Would you believe if I told you that there is a little piece of paradise in Jebel Ali? I know its a huge statement to make, especially after all of the hotels and resorts that I’ve reviewed, but here it is: JA Palm Tree Court, hands-down, is the epitome of the perfect resort!

Before going there, I didn’t know too much about it. I haven’t had any friends stay at either hotel (JA Golf Resort or JA Palm Tree Court) that’s on the property, and I didn’t do too much research into it. All I knew was that the resort has a golf course and a beach, and that it’s located in Jebel Ali. Like most of the people who live in the UAE, when I think of Jebel Ali, I think of an industrial area, ports, and JAFZA. I had no idea that there were 5-star resorts, lush gardens, abundant palm trees, a secluded beach, horses for riding and even exotic peacocks.

We headed to the hotel on a Saturday afternoon, and trusty Google Maps lead us straight there. It’s past the free zone buildings, and towards the beach. As we drove up the slight hill, we knew we were in for a treat– our surroundings looked completely different from what we are used to. Everything was naturally beautiful and there was so much greenery. We even spotted some peacocks and were lucky enough to see a fully white peacock! I had no idea that white peacocks even existed. They were just roaming around at their free will, all over the place. Its like a tropical fairytale!

My husband, Mohamed, and I were completely amazed by the beautiful creatures, and so was my baby Khalifa. I absolutely love peacocks– heck, it was even the theme of our wedding! We must have taken at least 20 pictures with them, and this all happened before even checking-in to the resort.

Once we drove up the main lobby area, which is shaped like an elaborate island hut, valet attendants took all of our luggage out of the trunk and we went to check-in.

The lobby is gorgeous. It has an island vibe, and is so tasteful in decor. One side of the lobby has floor-to-ceiling windows and you can see the pools, part of the hotel grounds and the palm tree-lined beach. We were amazed!

While I handled the check-in procedures, my husband and Khalifa looked around. Although we were booked in for a Junior Suite, they actually upgraded us to the Residence One Bedroom Suite! Once our check-in procedures were being wrapped up, the Front Desk Manager came and greeted us. He and my husband had a bit of a chit-chat and we learned that the resort has been around since the ’80s! I would have guessed that its not more than a couple of years old, because its so well-kept and so modern.

Once we received our room key, a buggy was waiting outside of the lobby to take us to our home for the better part of a week. On that short ride, we passed by so many more peacocks, birds, flowing creeks and beautiful greenery– there were even branches of bananas growing straight off of the tree!

Our 1-bedroom suite was to die for! It’s ginormous, and just to give you an idea of how large it is, Mohamed and I compared it to the size of our first apartment soon after we got married, (which at the time, was considered to be one of the largest 1-bedroom apartment layouts in the newer part of Dubai) and this definitely felt bigger! If it had a full kitchen, we could easily live in it for good.

The first door to the apartment actually is just an open foyer area, perfect for leaving Khalifa’s stroller in. That itself, could be about the size of a small bathroom. The second door leads to the apartment, and the living area is a large open space plan.

The decor of it is alluring– its beautiful with several statement pieces, but its so functional and practical as well. The dining area has a circle-shaped dining table, with four incredibly comfortable tufted chairs. On the table, the staff left us complimentary welcome treats of a sparkly grape drink, fresh fruits and a box of chocolates.

The whole wall next to the dining area has a large built-in cabinet. Along with plenty of storage space for your things, there is a fridge and mini bar, as well as a counter that has other mini bar items.

The living room area has a large couch, another cozy chair, and a big ottoman. In the center of these three seats, there is a big oval-shaped coffee table. Across from this, we had a large flat screen TV and even a PS4 was there on the TV stand! I’ve never seen that at any other hotel before, and my husband who absolutely adores his PS4 at home, was beyond ecstatic over this.

What we initially thought was a large window in the living room, was actually a door leading out to the balcony! The balcony had plenty of space and its own table, two chairs and even two other tanning chairs. They also provide towels especially for taking out onto the balcony to tan.

Now that we saw all there was to the living room space, we headed to the bedroom, where we found the one of largest bedroom spaces we’ve ever seen at a hotel. It was just as large as the living room, and just as beautifully designed. The bed seemed like it was even bigger than a California king-sized bed!

Next to the bed was a barely-used (or probably brand new) baby cot. In it, was a baby blanket and a little package of baby essentials, including wipes, lotion, bath wash, soap and a loofah/puppet! It was so cute and Khalifa loved it, especially the little ducky puppet/loofah.

The bedroom has its own living area, with a large two-seater couch and coffee table. Across from the coffee table is an office area, with a desk, chair, table lamp and plenty of stationary. On the desk was a welcome letter from the General Manager and a guide to all of the different activities that you can do at the hotel.

