What should you expect from the new value hotel offering at Dubai Parks and Resorts?
Looking to spend a couple of days at Dubai Parks and Resorts but not spend the earth on accommodation? You will definitely need a full two days if you want to thoroughly cover all four of the theme parks and water parks on offer at this mega theme park complex, sitting to the west of Dubai.
Since opening in 2016, there has long been a luxury resort offering Lapita – a Polynesian themed Autograph Collection hotel by Marriott to extend your stay for a night or two. It is stunning, but also out of price range for many once you add the price of your theme park tickets.
Introducing Rove At The Park. Newly opened in Summer 2019, this Dubai chain hotel is synonymous with funny and funky themed rooms, co-working spaces and delivering exceptional value for money in clean and modern facilities at a 3-star rating.
This post is part of our family accommodation review series and Discover the UAE – detailed family attraction reviews and recommendations
Staying at Rove At The Park as a family of 5
We chose the National Day long weekend as a great opportunity to test out the new Rove At The Park and max out our Dubai Parks and Resorts Annual Passes before they expire in December with a bumper theme park weekend (more on that coming soon!).
The promise of 2 interconnecting family rooms with enough room for a family of 5 was enticing, and its proximity to the parks for an amazing price tag of just 299AED++ (that’s under $82USD!) we were sold.
(This isn’t some amazing special deal, just their regular prices – they also offer rooms with theme park ticket packages – learn more).
Looking at Dubai City Centre too? Check our this Rove Hotel Review
Checking in at Rove At The Park
Sadly, this is where our excitement started to evaporate. After finishing our first theme park around 3.30pm, we wanted to check in to the hotel to freshen up and let the kids enjoy the pool before continuing on to dinner at Riverland & evening entertainment at Bollywood.
Granted, we were just a few minutes before the quite late check-in time of 4pm (offset by the fact you can check out as late as 2pm). Our room was not ready, we were told to come back in 30 minutes and store our luggage. 30 minutes came and went, then 40, then 50 minutes until our room was ready.
The check-in staff were rushed, not particularly smiley nor sympathetic to this situation, and I don’t think we were the only ones. We sincerely hope this was just the result of a busy day, not the usual customer service we expect from a Rove Hotel.
The Rooms at Rove At The Park
Cue disappointment number too for the day. Our rooms were advertised as a “Family Interconnecting Rover Room”- with the choice of twins & double plus sofa bed in each room, or you can opt for four singles & sofas.
If we were indeed allocated the right room after the long wait, take note the rooms are TINY!! Beautiful decor, very clean and fitted with all you might need but there is no way the rooms are made for more than two each – there is no promised sofa bed available for an extra child, only a small chair.
Calling for an extra bed at this point was pointless as there was simply no room to add one, so we had to kindly persuade (bribed) our oldest girl to share with her brothers – we are seriously at the point where this is no longer able to work for us even on overnight trips!
We also had to call three times over the space of an hour to get the interconnecting door between the rooms unlocked. All hugely frustrating for what should be small and simple fixes.
Beds were comfy though, and a great night sleep when we eventually got there.
Pool and Recreation Facilities Rove At The Park
Hats off where it’s due, this is where this hotel excels and makes it fun for families. The pool is pretty simple, but temperature-controlled and includes giant floating bean bags. There was also a small children’s fountain area for your little ones.
Inside, kids can enjoy a Playstation and recreation area with games, a foosball table and a well-equipped gym.
If you are leaving early or late, there are ample storage facilities in their fun and funky locker area.
How do you get to Dubai Parks and Resorts from Rove at the Park
The hotel is not situated immediately connected to Riverland and the Dubai Parks & Resorts complex. You really need to bear this in mind when comparing price and proximity if you think it will be an issue. You have a few transportation choices:
- Park at Dubai Parks and Resorts free parking (VIP entrance) and move your car over in the evening – there is plenty of self-parking available at the hotel (no valet – this is 3-star!)
- Park your car at the hotel then use the free shuttle service to the Riverland entrance.
- You can walk to the back entrance of Riverland (near to McDonald’s and where the buses and taxies arrive, behind the Outlet Mall) which is about a 2km/20 minute walk.
Shuttles services from Rove At The Park
The shuttle didn’t run as frequently as we had hoped. At the time of our visit on a weekend, the schedule ran as follows (we strongly suggest you check this as soon as you check in to make your plans around the service).
We were disappointed that the last service to the parks from the hotel ended at 5.20pm. We were heading back for the evening after checking in and letting the kids have a rest, but taking so long to get us check-in we couldn’t make the last bus.
A taxi to/from the Riverland taxi rank is only about 10AED (rounded to minimum fare 12AED). Our taxi there didn’t mind making the short trip but our taxi driver home was extremely irate at the short journey.
Dining services Rove At The Park
There are plentiful dining options in the hotel and nearby at The Outlet Village, as well as within Riverland and the theme parks.
- Onsite bar and restaurant The Daily (which includes takeaways/room service – see menu below)
- Small cafe / patisserie.
- There are vending machines on-site for small drinks and fast snack purchases.
- If you wish to join the morning breakfast at The Daily this will cost you additional 59AED on top of the room charge
The Outlet Village is only about 500m away and includes fast food and cafe options, as well as restaurants such as PF Changs, and Starbucks.
Riverland has a wide range of lunch and evening dining options. Do note, if you try and head over early to start at Legoland as soon as it opens, we could not find any restaurants or cafes open before 10am (but thanks Mr Costa for letting us come in 5 minutes early!(
Globetrotters Recommend Rove at the Park
A few small service issues aside, you really can’t beat this for a value choice close to Dubai Parks & Resorts for a fun and pleasant staycation weekend in the UAE.
If you are visiting Dubai Parks & Resorts as a side trip to staying in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, it would be well worth it to stay nearby to the parks. This is a great option to save on extensive taxi fares each way (expect around a 100AED taxi far each way from Downtown Dubai) and make the most of enjoying the parks into the evening and making an early start.
I do hope they will clarify though that the Interconnecting Family Rover Rooms cannot comfortably fit an extra child.
How to book Rove at the Park
Our preferred hotel booking tool is Booking.Com where you can make your selection of room only or take advantage of the room special offers that INCLUDE your theme park tickets – Check out prices & availability.
You can also check for special offers and compare across search engines and the hotels own pricing using hotelscomined.com
Rove at all the best Dubai locations
If you love the Rove brand and value family accommodation idea, you can also check out their super-convenient locations at Rove Downtown (walking distance to Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa), as well as Rove Dubai Marina and Rove Trade Centre.
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See More Dubai Family Hotel Reviews
- On the banks of Dubai Creek, The Grand Hyatt Dubai is excellent for short stopovers when you want to stay close to the airport but not miss out on resort-style facilities.
- Want to stay as close as possible to Downtown Dubai and the Burj Khalifa? Our family choice is an apartment at Roda Al Murooj.
- Are you coming to Dubai for a convention? The Novotel World Trade Centre should be your first choice for convenience and facilities.
- If you’re still not sure about what area of Dubai to stay in, check out this complete guide to the best places to stay in Dubai.
Disclosures: This is not a sponsored post. We were full paying customers of Rove at the Park, as always all opinions are our own. This page does contain affiliate links, if you purchase anything through these links we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. You can read our full privacy policy and website terms of use here.
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