Donatello Hotel in Dubai

When I arrived, they upgraded my room without me asking, to a Suite. Of course, I was very happy about that. The room was spacious, beautifully decorated, and had a very comfortable bed. However, the windows clearly need to be replaced, as they are not soundproof at all, and you can hear everything from outside. I looked for earplugs, but none were available, so I ended up buying some from the pharmacy across the street.
I would definitely recommend that they keep earplugs available at the Concierge for noise-sensitive guests, or simply improve the soundproofing.

One day before the initial check-out, I went to the reception to extend my stay for one more night. I spoke with a receptionist who confirmed the rate was 500 AED. I told her I would think about it, and when I came back later, I told her to go ahead and book it. She did something in the system and confirmed that everything was set.

In the morning, I went down to check whether I would stay in the same room or move to another, and of course, there was a different receptionist on shift who had no idea about the previous conversation. After waiting a bit, she confirmed that I would have a room, but when I asked again about the rate, she said it was 900AED and that 500 was impossible since it is high season. There was no empathy, no willingness to find a solution, and no effort to contact the receptionist from yesterday to verify what happened.

On top of that, yesterday they changed the lock of my room without any notice. When I arrived at the door, I could not figure out why my cards were not working, and I could not even insert them anymore. I had to go back to the reception to find out what happened. This felt very strange, especially in terms of security and valuables, because you have no idea who might have entered your room.

When I checked out, a man, probably the manager, approached me. He seemed to be the most professional and helpful one during my stay. He told me I should have contacted him directly, although I had no idea that was even possible. I explained that I could not cancel my next hotel booking since I had already confirmed it elsewhere.

The funniest part was that after all this frustration, he wanted to give me his business card and told me to contact him directly next time I want to book. Honestly, why would I?

It is a pity, because the location is great, the bellboys were very helpful, and the room itself was spacious, but unfortunately, very noisy.

I am not usually the type to leave negative comments, but I am sharing this as constructive feedback, because the hotel and rooms truly have potential and could offer a much better guest experience with a few improvements.