more successful.

Can anyone suggest any places please? Or have any advice at all? I'm seriously stumped!!

We're travelling in September and then returning in early November.

We go to Dubai a lot. We stay at Le Meridien Mina Seyahi near the Marina.

It's not near the airport but about 20 minutes away in a taxi but is a lovely hotel. It has a great pool with shaded baby pool and it shares all it's facilities with hotel next door (The Westin) so you can use their children's pool as well. It has a children's club which you can access with your child and there is a huge covered play park so they can play in the shade.

Thanks heaps for your reply! I heard elsewhere that that hotel is good! Is it very pricey? (I know everywhere in Dubai is really!)

What type of room do you book? Do they provide a cot do you know?
And does the restaurant have child friendly meals or is it best to eat elsewhere?

TIA

It's not overly expensive tbh...certainly not like Atlantis or JB! It's not a huge hotel by Dubai standards but still very opulent and definitely 5*.

We went for the first time when DS2 was 2.5 so we never needed a cot but Im sure they have them as there are always lots of babies there and they have high chairs in the restaurant. We usually have a room which has a king size bed plus a single bed and then we get another rollaway bed as well (DS1 is 12.5 now) so a room like that would be ok and then you can get just get a cot.

We usually eat out and about apart from breakfast but I seem to recall the meals in the main restaurant are buffet style (but the food is amazing) so Im sure you'd be able to find stuff they can eat. We usually eat lunch in the pool bar as the boys don't want to leave the pool and they definitely have children's meals in there.

We got back from our 5th visit 10 days ago. DS2 got chicken pox when we were there and all the staff from the reception manager, to the onsite nurse, to the concierge and the cleaning staff were all so incredibly helpful and caring which is so incredibly important when you are travelling with young children.

There is also a metro/tram stop literally outside the hotel so its very easy to get around but taxi's are easy as well.

Any more questions please feel free to ask!

I have just stayed at the grand Hyatt with my one year old. It's not cheap (we got a deal on booking.com) but it has a shaded toddler pool, a kids pool with slides etc and a huge main pool which has some areas of shade. Perfect for us as we just wanted to relax at the hotel. They will out a cot up if you request it. I have seen that the max is 3
people per room but not sure if kids count.

The only thing I'd say is it was expensive to eat in the hotel.

Thanks so much for the replies!
Heaps of useful info there ihearttc, and Kiwi32 thanks for the recommendation. I'll look into the Grand Hyatt too!

Ihearttc, just another question for you. We had pretty much decided on the Meridien Mina Seyahi, but there are so many reviews on trip advisor that warn about the noise from the bar that goes on past 3am.... it's really put me off!! Someone said they were on the 7th floor and still practically in tears because it had gone on every night! Did you find it an issue at all? I don't want my daughter to be waking with jet lag in the early hours and thinking it's morning because of the noise!!

The other thing i wanted to ask is do you know if you can check in early? We land at 5.30am so don't fancy waiting till 3pm with two jet lagged children! We'll have done roughly 19 hours from NZ at that point.

Kiwi32. My hubby is put off the Grand Hyatt because it's not by the beach. Did you regret that? I think they have a free shuttle to the beach but i don't know that we would be keen on that after so much travel.

Also, were the restaurants kid friendly? I'm hoping for somewhere informal where it won't matter if my 2 year old won't sit at the table!

Check out the Ibis & Novotel in Al Barsha, close to the Mall of the Emirates. Not sure if they have pools but are better priced & good location for public beaches in Jumeirah area. Heads up, it's over 40 degrees at the moment in UAE, not great beach/pool weather for small kids not used to the heat. You could check out the new Legoland and theme parks instead. Have fun

Just saw that you are travelling in September. Still roasting hot & humid at that time. By early Nov it cools down significantly. Maybe keep to indoor activities in Sept & plan for beach & pool in Nov?

Thanks for the recommendation jimjim. I'll check that out. Thanks for the advice too. I saw that it's meant to be incredibly hot in September too!! Unfortunately we're flying back to the UK for a wedding so don't have much choice on when the trip is.
We're going to be breaking the long haul flights for 2 days in Sept and again on the way home in Nov so hopefully it'll be cooler then!
We're only planning to relax in the hotel/resort to help the little ones cope with the journey so thought splashing in a pool might be a good way to keep cool and have fun. But do you think it'd be too hot for a beach?

Hi sorry just saw your follow up question!

We didn't miss the beach at all. From previous experience there are often a lot of jellyfish in the sea and the beaches are gritty and dusty sand. Not the nicest! I haven't visited them all though and it may be some are different than others.

The restaurants are all kid friendly and happy to provide high chairs. There is a range, pasta, sushi, steak house, sandwich/patisserie place and a buffet which is a set price and has loads of options. The pool bar also does burgers etc. and has a kids menu. It is expensive though so we mainly ate at pool bar/ pastries for breakfast and we stocked up at a local supermarket. Less of an issue if you're only here a couple of days though.

Ps we landed at 7.30am and when we got to the hotel we only waited an hr max for them to get our room ready if that helps re: early check in!

If you do find it's too hot for the pool, the Dubai mall is fantastic for LOs. Loads of free stuff like aquariums and play grounds inside, as well as indoor pools and other attractions for a small cost

Thanks Kiwi! That's really helpful! Interesting to hear about your experience of the beach. I really like the look of the Grand Hyatt and it's apparently part of an Emirates stopover package, so we'll have to have another look at it!

Thanks Simply Sleepy! That's handy to know!

Also look at the Royal Meridien. It's a couple of years since I was there, but it was always a good hotel with nice pools.

Look at the Hilton, Jumeirah Beach too.

We just moved back from Dubai so know it well.
I would avoid Mina seyahi. There is a large out doors night club there so it could be very loud.
There is a complex near the airport called Wafi. It has a few hotels, pools and a nice quiet mall if it's too hot to be outside.

Another vote for Hilton at jumeirah beach.