Review: Element Al Jaddaf, Dubai (1 Bedroom Apartment)

Nightly rate: 12,000 points (worth $120)
Length of stay: 5 nights
Membership level: Titanium Elite

Element Al Jaddaf, Dubai opened on 15 Dec 2020, just a couple of weeks before my stay. It is the second Element hotel to open in Dubai and UAE.

If you’ve seen reviews of my hotel stay in Dubai, this ranked among the most expensive. And it’s not my proudest points redemption! Hotels in Dubai always hit very high occupancy over the new year. I found this out in early November. Even Hilton Garden Inns were already selling for at least AED 400 ($144).

Rooms in the lowest category in this hotel were going for around AED 600 nett ($163) over this period.

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Location

The hotel is located in the Al Jaddaf area, very close to Hilton Garden Inn Al Jadaf that I stayed in recently.

• 2 mins walk to mini mart (turn left from lobby)

• 9 mins walk to Al Jadaf metro station

• 9 mins drive to Dubai International Airport

• 11 mins drive to Dubai mall

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Arrival

As this stay was over the new year, I’d reached out to the hotel a week before arrival to request for a room facing Downtown Dubai in hopes to catch some fireworks display. I was told that it cannot be confirmed, but they could pre-upgrade me to the 1 Bedroom Apartment.

The hotel did not get back to me since then, and I was told (at check-in) that they had sold out the rooms facing Downtown Dubai. Still happy with the upgrade though!

As breakfast at Element hotels is free by default, Platinum members and above receive 500 points (worth $5) per stay as a welcome gift.

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The room

Room 503 was beautiful. Furnishing looked and felt premium. I loved the colour pallete adopted.

Having an unblocked view is always nice. Windows in the living room and bedroom can be opened a little.

Road noise is very obvious even with windows shut and is especially bad around 10pm to 1am. I consistently saw and heard motorbikes doing wheelies and super cars blasting past in low gear. It can be entertaining if you’re in the mood though.

The kitchen had sufficient dishware but there weren’t any scissors, tongs, spatula, dishwashing sponge and soap. I thought those are pretty basic kitchen items.

Also note that the hotel does not provide coffee powder or tea bags.

I’ve washed 2 small loads and noticed that the washing machine washes and almost dries. Not a big deal if you have time to hang your clothes around the living room like I did but could be a problem if you do it just before checking out.

The shampoo and body wash smelt amazing. I’ve only stayed in an Element once before in Ubud, Bali but don’t remember them smelling this good.

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Best rooms

In general, I always ask for a room on the highest floor possible and it must not be a connecting room (less noise).

Rooms with the best views are those facing West, towards Downtown Dubai. These are rooms numbered x04 to x09. Rooms numbered x01 to x03 and x11 to x15 faces the highway and Festival City in the distance.

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Breakfast

All guests are offered complimentary Continental Breakfast from 6.30am till 9.30am at Cafe 26. If you’re unfamiliar, that’s like the lowest breakfast standard. No eggs, no hot food. Just pastries, cereals and yoghurts. No coffee machines around too, just black coffee or tea with milk and sugar if needed. It reminded me of how typical 4-star hotel breakfasts are in USA!

I didn’t like how it wasn’t an assisted buffet like other hotels. Guests had to get pastries themselves and of course, some used their bare hands. To make it worse, pastries tasted like they’ve been there for a long time. Urgh.

I forced myself up for breakfast on my first morning (just for this review) and skipped it on the other 4 mornings. Totally not worth it to get up early for Continental breakfast without any COVID safety measures.

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Shuttle service

There is a regular shuttle service offered by this hotel. I wasn’t told about this during check-in and was only given the shuttle schedule when I asked for it.

Note that the bus wasn’t clearly marked during my stay, just a small Element logo in front of the bus. It has a registration number of 89612.

The bus drops off and picks up from the parking area between berth 2 and 3 at Dubai Mall. To get there from Dubai Mall, head towards Tiffany & Co. and exit the building. Continue walking straight for about 70 meters till you see escalators (photo below) going one level down. Take the one on the right, and you will see berth 3 across the small road.

Of course, you would be much more familiar in getting to the parking berth if you took the shuttle bus from Element to Dubai Mall.

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Swimming Pool

The swimming pool is located at the rooftop and offers an unblocked view. You will be able to see Burj Khalifa from one end of the pool and Festival City from the other.

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Other facilities

The gym is well-equipped and is located on the roof level as well. There’s a view of Downtown Dubai from here and this was where we saw the beautiful fireworks on Burj Khalifa at the turn of the year!

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Ratings

Breakfast: 2/10
Service: 7/10
Location: 6/10
Room: 8/10
Facilities: 8/10
Executive lounge: –
Elite member recognition: 9/10
Value (for what I paid): 8/10

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Bottom line

Like HGI Al Jadaf and HGI Muraqabat, this is another great hotel to be anti-social and escape the city. In the pandemic that we’re in, self-isolation isn’t such a bad idea.

Although I love the furnishing in the room, road noise and lack of basic kitchen equipments brought my room rating down a little.

Breakfast should not be the reason why you choose to stay here.

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