Manzil Downtown Dubai – VIDA Hotels and Resorts

Today the post is about my stay inside the newly launched luxury boutique hotel called Manzil Downtown Dubai. Located at a prime space at the so called prestigious square kilometer ‘Downtown Dubai‘ where you also find Dubai’s most important landmark buildings such as Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, the Address Downtown. The hotel follows a modern Arabic theme with attention to detail and modern art. The Arabic theme not just ends with interior design but is tightly integrated into their ecosystem of service and hospitality. During my stay, I’ve mainly witnessed Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Arabs parking by this hotel and seems to be an attractive hub for them.

The check in time is around 03:00pm at Manzil Downtown Dubai and we were there by afternoon. The lounge is what you see as soon as you step inside this hotel and loved the fact they don’t compromise on quality. Every thing in this hotel from top to bottom has been premium. Be it chairs, sofa, computers, uniforms; there was a design aesthetic to it. By the way, their uniform is designed by one of the top Arabic fashion designer. There were also 27 inch iMacs lying around for guests to use with complimentary internet along with ever flowing baklava and dates.

They’ve got enough staff to greet you at the entrance. They walk you to the lounge, have you seated in their comfy sofas, give you cold tissues and treat you with lemon mint and baklavas while we wait for our keys. The whole check in process was done over the ipad including me signing on it. The entire hotel seems to be using apple devices only. The reception has imacs, the roaming staff has ipads in their hands and guests too are provided imacs for complimentary use at their lounge. I surely made the most of it. Always had a confusion which size would be the right imac for me, the 21.5 inch or the 27 inch. Most of it got cleared here 🙂

It’s always exciting entering a new room. You are just not sure what to expect. We normally predict fruits, baklavas, regular chocolates. This time there was this dark chocolate sauce along with brownies, marshmallows and dates nicely presented in a wooden plank. This was a delight for all of us and yes we surely had a good start to our stay by having fun dipping and enjoying each one of them. It is very obvious the room is designed for honey moon couples. There is no privacy when it comes to the bathroom, not even a lock or a door where you need it. You can see your partner taking a shower while you are on the bed. It’s all a little too open 😉

Our deluxe room didn’t have a balcony but a window with the view of the downtown buildings and architecture. Love the fact they’ve ensured  all kinds of connectors are available for multiple devices we use today. Probably for the first time I never had to call the room service to help me get my laptop and phones connected. No need for additional 3 pins or any other complications. They had all the modern connectors you wanted, you could just charge your iphone directly if you had the usb cable alone without having the need of power adapter. The television has been impressive. Besides watching channels, you could directly watch youtube videos, get prayer timings, order your food, get to know more about the hotel facilities and amenities etc. In fact we ordered our dinner to our room from the television. Even though a small room they had 3 phones in the room which came very handy. One was close to the bed, one next to the study desk and the other in the toilet.

The dinner we ordered which was arabic mixed grill(Dhs 145) along with Hammous with meat(Dhs 35) was awesome. The Hammous never looked so special as it came protected in a glass (to avoid any contact with dust). The meats were thick and juicy and they did a good job by giving us a good dinner for the night. The payment of all that you order over the television is all counted but paid only during your check out period. The Burj view suite definitely has more space and you probably can play football in their toilet. It’s also equipped with a very fancy bath tub. By the way, I did have issues with pillows. Even though there were wide and big, I thought they were just not good enough to give you a proper neck support 🙁

The first floor is where guest would visit to burn some calories. They have gymnasium and swimming pool on their first floor with views of low raised buildings around Downtown Dubai. After a certain time you can even have drinks while at their pool. It was quite empty although they had the facilities, guess everybody came to relax and not exert any pressure on their bodies :p. I’ve noticed more people laze around at their Courtyard. It’s a favourite spot for a nice sheesha and also known for its ever cool weather in it’s open space. I’ve been told the open air courtyard remains cold even during the summers so that is a mystery to find out. Some people in the morning gather their breakfast from Boulevard kitchen and have it at the courtyard.

The Boulevard Kitchen is a good looking restaurant but is very much like a kitchen. The tables are very close to the kitchen like at home. Every table is one step away from the buffet counter. The interiors are very royal and top class furniture is found here. Boulevard Kitchen normally serve Levantine cuisine but for breakfast you see lot of french cuisine on the show.

For breakfast besides the buffet, they do have a menu page where you choose the mains which they freshly prepare for you in their kitchen. Some of the items that they make fresh from the menu would be the porridge, french toast, pancakes, potato cake, foul Medammes, Shakshouka, eggs bendict. I loved their french toast and eggs manzil which was their version of eggs bendict but then if you don’t like spinach you might not enjoy it as much. Whatever it is they can prepare different types of egg dishes for breakfast. I remember seeing atleast 5 different types on their menu. You entitled to have their coffee like cappuccino or latte or the basic tea but if you want anything special they can offer you but you will have to pay for it additional like the moroccan tea, karak chai which is priced at around Dhs 28. But I loved their cappuccino so I suggest just pick this one if enjoy coffee generally.

The buffet table had some impressive spreads and very healthy ones too. Love their different kinds of fresh juices and specially the mixed juices. The one that had the combination of Beetroot,strawberry and pomegranate was truly refreshing. You can find different combinations of yoghurt and granola too. I couldn’t have enough of their granola that day.

They make very good croissants and my favorite was the chocolate croissant. Other items you would find in here would be the cheese, zaatar, plain croissants, cinnamon rolls, cherry, blueberry, apple and apricot danish pastries. To me this was the favourite section. I spent more time here deciding which ones to pick.

The above are some of the meeting and discussion rooms which I found on the mezzanine floor of Manzil Downtown hotel. Probably they are renting it out to corporates. At Manzil Downtown, I’ve enjoyed the views, the designer rooms, the lovely hospitality, a nice location be living which has access to many interesting restaurants and a good walk. click here to visit the official page of Manzil Downtown Dubai. Click pictures below to see them in full screen view: