Review of Rixos the Palm in Dubai – Family Friendly. We have just returned from a wonderful stay at Rixos the Palm on the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. We stayed in a Junior Suite and have reviewed that in full here but I also wanted to talk about the rest of the hotel and how perfect it is for families, especially those with younger children.
The first thing you will want to know about is the Rixy Kids’ Club. I would say as a general rule it is aimed at families with younger children, perhaps the under tens. There is a huge amount of scheduled activities on from 10am until 10pm, with the club closed for lunch between 1pm-2pm. The activities change every week and are posted on the wall outside the club or can be accessed via this link.
Having spoken to other parents (my son is a teen now and too old, but would have LOVED this when he was younger!) I understand that you just bring the kids and sign them in – no need to book. We did visit in the summer when it was perhaps quieter though, so this might be different in the cooler months.
There is also a covered kids’ pool with slides and water play. There are also sunbeds around it for parents with a lifeguard on duty too.
The below photo was taken from our room of the kids club pool. I thought this was a great aerial shot of the kids’ club! You can see the kids’ club buildings and a little amphitheatre to the right too.
There was an ‘Art Workshop’ area for outdoor painting etc.
Just opposite the Kids’ Club there is a climbing frame with slides.
Restaurants at Rixos the Palm
There are three a la carte restaurants in the hotel. Aqua and More is a seafood restaurant. (This is one that we didn’t try as I don’t like seafood) looks fantastic for those who do though! L’Olivio is an Italian restaurant and Toro Loco is a steak restaurant. We visited both Toro Loco and L’Olivio, and have reviewed these in full below. For a quick reference I have given you links to their menus. The a la cartes are included in the Ultra All Inclusive Package – anything with a green tick on the menu is included.
The Menu For Toro Loco
The Menu for L’Olivio
The Menu for Aqua & More.
You can email (click here to email) about two weeks ahead and book the a la carte restaurants. I was advised that I could book two restaurants ahead of time for my five night stay. I think this varies depending on how many nights you are staying. You can also visit the concierge desk when you are at the hotel to see if you can snag more bookings. They are fantastic, high quality restaurants, and I would recommend you do this. That said, the buffet restaurant is also excellent!
The buffet restaurant also has themed nights, so work your reservations around these. When we visited Monday was Asian night, Wednesday was steak night and Friday was seafood night.
Restaurant opening times at Rixos the Palm:
A La Turca – The Main Buffet Restaurant
The main buffet restaurant is called A La Turca. It caters for all nationalities and has a wide selection of beautifully presented food.
I would say that the Buffet restaurant was the most family friendly, especially if you are with small children who are not as patient as you would like. You can quickly serve them first, from their own kids’ food area (of course they can eat from any of the buffet and are not restricted to the kids’ food area).
A selection of milkshakes and baby food.
There is even a microwave to warm up baby food and blenders.
I also snapped a shot of this highchair. They come ready cleaned and covered in cling film with (I think!) a bib and wipe inside.
Other options in the kids’ area are items like potato wedges and chicken nuggets.
Boiled fish and carrots.
Also in the buffet restaurant there is a small soft play to keep the little ones entertained. This would have been perfect for us when ours were small to give us a chance to enjoy our food while they played!
There is even a TV in there too. Now, this area is nicely tucked away to one side so you can feel comfortable that you are not disturbing other diners.
For the grown ups, the buffet has an incredible array of food!
For breakfast you can choose from traditional English favourites like eggs, hash browns and beef bacon (being a Muslim country). There is a wide selection of pastries and doughnuts, waffles and pancakes. The more healthy can go for fruit and porridge. There is even salads and olives. As soon as you sit down at the table, a server will appear to take your drinks order and they are very solicitous about offering further drinks and clearing plates as you are sat.
The buffet restaurant is also open for lunch and dinner. You can expect to see a range of international dishes again from pizza and pasta to casseroles and curries. Then there are all manner of accompaniments – an amazing array of salad and breads as well as seafood.
Here are lots of buffet display photos so you can get an idea of what it is like!
Steak Night in the Buffet
This was a fabulous experience. There is a huge stand of meat in the middle of the restaurant with steaks, kebabs, chicken breasts, etc.
