I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Al Barsha is my favorite area of Dubai. It’s only 15 minutes away from either Downtown Dubai or Dubai Marina, it has one of the best malls in the UAE, and has so much heart and soul with all of its mom-and-pop type shops and restaurants. The fact that Kempinski Hotel is located here is so perfect for both visitors and Dubai residents, because regardless of which one you are, you can experience an authentic Dubai while staying at one of the most luxurious hotels.

My husband, 1-year old baby Khalifa and I headed to Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates last Thursday afternoon. I’ve been to the hotel before for dinners and events, but have never stayed in one of their rooms. Now that they have just done a major renovation to the design of the suites, I was very excited for our 3 day stay.

We got to the valet, and although it was busy, the hotel is very well-staffed and we were quickly assisted with all of our bags. The entrance and lobby of the hotel is so beautifully designed. It has hues of gold all over and beautiful sparkling chandeliers hanging from the high-ceiling. You can feel the opulence and its so tastefully decorated.

The lobby is very large and separated into two; one area for reception and the other area for their Aspen cafe and restaurant. I walked up to handle check-in procedures and one of the receptionists assisted me. I handed over my ID and he found my reservation and informed me that our Grand Deluxe Room was ready.

After giving us the key and telling us the whereabouts of breakfast and the pool, he asked if I would like someone to escort us upstairs. Without wanting to bother anyone, we opted to find the room on our own.

We headed to the elevators, and even the detail of fragrant potpourri in the elevator gave us a glimpse as to how well-thought out all of the decor is at Kempinski.

Even the small lobby area of our floor was elegantly decorated. There are a lot more rooms than I expected, so it did take a couple of minutes to find our room, but once we knew the way it was quite easy to find it.

Our suite was not what we expected at all– it went way beyond our expectations! The layout was set up like a small apartment. The living room space is split into two areas; one side has the dining room with a small kitchenette, and the other area has a spacious living room.

The dining area has a dining table with two incredibly comfortable, large chairs. The gorgeous chandelier designs from the lobby are carried on even in the rooms, as there was a small chandelier hanging above the dining table. Across from the dining table is a work desk with everything that you would need to get some work done, including an iPad!

On the other corner of the dining room is the kitchenette area and its fully equipped with plenty of storage space for your food as well as a fridge full of mini bar items.

On the counter, there is a sink, and next to it is an extensive display of complementary water, teas, coffees, and even coffee pods to use in the Nespresso machine provided. If your not a Nespresso person (although I can’t think of anyone who isn’t), there is also a kettle ready for you to use for teas and instant coffee.

The main living area has a roomy two-seater couch, a broad circular coffee table, and a plush chair with a matching ottoman.

Across from the sofa is a large ultra-thin Samsung TV with all of the latest technologies. They even had a welcome message on it when we entered. We soon realized that there were actually two of the same TVs in the suite, as another identical one was in the bedroom.

From the living room, there are two doors leading directly into the bedroom. I love how fluid the layout of this room is. There is easy access to every room, and you don’t have to go all the way around to get from the living room to the bedroom or bathroom, or vice versa.

The bedroom is a masterpiece. The design is so lavish and exquisite, and also so practical. The bulk of the room is taken up by a king-sized bed with two nightstands on either side of it. On the wall above the bed are beautiful art pieces, and on the ceiling is another gorgeous chandelier.  At the foot of the bed is a long bench, and across from it is a vanity table with plenty of storage space for make up and other personal belongings. Above that is the bedroom TV.

The bedroom has two spacious closets; one with many drawers, and the other with plenty of hanger space. Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates was very crafty with their layouts, because the whole suite has so much storage space. There are even two hidden closets in the living room with ample space for large suitcases.

In between the two bedroom closets are double doors leading to a substantially-sized bathroom. One wall houses the his and hers sinks, while the other wall has a large bathtub.

