Samaya Hotel Deira

Disappointed with my stay at Samaya Hotel

The location was ok. Rooms were decent, although I would not rate it 5 stars. I had just come from the Sheraton on the Creek where I was attending a conference. That was a true 5 star (a little more pricey). But Samaya does not compare. I also stayed at a 2 star Holiday Inn Express on the same trip and felt that was a better experience than Samaya.

First of all, I booked through Kayak. The detailed description clearly stated free wifi in a few places. When I arrived they said that I had booked through a travel agent and would not get complimentary internet. I had to argue for several minutes, talk to someone in customer service and email them the booking description before they gave it to me. Then the safe in my room did not work. They said someone would fix it but they never did. Then I asked for a wake up call at 6am. At 6:10 they had not called so I left. When I returned they had deactivated my card. When I went to get it reactivated they yelled at me for not being there for the wakeup call. I explained that they had been late. They agreed that they sent someone late, but they said I still should have been there for the wake up call. Finally, I requested the concierge to book me a taxi van (specifically a van because I had a large piece of luggage) to the airport at 7:30am. When I went down at 7:30am they had not called. They called at that time, and I had to wait 20 minutes and was late getting to the airport. Also, don't bother taking the shuttle to Deira town center. It took about 20 minutes and was not on schedule (maybe 5 minutes and 12 UAD by taxi, just take the taxi). This all happened in 2 nights stay.

There's no alcohol in the mini-bar or elsewhere in the hotel. I thought 5star hotels had to serve alcohol.