Dubai trip report - Part 2 - Crowne Plaza Deira, Dubai
Last month, I travelled to Dubai (DXB) on work. This is part 2 of the trip report, which includes:
Part 1: MAA-BOM-DXB on Jet Airways
Part 2: Hotel Crowne Plaza, Deira, Dubai (hotel review)
Part 3: DXB-BOM on Jet Airways
Part 4: Stay at ITC Grand Central, Mumbai, and BOM-MAA on Jet Airways
I arrived at the Crowne Plaza, Deira, Dubai, late in the evening, maybe around 10 pm or so.
Naturally, the check-in counters were empty, so it wasn't a big hassle. I headed straight to the IHG desk for Platinum members, where a very helpful agent helped with the check-in.
There was a bit of a problem, though. They had assigned me a higher category room, but hadn't taken into account my request for a smoking room. After a lot of checking, the agent came back to me with some bad news - I could have either a smoking room or the higher category one. Since this was going to be just a 2-night stay, I decided to forego the room upgrade in favour of a smoking room.
I was given my keys and a welcome letter that included an invitation to the lounge (which I didn't use at all).
My room was on the 4th floor, which was the same floor as the health club. I therefore expected more-than-usual activity in the mornings, on the floor. Happily, that didn't turn out to be the case! It was only the following morning that I realised, that it was also the same floor that the swimming pool was on!
Now, for a look at the room. It was reasonably large, and had the usual trappings, but nothing spectacular or (thankfully) the over-the-top stuff that one normally finds in Dubai.
The king-sized bed with several pillows was quite inviting, though I found the pillows a little too thin. I like using a lot of pillows, and the mornings will usually find me getting out of a rather well fortified pillow-castle! In this case, there wasn't enough for the castle, because I had to use 3 of the pillows for my head alone!
The bathroom looked relatively new (and I found out later on, that the entire hotel had been renovated completely just a few months earlier). It was quite functional, the way bathrooms in the ME usually are (note the bidet). However, the shower area was a disappointment in size, and a great competition to the shower cubicle at the Ambience Kempinski, Delhi!
The room was large enough to accommodate two seats, instead of the single couch with an ottoman, and there was a practically designed work desk too.
The TV was a bit of a disappointment because it offered very few channels, but I'm not a TV person, and so it made no difference to me.
The room has the usual amenities - coffee maker (the enhancement here was they also had instant hot chocolate), safe, bathrobe, etc.
I went to bed soon, because of the long day I'd had, and the 7 am start to work the following morning.
I like to get my bearings right, so the first thing I did in the morning was to get a view of the world outside, and also get a sense of direction going. That's when I noticed that *this* was the view I was given.
Not the most spectacular one; not even as good as a creek-view room with a mini balcony that I stayed in at the Sheraton Creek Dubai, last year. It turns out that the hotel is located in what's otherwise an entirely residential area. But it could've been worse, so I didn't really complain.
Breakfast was at the coffee shop, and had quite a wide variety on offer, ranging from local ME cuisine, Indian and Far East, to continental stuff. There was also a chef with a live counter for eggs to order, and at least 4 varieties of coffee that I could count!
I hit the bar that evening, and had a rather good time with some friends and colleagues.
Then two of us decided to step into the smoking room for some "fresh air", which was when we first noticed that not all was ideal. There were two rather skimpily clad and sluttily made up women, neither over 20 years I think. They tried chatting us up, just as they did with virtually every other person that walked into the smoking room. My friend and I didn't fall for any of this, and we went back to our drinks after our smoke break. An hour or so later, we came back for another cigarette, and noticed two guys who were with the two women, and there was also a third. Again, we too no notice, and went back after our business was done.
A little while later, we went for a third smoke, which was when we noticed 3, maybe 4, Caucasian women (the first two were African, and were nowhere to be seen). Again, we got eyes made at and some fairly clear signs that they were available for a price. This time around, we nearly got into a spat with a Russian guy who was clearly several drinks beyond his limit, and he was quite into one of the girls. That particular woman in fact looked at us pleadingly, as if to ask us to take her away, that she could escape that guy.
We had had enough of this, so my friend and I went back to the bar, told the others that they could use the smoking room if they wanted some entertainment later that evening, and we went out for a walk before calling it a day. Before I went up to my room, I managed a few minutes' chat with one of the hotel employees, who assured me that the presence of those women was something everyone at the hotel knew about, and decided to ignore. But he also clarified that if there was to be any trouble, the hotel would evict the whole lot, using force if necessary.
I've heard of and seen a lot of prostitution in Dubai, but it has never been as much, or as brazen, as it was that night. What shocks me is that the hotel knew about it, and didn't really seem to care about it. Maybe it is part of the hotel's strategy, that its guests know that such an "amenity" is available if they were interested. Or maybe I'm too naive. Either ways, I've had enough!