You pick up whatever you would like and then take it outside where there is a huge barbecue. The staff will then cook it to your preference in front of you before giving it back (on a fresh plate of course!) I have to say waiting for my steak to be cooked was a little like sitting in a meat scented sauna! I loved the novelty and the theatre of it though and the food was excellent. Definitely my favourite buffet night.
There is another buffet restaurant that I believe is smaller but it was closed when we visited.
L’Olivio
L’Olivio is the Italian restaurant, and is located just off the hotel lobby. It’s a beautiful space, with this wine wall as you enter.
The tables come with crisp white tablecloths and have plenty of space around them.
My son ordered a pizza, while I ordered pasta. We were encouraged to order more than one dish (so we did!). This worked well as the portions are not huge, but they are exquisite! The best Italian food I have had in a long time!
The staff were happy, friendly and welcoming and really added to the experience.
Toro Loco
Toro Loco is the steak restaurant at Rixos. I deliberately booked this for our last night. I love steak and felt that this would mean we would go out on a high – and I wasn’t wrong! We started our meal with Flamed Wagyu Sushi:
I chose the Beef Ribs Poori after someone else recommended it to me. Both were delicious.
I then ordered the Argentinian Ribeye – which was fabulous and I am a bit of a steak connoisseur! Perfectly cooked and seasoned.
Tristan chose the chicken (he usually goes for chicken!) and said it was great!
You can also choose sides (fries and corn) and sauces. I went for a pepper sauce as it is my favourite. It was divine!
Pool Bars
There are two pool bars, one is a swim up bar!
The pool bar staff will take your orders and also will leave a cool box full of ice and bottled water at your sunbed, so you can stay nice and hydrated.
Around the pool there is a fruit stall where you can choose what fruit you would like to eat. Then hand it to the member of staff who will cut it up for you. There is also a Baskin-Robbins ice cream stand which is a fabulous edition, especially for children (though not exclusively children!).
Nargile – Shisha Bar
There is a Shisha Bar outside with cosy cabanas.
Patisserie Istanbul
In the hotel lobby there is a patisserie which apparently is common in the Rixos hotels. We skipped dessert one night in the buffet restaurant, instead taking whatever we wanted back to our room. They were very kind and boxed things up for us. They had all manner of delicious cakes:
There were also sandwiches, cookies and treats:
The patisserie also serve hot drinks which was great one morning when I couldn’t get Tristan out of bed and needed a coffee!
Bar1
Bar1 is an over 21’s bar, new for this year. I called in a few times during my stay.
There was a fantastic band playing ‘Hotel California’ (which coincidentally is one of my favourite songs!).
Here you will find a huge amount of amazing sounding cocktails (as well as the usual beer and wine) I ordered two mojitos at the bar and the barman offered to bring it over to where I was sitting. I explained that I was going to take them to my room (because that’s where my 15 year old was). He then made them in paper takeaway cups for me. I have to say they were very strong!! (This isn’t a complaint!). It’s a very attractive bar and had my husband joined us on this trip then I could see us having a very good evening in there.
There was no sports on when I visited (which suits me) but I imagine people who enjoy sport will appreciate them playing it when they are in there. They also had a pool table.
The Hotel Lobby
The hotel lobby is large and very impressive with lots of comfortable seating. You will also find check-in, concierge and lots of shops here.
A night time shot of the lobby with palm trees lit up outside.
Swimming Pools
There are three pool areas. The main pool has a swim up bar and lots of sunbeds to choose from. There are cabanas also available. I believe these are free for guests in certain grades of suites, but can also be hired. Towels are available free of charge and can be collected as you exit the hotel into the pool area.
There is also an adult pool area with a long pool ideal for naps, as well as small cooling off pools.
This was the view from our room, where we overlooked the adult only pool.
Would I recommend Rixos the Palm in Dubai? Yes, absolutely. It is a fantastic hotel, with so much included in the all inclusive package. You never have to worry about a thing. Absolutely perfect for families with younger children but brilliant for all.
Also see our review of Afternoon Tea at At.mosphere and our experience with the twin seats on Emirates.
We were invited to visit and review. As always, all opinions are my own.