Al Sarab Hotel in Dubai

Seriously, avoid this place. This is my first time ever reviewing a hotel.

There were three of us on a business trip – one woman and two men – and we were so scared that we checked out and fled with our luggage after just five minutes. The hotel is located in the Indian/Pakistani quarter, and there's basically no lobby. The whole place felt like one of those illegal guesthouses from 20 years ago in China. The second floor is an Indian nightclub, and the entire hotel reeked of a really disgusting, pungent smell. The lobby was filled with intimidating-looking Indian men, and you'd even run into women in the elevator and lobby.

As for the cleanliness, it's so dirty I don't even know how to describe it; just look at the pictures.

Very disappointing experience at check-in

After traveling for two hours, we were very disappointed with the way we were treated upon arrival at Al Sarab Hotel. My ID was expired, and instead of explaining the situation politely, the female receptionist rudely said, “This is expired, I cannot accept this,” and immediately declined our check-in. She didn’t even ask for an alternative ID or offer any assistance.

Thankfully, there was a Filipino lady at the front desk who handled the situation much better. She calmly explained about the municipality requirements and asked for a PDF copy of my passport, which I truly appreciated.

I then sent a clear photo of my passport through email, but the first receptionist insisted in a rude tone that it was “different” from the one I showed earlier, even though the details were exactly the same. She kept saying she needed a “PDF or flat one,” speaking in a disrespectful way that made us feel very unwelcome.

When I asked if that’s how they usually treat their guests, the manager stepped in — but instead of trying to resolve the situation kindly, he also spoke rudely and said, “Do you want me to apologize to you? Then I apologize.” I felt really bad and disrespected by that kind of response.

After a tiring trip, we were just hoping for some understanding and professionalism. Unfortunately, this experience left us very disappointed. The only positive part was the Filipino staff member who showed real courtesy and empathy — something the rest of the team could learn from.

The hotel is good and the rooms are good but the staff are very unprofessional and they have absolutely no knowledge of hospitality nor customer service, they treat guest as if the paid for there room. I highly DONT RECOMMEND THIS HOTEL AT ALL,,, all the staff are together in it as a group of highly untrained, unprofessional and extremely rude.