Sleep mooching at Emirates' expense, JW Marriott Dubai review

For those who don't know, Emirates offers its premium passengers a free stay in Dubai. Dubai Connect allows you to request hotel accommodations To all connecting passengers.

How Dubai Connect works

If you have a layover, that is, a stopover between the two flights of more than 8 hours, you can request this service directly from the EK website before your flight departs. If more than one person is traveling, it will also be possible to request one car each for transportation to and from the hotel and one room for each passenger in the same reservation, again at no cost.

The hotel is assigned ex officio, depending on the ticket category and the availability of rooms in the various contracted facilities. In our case we were hosted at the JW Marriott, located in Dubai's financial district. JW is one of the luxury brands in the Marriott portfolio which has Dubai has more than 20 facilities.

Dubai Connect, how to take a free vacation to Dubai on Emirates' dime

The service is totally free of charge and covers all meals based on the length of stay. In our case, almost 20 hours, we could have had breakfast, lunch and dinner all at EK's expense.

Since we had eaten enough in the air (and in the lounges) and that we had an appointment in Dubai for lunch we didn't use anything, thus saving the comapany a few cents and feeling less guilty about the theft condestrecy implemented when we booked this ticket.

Location

The JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai is located in the Business Bay area. It is 8 minutes from the Burj Khalifa Tower area or 10 minutes from the DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre) district. The hotel is 15 minutes from Dubai International Airport. The nearest subway station is Business Bay and is 15 minutes away, but Uber and competing apps are used to get around Dubai.

Check-in

Emirates has its own desk to check in passengers; it is located at the far end of the reception area. It seems that the staff is also dedicated since when we arrived the queue was only at this desk and none of the others stepped in to help clear it.

Obviously being a reservation paid for by EK there are no benefits for Elite Bonvoy users, although the attendant kindly changed our assigned room (from two beds to a king sinze) and exceptionally recognized the status and gave us access to the lounge.

The room

The hotel consists of two towers; the transition between the two is only through the lobby. Our room was in Tower A, on the 25th floor. The design of these 2 towers evokes a date palm, a symbolic fruit of Arab culture.

The basic room in a JW is already large, if we are then in Dubai where square meters abound it is logical to expect a very large room, too bad only that we had virtually no view of nowhere. But let's not forget it was a stay from 6 a.m. to midnight, not a vacation.

In the room is what we expect from a 5-star hotel, honestly though after seeing it I would hardly pay for such a room. It is beautiful, but like all the big hotels in Dubai it is soulless, or rather not really all of them since the Atlantis is iconic, and also the Melià if it solves the problems of soundproofing can be an interesting destination.

The bathroom is also 5-star, with everything in the right place. But from a 5-star like the JW I expect a first-class product, and at the end of the day this room is too basic.

Of course, I cannot know if the rooms in Emirates' Dubai connect are different from the rooms in the hotel, I think not otherwise it would be bad publicity for the brand since first class passengers, the most demanding of the Dubai airline, are accommodated here.

We didn't have a view from the room, but from the other windows in the hallways and in the panoramic elevator you had a really nice view of the area.

The structure

The hotel is very well maintained architecturally and in terms of design, but we are in one of the facilities in the Marriott porfolio that want to offer luxury and opulence to its guests, and here we are in the realm of the "bigger, bigger, more gold" philosophy.

There are 13 dining outlets, including bars and restaurants scattered around the resort. It is not a resort, but breakfast aside you could eat a different cuisine every day for a week and not try them all. From Italian to Arabic, French to Indian and Thai cuisine, there is a taste for everyone.

The SPA

Marika did not miss the opportunity to take advantage of the SPA services. Emirates guests also have access to a significantly discounted price list, and as always the money spent turns into Bonvoy points good for the next mooching stay, like the one we did at the W in Muscat on this very vacation.

Treatments of all kinds in an elegant, spacious and peaceful environment. A true oasis of peace in the heart of the hotel, Here there are also whirlpools, steam room and sauna. But for those in Dubai in June just go outside and it's also free.

Pool

The hotel has an outdoor pool, of course if it's 40° outside it's not easy to resist the sun or even in the cooled pool.

Many, but not enough lounge chairs and sun loungers for guests, although I imagine that in cooler periods seating is added around the garden. Also inevitable is the pool bar to quench the thirst and feed the brave who brave the high temperatures and humidity of late June.

The lounge

We didn't scrounge any of the lunches offered, but in the lounge we went there. If it was deserted and quiet in the afternoon, the same cannot be said during the evening happy hour.

Virtually impossible to find a seat with a view; in fact, it was difficult to find a normal seat.

The hall is open all day and occupies the entire 33rd floor of Tower B, there is also a work area with workstations, stanzas and devices for guests to use.

There is a 360-degree view of Dubai and in particular the Financial District, with a beautiful view of the city's iconic skyscraper that wants to go higher and higher.

In conclusion

Dubai Connect service is perfect, Emirates thinks of everything and the passenger just has to enjoy it. A stay at the JW Marriott, one of the American chain's most exclusive facilities, does not disappoint, not least because it is free.

The verdict

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, but given the list price of this hotel I definitely expected something better. Of course being part of Dubai Connect I imagine guarantees a fair amount of traffic to the hotel, but for paying guests it seems to me not up to the standard of the JW sign

6.5

Pro

• Location
• The lounge

Against

• The room