Review: Hilton Garden Inn Dubai Al Jadaf (King Room)

Nightly rate: AED 162 nett (S$59)
Length of stay: 5 nights
Membership level: Diamond

Hilton Garden Inn Dubai Al Jadaf Culture Village opened exactly 2 years ago on 30 Dec 2018. It is the fourth Hilton Garden Inn in Dubai.

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Location

The hotel is located in fast-developing Al Jadaf area. There is a mini mart near the roundabout in front of the hotel.

Al Jadaf metro station is 8-minutes’ walk away. However, there wasn’t a proper walkway while I was there. Pedestrians were walking either on the road or on sand.

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Arrival

Check-in was done swiftly and as a Diamond member, I was upgraded to a King Room at the corner of a very high floor. I asked if a suite upgrade was possible but was kindly told ‘no’.

As a welcome gift, I was offered 500 points (worth $3.50) or breakfast. I chose breakfast, of course.

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The room

Like my previous stay in another Hilton Garden Inn (HGI), room 1203 was very chilly. HGIs are very consistent with their furnishing and this room, as well as bathroom, looked almost like a carbon copy of those in other hotels under this brand. And that is a good thing!

The window is just a small section of the wall and cannot be opened for fresh air.

A couple of hours after checking in, a chocolate cake was sent to my room with a type-written letter from the General Manager. This was a very nice surprise and something not expected from a HGI. 🥰

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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).

The room that I got for this stay seemed to be the best. These are North-facing rooms numbered x03 and x04. The South-facing rooms have the exact same configuration but there are other buildings nearby and that can be a privacy issue.

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Breakfast

Breakfast was served as assisted buffet at Somaya from 6.30am till 10.30am. I could order eggs to my liking, freshly-made pancakes and french toasts. Other than the pre-packed pastries, food quality was better than expected from a HGI and chef Shes Kantakafle always made sure that I was well taken care of.

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Laundry

All 4 Hilton Garden Inns in Dubai offer free use of their self-service washer and dryer machines to staying guests! Note that detergent is not provided. You can get it from the hotel for AED 15 or from other supermarkets for about AED 3.

The laundry room is located on the roof level, near the pool and gym

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Shuttle service

The hotel has a complimentary shuttle service for staying guests. It goes from the hotel to La Mer Beach and Dubai Mall at 10.30am and 2.30pm. There is only one return service from Dubai Mall to the hotel at 8.10pm.

I did not get to use the shuttle service though. The info sheet (attached above) did not clearly state the exact spot of where the pick-up area at Dubai Mall would be. It just stated “In front of Gate #1”. I had to ask around (in the mall) and waited for 15 minutes at the bus bay before deciding to walk all the way to the other end of the gigantic mall to get a taxi back to the hotel.

I asked the evening receptionist about the shuttle bus and was only told that she “heard the bus was late”. There wasn’t any eye contact and she did not display any care towards the service lapse that I shared, as she played with her finger nails.

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Other facilities

The swimming pool is located at the roof top. It’s a pity that smoking was allowed in the seating area. It was always filled with smokers while I was there.

The gym is also located on the roof level, near the laundry room.

There is a small shop and ATM near the reception.

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Ratings

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

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Bottom line

Service was wildly inconsistent. It’s a real pity when half of the staff tried their best and the other half just negated all the hard work.

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