Two hotels in Dubai have been rated as the worst luxury openings of 2017 by experts of a prestigious travel website, the Daily Mail reported this week. Luxury Travel Intelligence (LTI), a members-only resource for affluent globetrotters, ranked The Dukes Dubai and Five Palm Jumeirah Dubai as two of the worst openings at the bottom of Dubai’s elite hotel. According to The Daily Mail, The Dukes was criticised for not living up to the elegance of its sister property in London while it said Five Palm Jumeirah had a 'shaky start'. LTI co-founder Michael Crompton said that Dukes was far removed from the classic elegance of its sister property, Dukes Hotel in London, while the ongoing legal battle that Five Palm Jumeirah Dubai faces was ‘not a situation that the luxury traveller wishes to encounter.’
The Dukes Dubai ranked as 'the worst luxury openings of 2017' Picture: The Dukes Dubai.
Both luxury hotels seemed to have been rated well by users. In regards to The Dukes, Crompton said the heavy discounting of room rates was always a sure sign that things are not as they should be.
“Our two recent visits we found poor service standards, excessive noise and disturbance from the surrounding construction, and sub-standard in-room technology and fittings.
Five Palm Jumeirah Dubai ranked as 'the worst luxury openings of 2017'. Picture: Five Palm Jumeirah Dubai.
"Many of the issues can be addressed over time, so we are hoping to find a big improvement when we revisit towards the end of 2018,” he was quoted in the Daily Mail. A spokesperson for Dukes Dubai said Dukes Dubai was not a quintessentially English classic city hotel, so the actual location was never to resemble Dukes London. They found “the comments regarding service are unfair to the team”. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Five Palm Jumeirah Dubai, did not speak much about the ratings, but spoke highly of the hotel’s success thus far, including the arrival of celebrity guests, Will Smith and Craig David, and their star ratings from guests on TripAdvisor and booking.com
Source: The Daily Mail.