The shower is separated from the bathtub and is located on the other side of the bathroom. Along with a hose shower, it also has a rain shower feature, as well as a bench, because hey, sometimes you just get tired of standing in the shower, right?

The toilet and bidet conveniently have their own room, and it doubles as a small guest bathroom. To this small bathroom, there are two entrances and can be accessed either from the main bathroom, or from the living room area. It even has its own sink in there. How thoughtful is that?! Seriously, the layout is one of the most functional ones I’ve seen in any hotel suite.

Our luggage soon came up to our room, and after putting our things away, we connected to the complementary Wifi, which worked like a charm. There was absolutely not fault in it whatsoever throughout our whole 3-day stay.

The hotel is connected to our favorite mall, which also happens to be one of the largest malls in the UAE, Mall of the Emirates. Naturally, I wanted to shop, so we headed out from our hotel room and went to the mall. Oh and this is just one of the many beautiful flower displays spread across the hotel’s lobby!

Now, the location of Kempinski is so convenient for tourists. You can find nearly every shop that you can think of at Mall of the Emirates, so you won’t have to waste precious sightseeing and adventure-time on finding places to shop. Speaking of adventure– there’s also Ski Dubai, an indoor ski mountain, right on the other side of Kempinski!

After doing a little bit of shopping, we headed back to the hotel to have dinner. Kempinski Hotel MOE has two restaurants and one cafe. During our stay, we tried out both restaurants. On the first night of our stay, we tried out Salero Tapas & Bodega, which is a charming Spanish tapas-style restaurant that has delicious, homely food. Check out the full review here: Salero Tapas and Bodega.

When we were finished with our lovely tapas experience at Salero, we headed back upstairs to our room. We found that housekeeping had come by and left us fresh fruits and had done turn down service. They prepared the bed, closed all of the curtains, and dimmed the lights. My little Khalifa was more than ready for a bedtime, so he instantly fell asleep as soon as he crawled into bed.

If your a mom, you know that the only free time that you have is when your kid is asleep, so I took advantage. I prepared a bubble bath using the products provided by the hotel, which have floral notes of jasmine and my bath was so calming and relaxing! While I was enjoying the bath, my husband flipped through the many TV channels, before we both decided it was time for bed.

Day 2

We had early start to the day by heading down to breakfast at Kempinski’s Arabic restaurant, Olea. We’ve been to Olea before for lunch, and it was such an incredible restaurant, and it definitely has the best Arabic food in Dubai! You can check out a review for it here: Olea Restaurant Review.

For breakfast, the entire restaurant is converted into a buffet-style venue. In keeping with its Arabic theme, there are many freshly-made traditional Arabic breakfast items. There are also plenty of other kinds of foods.

The items in this buffet area really wide-ranging; you find everything from waffles, saj breads, paninis, all kinds of fruits, cold cuts, salads, sausages, Indian breakfast items, dim sum, and even a whole table of gluten-free goodies!

They even have all kinds of tarts, breakfast pastries and sweets. It’s almost like a mini-Friday brunch. They pay just as much attention to their drinks as they do to their food. Freshly-made organic juices are bottled up and ready for your to pick up and take to your table; they have all different kinds, but my favorite was the green apple with ginger!

Although its a buffet, the service is absolutely spot on. The waiters always make sure to check up on you and offer things like tea, coffee and even bring fresh manakeesh and falafel to the table. My husband is a big fan of Arabic breakfasts, so he loved the selection here, as did I. Even my little Khalifa couldn’t get enough of the falafels and waffles made especially for him. There were even marshmallows and strawberry milk for the little ones.

After a hearty breakfast, we headed up to our room to hang out before we had to get ready to go to the Friday prayer. Again, how convenient is it that Kempinski is located at Mall of the Emirates?! After we got ready, we walked just 5 minutes across the mall and up to the new mosque at Mall of the Emirates. When we were done with that, Khalifa and I headed off to run some errands while my husband went back to the hotel’s spa, Softouch Spa, to  experience the best massage he’s ever had, and he knows what he’s talking about because he gets massages and spa treatments all the time! To see the full review for it, check out: Thai Herbal Compress at Softouch Spa, Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates.