In front of the bed, there is another TV of the same size as the one in the living room, and get this– another PS4! You can tell that they really care about the comfort of their guests. The closet takes up a whole wall, right across from the bed and its very large and could have fit up to at least two weeks worth of clothes for the three of us.

There was also another mini bar in the bedroom, packed with goodies. Along with the mini bar in the bedroom, there was also a kettle and complimentary coffees, teas and water.

Towards the back of the bedroom, there is a small hall and on one end of it is a full length mirror, and on the other side, there is the master bathroom. Yes, master bathroom– as in there were two bathrooms! We completely overlooked the other one when we walked, which is close to the entrance of the living room. Both are exactly identical in space (they’re both massive, especially by hotel-terms) and each have large counters with two sinks. Next to it is a gigantic tub with built-in jacuzzi features, and a separate shower room. The toilets have bidets next to them. All of the products provided by the hotel are from esteemed beauty and spa company, Elemis.

Oh, and keeping with the theme of ‘two of everything’ (bathrooms, TVs, PS4’s, minibars, etc.) there was also another balcony in the bedroom, which was also completely identical to the one in the living room.

Both of the balconies are adjacent to each other, but were blocked off with a high-rise wall for privacy.

The view we had was of the luscious green garden area, the creek, and of course, there were beautiful peacocks and birds all around. Some even came up to our balcony to visit!

After seeing everything that our 1-bedroom suite had to offer, we connected to the Wifi, which was very strong and never faltered regardless of where we were at in the resort. We then got ready to head over to the animal corner so Khalifa could enjoy what the small farm has to offer. Okay, so maybe I used Khalifa as an excuse to go there, but I’m sure he enjoyed it just as much as I did!

A buggy soon came to pick us up from our room and take us to the animal area. We were dropped off by the horse stables, where we were able to see many beautiful horses!

There were even horse riding lessons that you can take, but those need to be booked in advance. Behind the stables is a large area for horse riding, and on the other side of it is a small animal farm. There were camels, goats, falcons and tortoises.

Khalifa loved them all, but especially the goats because they were a lot more interactive than the rest. I would however, not recommend that you let your little ones get too close because some of them can get a bit aggressive.

When we were ready to leave, one of the staff there called a buggy for us and it came to us within minutes. On our way back, we saw the golf course area, and it had gorgeous green grass and if either of us golfed, we would have definitely enjoyed it.

Once we were back in our room, we received an envelope from one of the staff, and in it was our reservation for dinner. We try in-house restaurants at almost every hotel that we go to, but we’ve never received personalized letters for reservations! It was a really nice touch.

We had a couple of hours before dinner, so Khalifa had a bit of a nap, while my husband and I relaxed and then got ready.

A buggy came to pick us up in time for our dinner at White Orchid. The restaurant is located near the lobby, and its known as their signature restaurant.

Since we got there right on time, the staff knew who we were even before I had to give my name, and we were taken to our table. Our experience at White Orchid was great, and I would happily come back to the restaurant even if we aren’t staying at the resort. The food was great and the staff were so attentive. Check out the full review here: White Orchid Restaurant Review.

After dinner, we came back to the room, and were more than ready to sleep in the big comfortable bed! Although Khalifa had his own baby cot waiting for him, he slept with us on the bed, and there was still plenty of space!

Day 2

Our second day at the resort was a Sunday, and for those of you who don’t live in the UAE, its a working day. Initially, I opted to stay at the resort during the week because my husband was supposed to be away, but he returned early and ended up joining me for the stay. Otherwise, we would have definitely decided to stay during the weekend. He actually ruined what was meant to be a girls weekend but I was more than happy that he came back from what he was doing. Nonetheless, since it was a Sunday, he had meetings and things to do, so we got up go to breakfast at 7.30am.

Again, a buggy came and picked us up from our room and took us to breakfast. The breakfast buffet is held La Fontana.

After giving our room number, we were taken to our seat. We were asked what we whether we would like tea or coffee, and they brought out a high-chair for Khalifa. We went to check out the breakfast options and there were so many!

It wasn’t just your average cereals, muffins and omelettes, although there was plenty of that as well. It felt almost like a brunch, with meats and curries, and so many varieties. Although we sat inside, we had a full view of the pool and even partial view of the beach.

Once we were done, Mohamed headed upstairs to the lobby so he could go to his meetings, while I took a buggy back to our room. I couldn’t possibly spend the rest of the day enjoying the beautiful resort by myself, so my friend (who was meant to be the other half for what was supposed to the initial girls’ weekend), ended up coming and hanging out with Khalifa and I for the day.

My friend found it quite easy to get to the resort as well, and was just as mesmerized by it as us. She loved it so much that she’s planning on booking it for her husband’s birthday next month!

When she first got to the room, we hung out on the balcony for an hour or so, snacking on mini bar items.

