Prices for guest rooms at The Palace Downtown range from Dh1,349 to Dh15,299 per night.
Prices for guest rooms at The Palace Downtown range from Dh1,349 to Dh15,299 per night.

Executive travel: The Palace Downtown hotel is a taste of luxurious Arab living



When my wife worked for a huge Japanese multinational her boss from Europe always liked to stay in the Palace Downtown hotel in Dubai on his visits.

It’s exceptional location on an island in the "Old Town" in front of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. It’s ideal for business in the nearby financial district, the many restaurants of this area, and even shopping with the Dubai Mall an easy walk away.

But if you want to enjoy the original Arabesque interior of this lavish property, managed by Emaar’s The Address Hotels + Resorts, then do book your stay soon as it will be undergoing a refurbishment next year after just turning 10 years old.

The hotel has always been popular with GCC visitors, who still comprise around 30 per cent of guests, although in recent years the oil price dip has taken its toll and China is now the fastest-growing source market.

This is not a high-rise hotel. But it is surrounded by the towers of the Dubai Downtown. It feels like an majestic older building left behind by recent development.

However, it is far from being old, of course. I really struggled to find anything that looked in need of renovation. But at this level of hospitality you can never let your game slack.

Top marks for the 87 Mbps complimentary internet connection speed, the fastest I’ve enjoyed in a Dubai hotel, and the large desks in every room category complete with multi-plug adaptor and new LG TVs.

The lavish sprawling lobby is a nice place to meet and greet guests, while almost hidden behind a screen are two large-screen iMacs with a concealed printer behind the concierge.

There are two really outstanding choices for dinner invitations. First, the Thiptara award-winning Thai restaurant with superb close-up views of the Burj Khalifa. A new al fresco terrace opened last November.

Second, the celebrated Asado Argentinian steakhouse that featured in the recent Oscar King novel trilogy, with live entertainment and an excellent terrace right in front of the soaring Burj.

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Read more:

Emaar Hospitality eyes expansion into 20 European cities, CEO says

Executive travel: Late start but Emirates at Dubai has it covered

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For an evening reception the roof-top viewing deck can host around 200 guests while the Palace pool area can handle 500; two other areas also offer serene views of the Burj lagoon for 250-300 guests.

"Our corporate clients are mainly in the financial sector, pharmaceuticals and fashion retailing," general manager David Simon told me. ‘Many fashion retailers seem to prefer to do staff training in a hotel rather than their own premises.’

The hotel can offer a choice of three meeting rooms, Regal, Regent and Palatine for 16 to 20 people, and the Royale Ballroom can host up to 300 or be split into two rooms.

Guest rooms are very spacious from 51 square metres for the standard deluxe, up to 500 square metres for the presidential suite, and range in price from Dh1,349 to Dh15,299 per night.

Room service is listed on a tablet; a Margherita pizza is Dh75, chicken shawarma Dh90, small Evian water Dh25 and Pepsi Dh40, although oddly the menu for Asado was longer on the tablet than at the actual restaurant.

Service standards are very professional in this hotel and always discrete and not intrusive.

The gym is a little disappointing and rather small with four running machines, two steppers and two bicycles in a crowded room.

But the splendidly lavish spa facility is outstanding with separate floors for male and female guests, hammam slabs and nine treatment rooms, several with natural light. It would be hard to think of a better antidote for executive stress.

Limousine transfers to the airport take about 15 minutes from this location and meetings in the Dubai International Financial Centre are less than 10 minutes away; a water taxi to the Dubai Mall from the hotel’s landing is Dh65.

If your business merits the splendour of an Arabian palace in the heart of Downtown Dubai then this is the right place to stay.

The author stayed as a guest of the hotel

Also on December 7 to 9, the third edition of the Gulf Car Festival (www.gulfcarfestival.com) will take over Dubai Festival City Mall, a new venue for the event. Last year's festival brought together about 900 cars worth more than Dh300 million from across the Emirates and wider Gulf region – and that first figure is set to swell by several hundred this time around, with between 1,000 and 1,200 cars expected. The first day is themed around American muscle; the second centres on supercars, exotics, European cars and classics; and the final day will major in JDM (Japanese domestic market) cars, tuned vehicles and trucks. Individuals and car clubs can register their vehicles, although the festival isn’t all static displays, with stunt drifting, a rev battle, car pulls and a burnout competition.

How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
  • The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
  • The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
  • The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
  • The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
  • The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
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The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

On sale: Now

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

Results

2.15pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m; Winner: AF Arrab, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer).

2.45pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m; Winner: AF Mahaleel, Antonio Fresu, Ernst Oertel.

3.15pm: Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum handicap (TB) Dh200,000 2,000m; Winner: Dolmen, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.

3.45pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m; Winner: Amang Alawda, Sandro Paiva, Bakhit Al Ketbi.

4.15pm: The Crown Prince of Sharjah Cup Prestige (PA) Dh200,000 1,200m; Winner: AF Alwajel, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.

4.45pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 2,000m; Winner: Al Jazi, Jesus Rosales, Eric Lemartinel.

Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

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Cinco in numbers

Dh3.7 million

The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown

46

The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.

1,000

The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]

50

How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday

3,000

The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

1.1 million

The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.

Hydrogen: Market potential

Hydrogen has an estimated $11 trillion market potential, according to Bank of America Securities and is expected to generate $2.5tn in direct revenues and $11tn of indirect infrastructure by 2050 as its production increases six-fold.

"We believe we are reaching the point of harnessing the element that comprises 90 per cent of the universe, effectively and economically,” the bank said in a recent report.

Falling costs of renewable energy and electrolysers used in green hydrogen production is one of the main catalysts for the increasingly bullish sentiment over the element.

The cost of electrolysers used in green hydrogen production has halved over the last five years and will fall to 60 to 90 per cent by the end of the decade, acceding to Haim Israel, equity strategist at Merrill Lynch. A global focus on decarbonisation and sustainability is also a big driver in its development.