W Dubai – The Palm has the scale of a resort but much of its personality comes through in smaller details. The lobby gives you an immediate introduction to the hotel’s colourful design, with different restaurants and spaces branching off around it. That sense of personality carried through to our check-in, which turned out to be one of the loveliest parts of our welcome.
Our check-in was handled by Tamta, who was incredibly warm and friendly from the start. Once everything was sorted, Lester, another member of the W team, accompanied us up to our room on the fourth floor, showed us around and made sure we had everything we needed. Just as he was about to leave, he casually mentioned that he was also a magician and asked if we wanted to see a trick. Of course we said yes. Out came a deck of cards, followed by an impromptu magic trick in the middle of our room. It was such a fun, unexpected way to start the stay.
Tamta ended up bookending our stay too. She was there to check us out two days later and was every bit as warm as she had been when she welcomed us in.
The Room
We stayed in a Spectacular Room on the fourth floor, with twin beds, a freestanding bathtub and separate shower. It was generously sized, with plenty of room for two but my favourite part was the balcony.
A large cushioned daybed took up one side, facing the WET Deck directly below. From there, the view continued past the pools to the beach and water, with Dubai’s skyline visible in the distance. I kept finding my way back out there whenever we had some time between plans, particularly once the sun went down when the pools below turned electric blue, the surrounding buildings lit up and the skyline became much clearer against the dark water.
The view also gave me a good look at how much of W Dubai – The Palm is built around its outdoor spaces. From four floors above, I could see people moving between the pools, loungers and beach throughout the day. The cabanas and latticed pods around WET Deck were visible from the room too, so I had already spent a fair amount of time looking at the place before we eventually went downstairs.
But I was in no rush to leave the room either. I love a staycation where I can happily spend a few hours doing absolutely nothing in the room and between the space, the balcony and that view, this was exactly that.
Akira Back
Our first dinner booking was at Akira Back, conveniently located one floor above our room. The eponymous restaurant comes from professional snowboarder turned celebrity chef Akira Back, whose menu brings together Japanese cuisine with influences from his Korean heritage. Before you reach the dining room, though, there is a rather unusual entrance to get through.
The corridor leading to the restaurant is almost vortex-like. Illuminated lines curve around the dark walls and ceiling, following the shape of the passage as it narrows and bends towards the restaurant. Once you emerge from it, the space opens considerably, with the dining room looking out across the Palm and towards Dubai Marina.
I had eaten at Akira Back before but I was just as excited to go back and there were a few dishes I was already looking forward to trying again.
We started with the AB Tuna Pizza, rock shrimp, crispy calamari and A5 wagyu gyoza. The pizza was the dish that had to be almost prised away from me.
One of Akira Back’s signature dishes, it comes on a thin, crisp base covered almost completely with slices of tuna, accompanied by umami aioli, micro shiso and white truffle oil. The tuna is utterly delicate, the base gives it that satisfying crunch and the truffle oil comes through without taking over everything else. I ended up eating nearly the whole thing myself.
The rock shrimp with gochujang mayo were a close second favourite. The prawns stayed crisp beneath the creamy sauce, while the gochujang brought just enough heat to balance its richness. The crispy calamari with jalapeño Mae Ploy, togarashi and lime was another hit, as were the A5 wagyu gyoza, served in truffle jus with shaved truffle and pickled lotus root.
After such a good run of starters, the mains had a lot to live up to. The Josper-grilled salmon came with garlic spinach and spicy teriyaki, while the Judori chicken was served over smooth potato purée with teriyaki sauce.
Both were quite lovely but after a table of starters that we had been picking at until the plates were empty, the difference was noticeable.
Dessert brought us straight back to the level at which the meal had started. We started off with the Apple Harumaki, with a crisp pastry wrapped around a warm apple paired with toasted vanilla bean gelato and cinnamon cream cheese, bringing together warm, cold, sweet and tangy in every bite. The combination of apple and cinnamon already worked beautifully but it was the cream cheese that stood out. Rich, tangy and heavily laced with cinnamon and could easily have been a dessert in its own right.
Then came the Chocolate in a Cup, hidden beneath a patterned chocolate disc that you break through with a spoon. Under which were layers of gianduja cake, chocolate crumble, banana foam and vanilla gelato, giving you something different with almost every spoonful.
A Day at WET Deck
We started day two with breakfast at LIV, with a wide variety spread across several counters. After a leisurely breakfast, we finally headed down to WET Deck, which I had spent much of the previous day admiring from our balcony.
Up close, the pool area is expansive, framed by loungers, cabanas and distinctive latticed pods, with palm trees and greenery woven throughout. The beach sits just beyond the pool, so the whole area opens towards the water rather than ending at the edge of the deck.
Music played throughout the afternoon as people dipped in and out of the pool or settled into loungers with drinks. There was a nice buzz to the place and we found a spot overlooking the pool for lunch.
Lunch included Bang Bang Prawns, a chicken burger and oven-baked seabass. The prawns were excellent, crisp beneath a creamy, slightly spicy Bang Bang sauce, while the burger and seabass rounded out a very good poolside lunch.
The only thing limiting how long we stayed poolside was the September heat. WET Deck itself was lovely but unless you were swimming, it was simply too hot to sit outside for very long. I had wanted to spend some time on the beach too, especially after looking at it from our room for the best part of the stay but eventually had to accept that this was one part of the hotel I would enjoy far more later in the year.
SoBe
There was still another side of the hotel to explore and for that we headed upstairs to SoBe, W Dubai – The Palm’s rooftop bar and lounge. Set high above the rest of the property, it looks out towards the Dubai skyline from one direction and across the water in the other. Its outdoor terrace was closed during our visit but I could immediately see the appeal of sitting out there around sunset once the weather cools down.
The atmosphere indoors was much more club-like. Purple-pink neon washed across the space, the playlist was excellent and a large sun-shaped installation hung overhead, periodically releasing bubbles that floated through the room.
Dinner followed the same Japanese and Korean thread we had encountered at Akira Back, this time through the SoBe x Akira Back small bites menu. Korean fried chicken, calamari tempura, miso-grilled salmon, crab salad maki and seabass with mango and avocado filled the table, with the calamari emerging as my favourite.
For dessert we had a chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream and mixed berries. Cutting into it released the molten chocolate centre, which melted into the ice cream, while the berries added a welcome tartness.
SoBe was also where we encountered the only service issues of the stay. Service was noticeably slow and food we had asked to have packed and sent to our room never made it upstairs. The lack of a segregated smoking area also made it difficult to enjoy the space for long. Cigarette smoke travelled across the room throughout dinner and eventually became uncomfortable. It was a shame, particularly because I otherwise really enjoyed the music, food and setting.
The Verdict
Over two days, what I enjoyed most about W Dubai – The Palm was how much there was to experience. The outdoor areas are the part I left wanting more of. From our balcony, WET Deck, the beach and cabanas looked inviting throughout the stay and seeing people spend most of the afternoon moving between the pool and their loungers made me wish the weather had allowed us to do the same. It is the main reason I would choose a cooler month for another stay. The warmth of the team carried through from check-in to checkout. With cooler weather, I would happily do it all over again, this time with a little more time reserved for the pool and beach.