Khalifa had nearly three small cans of Pringles the whole time we were there! Let me rephrase that– Khalifa and the peacocks had 3 cans of Pringles. We left a couple of completely closed cans on the outdoor table, and when we got back an hour later, they had not only figured out how to open it, but also ate everything in it! I had no idea they were that sneaky or smart.

We spent most of the day by the beach, but since Khalifa had a cold, we couldn’t go in the water or in the pool.

My friend and I had an errand to run in the afternoon, so we didn’t have lunch at the hotel. My husband got back to the hotel during the time that we were gone, and he ended up having a spa treatment while I was away.

The spa was about a 10-minute walk from our room, but he headed there via a buggy. He had an Elemis facial and the Jebel Ali Signature Massage, and he was completely pampered head to toe! You can see the full review here: The Spa at JA Jebel Ali Golf Resort.

By the time I got back to the hotel, he was done with his spa treatment. Before I headed to the room, I went in to request a late checkout for the next day directly at the concierge in the lobby.

This is also where I had a quick chat with the General Manager of the resort, Otto Kurzendorfer. He was so kind, and so approachable, just like all of the other people that work at the resort. They really know how to make their guests feel welcome!

That evening, we actually cancelled our dinner plans at one of the hotel’s restaurants because my little Khalifa was feeling a bit feverish and I didn’t want to risk him getting any worse. Khalifa soon fell asleep, and Mohamed and I ordered in and enjoyed a night of relaxation as we watched TV and lounged around in our incredible suite. And speaking of incredible suite, the housekeeping had come in while we were away, and they did such an impeccable job of cleaning, that everything was just as it was when we first checked in!

Day 3

Mohamed didn’t have any meetings and he was able to take the full day off, so we got up late and walked over to breakfast since we learned that its actually not that far of a walk. One the way there, we passed by so many beautiful peacocks and one was even right outside of our door, giving us a show!

I cannot even begin to describe how beautiful this place is. We even passed by a large coy pond on the way to breakfast.

The pictures don’t do justice to the resort. You just have to go and see for yourself. As we were walking through the gardens, we realized just how well-maintained everything is. For over 120 peacocks on the property, you would expect droppings to be everywhere, but the staff maintain the grounds so well, that we hardly ever saw any, let alone stepped in any!

When we got to La Fontana for breakfast, we saw that it was a bit more packed than the day before. The breakfast options differed a bit from the previous day, but there was still just as much of a variety.

After a quick breakfast, we headed off to the beach. I would have loved to do the obstacle course/parkour that’s on the water, but since Khalifa was still a bit sick, I had to hold off on the more adventurous things.

There were also so many other activities that we could have done, including camel rides, kayaking, wake boarding, sailing, water skiing and so much more! I will definitely have to come back once again with a few more friends to try out all of these things. But this time, we sat on the beach with a beautiful view of palm trees over our heads, as we listened to the waves crash.

Once we got tired of the beach, I wanted to check out the kids play area, which is located inside the other hotel on the property, JA Jebel Ali Beach Hotel. They have a fully supervised play area, but they don’t allow parents to go in with their children, so I opted not let Khalifa go there, since he’s still a bit too small to be left without me.

It was almost time for Khalifa’s nap, so we headed back to the room and put him to sleep. I packed up and got ready to check out. When we were all set, I called for a buggy and they  took all of our bags and loaded it in to the car. We did the check out procedures and then headed down to La Fontana for lunch before we left.

The lunch buffet at La Fontana is not your average buffet. Its has just as many options as a Friday Brunch! If you ever feel like enjoying an incredible buffet without waiting until Friday, this is your spot. Check out the full review here: La Fontana Restaurant Review.

I was incredibly sad to leave JA Palm Tree Court, and even now as I write this, I’m already planning on when we can go back! It’s such a spectacular place and I really think its the best resort in Dubai. We’ve been to so many, and there is no place like it. It’s perfect for the whole family, and even if we stayed here for 10 days instead of 3, we would have different activities to do each day!

I don’t really believe in going to the same hotel more than once or maybe even twice if I really like it, but I can see myself visiting this resort once a year and still be completely impressed. I’m giving this resort an incredibly rare 5 out of 5 rating! Only one other hotel has had it before.

The price for one night in the room we stayed in (the Residence One Bedroom Suite on a half-board basis which includes breakfast and dinner) is around 3,500 Dhs (January 2016). 

Ratings (0-5): 

• Location: 5
• Hotel Ambience: 5
• Staff (Friendliness and Helpfulness): 5 
• Rooms: 5
• Room/Bath Products Provided: 5
• In-Room WiFi: 5 (Not chargeable 
• Amenities: 5
• Housekeeping: 5
• Value for money: 5

Overall Rating: 5

To book at JA Palm Tree Court, call +971 (0) 4 814 5555.