There’s something about being on a beach — with the air in my hair and the sand tickling my feet — that makes me feel young(er) again.
And a stay atRove La Mer Beach, the Rove hotel group's first shoreline property with Dubai’s La Mer beach on its doorstep, has the same heady effect.
The welcome
The peppy, art-filled, open-plan lobby is positively bustling when my husband and I check in on a Saturday afternoon: an arcade-style machine in one corner means that he disappears before I can say “Ms Pac-Man".
Fortunately, I am able to tap him on the shoulder just a few minutes later, signature Rove wooden key card in hand, and we proceed to our seventh-floor Rover Sea View room.
The neighbourhood
The hotel is on the southernmost tip of Dubai's La Mer beach, which is accessible directly from Rove La Mer Beach via a flight of stairs, and where guests, or “Rovers” as the hotel refers to them, can occupy dedicated sun loungers if the rest of the beach gets too crowded.
Also a stone’s throw away is a melting pot of restaurants and bars, from the fusion Indian Masti and Japanese Miyabi to Pizza Giuma and seafood eatery Aprons & Hammers, many of which offer guests staying at Rove a handy 20 per cent off the bill. We promptly add restaurant-hopping to our agenda. Until the end of March, the hotel provides free shuttle buses to its sister property at the Expo 2020 Dubai site.
The safety measures
Rove follows Dubai Municipality guidelines when it comes to hygiene, including an increased sanitisation schedule in public areas and rooms and plenty of hand-sanitising stations dotted about the property, with staff quick to remind guests to keep their masks on and maintain social distance.
Rove Hotels was also the first midscale hotel brand in Dubai to receive the Safeguard Label from Bureau Veritas, a French company that specialises in testing, inspection and certification services, which means the property ticks global safety, hygiene and cleaning requirements.
The room
The extra-large, extra-comfy double bed takes up most of the space, but the room’s 26-square-metre size is belied by the arching views of the beach by daytime and the twinkling lights of La Mer’s restaurants by night.
The room continues the lively decor theme from the lobby, with psychedelic wall art, a trio of quirky paintings and graffiti-style splodges plastering the electrical metre box. The industrial-chic “wardrobe” is an open cage-like structure with various vestibules for storage, plus a beam on which you can hang your clothes.
The service
From the receptionist and restaurant hosts to the team manning the various counters by the swimming pool, every single member of staff we interact with is, in a word, animated.
Effusive greetings and farewells seem to be part of the code as are, what we imagine to be, mile-wide smiles under the masks. The attitude certainly serves to add to the property’s life-is-good vibe.
The scene
The bustling lobby and balmy beach aside, make time to hang out at the sea-facing swimming pool. Here, you'll find a cheery red food truck taking orders for bites and beverages, a House of Pops stall selling refreshing ice lollies, a rickshaw-style towel station and a cabinet dispensing water bottles. The hotel is a veritable magnet for families, but the pool is large enough that you can steer clear of children or adults, as the case might be.
Elsewhere, the hotel has terrace seating for those who want beach vibes sans the sand, a 24-hour gym and laundromat, and a locker room for storing luggage, plus The Daily, the property’s in-house restaurant.
The food
The two meals we had at The Daily fell on either end of the spectrum, with breakfast paling in comparison with an a la carte meal. While the morning buffet had some of the usual suspects (breads, fruit, cold cuts, sausages), the spread didn’t get us overly excited. The eggs-your-way option was one saving grace.
Lunch, on the other hand, was exceptional. The Daily has an extensive a la carte menu, with plenty of options for vegan and gluten, nut and dairy-free diners. We went for the crab quesadilla (Dh52) to share, and thoroughly enjoyed the tender crabmeat laced with melty cheese and avocado, with a hint of cumin punching up the flavour. While the grilled sea bass fillet (Dh89) was a bit fishy for my taste, my partner lapped it all up, while I made short work of a creamy prawn and Parmesan spaghetti (Dh74), which we requested in a piquant pink rather than plain white sauce.
Sadly, the tempting sounding apple crumble was unavailable on the Sunday we lunched at The Daily, but the ice cream sandwich (Dh31) — scoops of chocolate and strawberry smooshed between giant chocolate chip cookies — made up for it.
Highs and lows
Having the beach at your doorstep is definitely the first and best reason to book a stay at Rove La Mer Beach. And while the breakfast buffet did not excite, the numerous restaurants dotted around La Mer means you can easily dine at any of these instead.
Insider tip
Should beach breezes and seawater do to your hair what they do to mine, carry your own frizz-fighting conditioner because the hotel provides only a conditioning shampoo in rooms.
The verdict
If going from room to pool to beach to resto-bar is your idea of a holiday well spent, then this hotel has you covered.
The bottom line
Rates start from Dh299 ($82) for a Rover room, not including tax.
Check-in is from 4pm, but you can arrive earlier and leave your luggage while you enjoy the beach, and checkout is at 2pm.
Rove La Mer Beach, Jumeirah 1, Dubai; rovehotels.com
This review was conducted at the invitation of the hotel during the global coronavirus pandemic. It reflects hotel standards during the time, services may change in the future
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
UFC Fight Night 2
1am – Early prelims
2am – Prelims
4am-7am – Main card
7:30am-9am – press cons
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
MATCH INFO
What: Brazil v South Korea
When: Tonight, 5.30pm
Where: Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Bah
Born: 1972
Husband: Emirati lawyer Salem Bin Sahoo, since 1992
Children: Soud, born 1993, lawyer; Obaid, born 1994, deceased; four other boys and one girl, three months old
Education: BA in Elementary Education, worked for five years in a Dubai school
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The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
Brief scoreline:
Al Wahda 2
Al Menhali 27', Tagliabue 79'
Al Nassr 3
Hamdallah 41', Giuliano 45 1', 62'
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Overview
What: The Arab Women’s Sports Tournament is a biennial multisport event exclusively for Arab women athletes.
When: From Sunday, February 2, to Wednesday, February 12.
Where: At 13 different centres across Sharjah.
Disciplines: Athletics, archery, basketball, fencing, Karate, table tennis, shooting (rifle and pistol), show jumping and volleyball.
Participating countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Qatar and UAE.
Essentials
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Geneva from Dh2,845 return, including taxes. The flight takes 6 hours.
The package
Clinique La Prairie offers a variety of programmes. A six-night Master Detox costs from 14,900 Swiss francs (Dh57,655), including all food, accommodation and a set schedule of medical consultations and spa treatments.
Juvenile arthritis
Along with doctors, families and teachers can help pick up cases of arthritis in children.
Most types of childhood arthritis are known as juvenile idiopathic arthritis. JIA causes pain and inflammation in one or more joints for at least six weeks.
Dr Betina Rogalski said "The younger the child the more difficult it into pick up the symptoms. If the child is small, it may just be a bit grumpy or pull its leg a way or not feel like walking,” she said.
According to The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in US, the most common symptoms of juvenile arthritis are joint swelling, pain, and stiffness that doesn’t go away. Usually it affects the knees, hands, and feet, and it’s worse in the morning or after a nap.
Limping in the morning because of a stiff knee, excessive clumsiness, having a high fever and skin rash are other symptoms. Children may also have swelling in lymph nodes in the neck and other parts of the body.
Arthritis in children can cause eye inflammation and growth problems and can cause bones and joints to grow unevenly.
In the UK, about 15,000 children and young people are affected by arthritis.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
The five pillars of Islam
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
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How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
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