Sofitel Dubai The Palm 5 stars

I have previously stayed at The Anantara on The Palm and I tend to go back to Dubai every year. The Sofitel was nice, however, out of the two, I will be choosing The Anantara without hesitation going forward. (I always stay half board). I’m not sure if the Anantara is exceptional, or if Sofitel is below par, but Anantara is significantly better from a food point of view. The menu at the restaurants at Sofitel were significantly more restrictive/limited than Anantara when staying half board. The quality of food at Anantara we also found to be better. I would also say whilst the overall service at Sofitel was good, they don’t go out of their way to help you like they do at Anantara. At Anantara, staff will do whatever they can to go above and beyond, at Sofitel you just wouldn’t get that. A pet peeve about the Sofitel is that they advertise their sports bar (Replay) to show all major live sporting events, this was a big reason why I stayed here as a big football fan, I was confident I would be able to be able to watch Arsenal vs Tottenham (a huge match for those that don’t know) - it actually transpires they don’t have the tv subscriptions to show English football so don’t expect to see it. The Sofitel was still a nice hotel, the pool was nice, the room was clean/tidy, you’re very close to Atlantis The Royal if you plan on visiting, but I don’t feel you get the exceptional service you do from Anantara (sorry if this seems like a direct comparison). I don’t know if they feel they can live off the Sofitel name or what, but you can definitely get better elsewhere on The Palm.

We had a very good dinner. The waiter Manish and Rose were very friendly and we enjoyed the time. The buffet offers a wide variaty and the food was prepared in a nice way. Overall we can recommend the restaurant.

Very nice buffet at World’s Eatery, family friendly with great kid’s entertainment! Very attentive and friendly service especially from Milan and Mirza. We will visit again! We loved the magician!!!

It was a lovely lunch offering appealing service and delicious food. Friendly staff, particularly, Carine was very welcoming. The kids were also pleased with the fascinating magician! We wholeheartedly enjoyed dining here :)

Very average, not sure why the ratings are what they are. Would definitely not return. The half board offering was very substandard in comparison to most of the other hotels in the area we’ve stayed. The breakfast was ok. But just ok. The Asian restaurant was so so bad. We both had poorly tummies after. We feel like it was similar to a Chinese takeaway in the UK. Avoid at all costs.