Soon it was time for Khalifa’s afternoon nap, so I headed back up to our suite to put him to sleep. When we got back to the room, I noticed that housekeeping had replenished the Nespresso coffee pods, bath products and left us with extra bottles of water, as well tidied up the room just in time for little Khalifa to mess it up again!

I was planning on giving Khalifa a bath later on, but forgot to pack his bath products, so I called housekeeping to see if they might have any, and they were kind enough to bring up a few Sebamed-branded baby toiletries. Since we were staying at a hotel thats literally attached the mall, I know I could have easily gone down to Carrefour to pick up some bath wash for him, but the fact that they had it at the hotel saved me from the craziness of Carrefour on a Friday!

By the time Khalifa woke up, we were ready to go back and explore more of Mall of the Emirates. We decided to have dinner at one of the mall’s restaurants and then go to the new movie theater. We’ve been to the old one plenty of times, but this was the first time that we experienced the newly built one that’s located on the top floor of the new extension. I would really recommend it because its a lot nicer than the one that was previously there.

After the movies and a bit of more shopping, we went back upstairs and headed to our home for the weekend.

Day 3

While the boys slept, I made myself a cup of coffee and enjoyed it as I looked over a sleepy Dubai. Oh, and I forgot to mention– we had a view of the iconic Burj Al Arab, from both our living room and bedroom!

I also noticed that the staff had so kindly left a box of chocolates for us last night, which went perfectly with my morning coffee. I know, I know– not the healthiest breakfast, but it held me over until Khalifa and my husband finally woke up and were ready to go to Olea for their grand breakfast buffet.

Breakfast at Olea was just as great as it was the day before. Service was once again, impeccable, and the food was scrumptious!

Even if your not staying at the hotel, you can experience the breakfast buffet, as I do believe they have it available at a decent price for non-hotel guests.

After breakfast, we headed back upstairs to pack up our things. Khalifa decided that he wanted a morning nap (ah, the life of a baby), which was quite convenient for me because I was able to go down to the Maison de Joelle salon on the 3rd floor of the hotel for a quick pamper session. It’s a small but nice place. I was there only for a manicure and pedicure, but I believe that they were really well-known for hair services because there were quite a few people waiting on one of their hairstylists. I was able to see some of his work, and he was definitely good! I’ll have to go there for that some time soon as well.

By the time I was done, my husband had already checked out and was waiting for me in the downstairs lobby.

We couldn’t leave without one last trip to the mall. Since Khalifa was awake we took him to the arcade, Magic Planet, and then did a bit of shopping before coming back through to the hotel’s valet service. All of our luggage was ready and waiting to be packed into the trunk of our car.

Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates is a perfect place to stay for Dubai visitors. You have everything you can imagine just a few minutes away from you– from shops, restaurants, Ski Dubai, arcades, salons, spas, etc. It’s located the center of Dubai, right off of the main highway, Sheikh Zayed Road so you have easy access to get to other places around Dubai as well. I would also recommend it to people, just like us, who live in the UAE and are looking for a staycation. The Kempinski brand has never disappointed us!

The price for one night in the room we stayed in (the Grand Deluxe Room with Breakfast) is around 1,700 Dhs (February 2016). 

Ratings (0-5): 

• Location: 5
• Hotel Ambience: 5
• Staff (Friendliness and Helpfulness): 5 
• Rooms: 5
• Room/Bath Products Provided: 4.5
• In-Room WiFi: 5 (Not chargeable) 
• Amenities: 4.5
• Housekeeping: 3.5
• Value for money: 4.5

Overall Rating: 4.67

To book at Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates, call +971 (0) 4 341 0000.