Part 1: MAA-BOM-DXB on Jet Airways
Part 2: Hotel Crowne Plaza, Deira, Dubai (hotel review)
Part 3: DXB-BOM on Jet Airways
Part 4: Stay at ITC Grand Central, Mumbai, and BOM-MAA on Jet Airways
I arrived at the Crowne Plaza, Deira, Dubai, late in the evening, maybe around 10 pm or so.
Naturally, the check-in counters were empty, so it wasn't a big hassle. I headed straight to the IHG desk for Platinum members, where a very helpful agent helped with the check-in.
There was a bit of a problem, though. They had assigned me a higher category room, but hadn't taken into account my request for a smoking room. After a lot of checking, the agent came back to me with some bad news - I could have either a smoking room or the higher category one. Since this was going to be just a 2-night stay, I decided to forego the room upgrade in favour of a smoking room.
I was given my keys and a welcome letter that included an invitation to the lounge (which I didn't use at all).
My room was on the 4th floor, which was the same floor as the health club. I therefore expected more-than-usual activity in the mornings, on the floor. Happily, that didn't turn out to be the case! It was only the following morning that I realised, that it was also the same floor that the swimming pool was on!
Now, for a look at the room. It was reasonably large, and had the usual trappings, but nothing spectacular or (thankfully) the over-the-top stuff that one normally finds in Dubai.
The king-sized bed with several pillows was quite inviting, though I found the pillows a little too thin. I like using a lot of pillows, and the mornings will usually find me getting out of a rather well fortified pillow-castle! In this case, there wasn't enough for the castle, because I had to use 3 of the pillows for my head alone!
The bathroom looked relatively new (and I found out later on, that the entire hotel had been renovated completely just a few months earlier). It was quite functional, the way bathrooms in the ME usually are (note the bidet). However, the shower area was a disappointment in size, and a great competition to the shower cubicle at the Ambience Kempinski, Delhi!
The room was large enough to accommodate two seats, instead of the single couch with an ottoman, and there was a practically designed work desk too.
The TV was a bit of a disappointment because it offered very few channels, but I'm not a TV person, and so it made no difference to me.
The room has the usual amenities - coffee maker (the enhancement here was they also had instant hot chocolate), safe, bathrobe, etc.
I went to bed soon, because of the long day I'd had, and the 7 am start to work the following morning.
I like to get my bearings right, so the first thing I did in the morning was to get a view of the world outside, and also get a sense of direction going. That's when I noticed that *this* was the view I was given.
Not the most spectacular one; not even as good as a creek-view room with a mini balcony that I stayed in at the Sheraton Creek Dubai, last year. It turns out that the hotel is located in what's otherwise an entirely residential area. But it could've been worse, so I didn't really complain.
Breakfast was at the coffee shop, and had quite a wide variety on offer, ranging from local ME cuisine, Indian and Far East, to continental stuff. There was also a chef with a live counter for eggs to order, and at least 4 varieties of coffee that I could count!
I hit the bar that evening, and had a rather good time with some friends and colleagues.
Then two of us decided to step into the smoking room for some "fresh air", which was when we first noticed that not all was ideal. There were two rather skimpily clad and sluttily made up women, neither over 20 years I think. They tried chatting us up, just as they did with virtually every other person that walked into the smoking room. My friend and I didn't fall for any of this, and we went back to our drinks after our smoke break. An hour or so later, we came back for another cigarette, and noticed two guys who were with the two women, and there was also a third. Again, we too no notice, and went back after our business was done.
A little while later, we went for a third smoke, which was when we noticed 3, maybe 4, Caucasian women (the first two were African, and were nowhere to be seen). Again, we got eyes made at and some fairly clear signs that they were available for a price. This time around, we nearly got into a spat with a Russian guy who was clearly several drinks beyond his limit, and he was quite into one of the girls. That particular woman in fact looked at us pleadingly, as if to ask us to take her away, that she could escape that guy.
We had had enough of this, so my friend and I went back to the bar, told the others that they could use the smoking room if they wanted some entertainment later that evening, and we went out for a walk before calling it a day. Before I went up to my room, I managed a few minutes' chat with one of the hotel employees, who assured me that the presence of those women was something everyone at the hotel knew about, and decided to ignore. But he also clarified that if there was to be any trouble, the hotel would evict the whole lot, using force if necessary.
I've heard of and seen a lot of prostitution in Dubai, but it has never been as much, or as brazen, as it was that night. What shocks me is that the hotel knew about it, and didn't really seem to care about it. Maybe it is part of the hotel's strategy, that its guests know that such an "amenity" is available if they were interested. Or maybe I'm too naive. Either ways, I've had enough!
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