Having stayed in Dubai on numerous ocassions and always at the Grosvenor House I was keen to try somewhere different and really wish I hadnt bothered - in fact I actually tried to move elsewhere during our 12 days but due to it being the Dubai World Cup and Easter break this was impossible. We had a 3 bedroom apartment on the 36th floor which was very spacious and well equipped but the finish of the aprtment was not well thought out and looked and felt cheap - it will look very shabby in no time atall. There was some issue with the drainage which also made the aparment smelly. The lifts were completely unable to cope with the number of residents - on several occassions we waited for more than 10 minutes for a lift - unfortunately with a baby and on the 36th floor, walking was not an option. The pool is tiny and the pool area leaves a lot to be desired it is also too small for the size of the hotel. The gym was also tiny and badly designed and equipped, with 2 running machines there was always queues for the equipment. The breakfast restaurant was like a motorway service station and the food not great - this is meant to be a top class hotel and they sit out large packets of cereal on the side for you to pour from......the hotel was meant to be baby friendly but has steps to the front door and no ramp so every time we came in and out we needed help with the buggy. The shuttle bus to the Meridien to use the beach facilities was totally inadequate it ran hourly and there were always queues of people so several trips were required which meant more hanging about - we ended up using a taxi every day which in itself was a chore as the hotel struggles to get taxi's....several occassions we waited ages for a taxi (one evening 20 minutes) in the land of abundant taxi's!!!! The other thing I would say that having never had an insect bite on any previous Dubai trips my legs were covered in bites the 2 nights we ate at the Marina.......Good points - the housekeeping staff were teriffic and you can walk to the Marina which has some good restaurants (none have alcohol licenses so be warned) and a Starbucks! I would not recommend this hotel and I would never return - I think there are lots better places for similar prices....possible its better when not so busy but I doubt it.

Even before leaving we received great service from the reservations team. The only downside was that our room was not ready on arrival however we were there early . due to the wait we were upgraded to a 3 bedroom suite on the 40th floor. the breakfast was excellant and rooms were of an high standard. the staff were very pleasent and extremely helpfull they even gave us a late checkout free of charge.I must mention Mandy Anders who works at the front desk she was extremely helpfull and made sure that our stay was a delightfull one. i would definately stay there again.

Had a great stay at the Harbour Hotel
We booked a 2 bedroom classic apartment we asked for a high floor, and when we arrived we were upgraded to a 3 bedroom Marina/Seaview apartment on the 47th floor.
We were very happy with our apartment there was so much space a large lounge with a large flat screen TV, large table 8 chairs, a large kitchen 3 bedrooms each with an en suite.
The master bedroom also had a large flat screen TV, there was an extra room with a shower room and a utility room.
We had two balconies one was overlooking the Marina and the other overlooking the Sea and the Palm.
The only downside to the Harbour was the breakfast which was part buffet for all fruits, cereals & breads, but for hot food the chefs make all the eggs fresh which were great, but all the food that goes with it was never hot sausages, beans, mushrooms & potato's we asked every morning to make sure it was all hot, and they just couldn't get it right, I know it was very busy but with 2 chefs you had to wait quite a while for a cooked breakfast as it had to be ordered.
The staff were good, the shuttle bus took us to the beach and pool at the Royal Meridien.
The beds in the apartment were so comfortable it was hard to get out of them in the morning.
The bathrooms had all L'ocitane goodies in them and lovely bathrobes.
The spa treatments were good my son had 2 massages he said they were great.
A tip to remember when you get a taxi, get a card from the concierge with the hotel name & address on, as they have changed names from the Marina Hotel to the Harbour hotel some taxi drivers get confused.
The walk to the Marina restaurants and Spinneys supermarket took about 4 minutes.
We had some great meals at Pachanga Hilton Jumeirah, Sloanes at Grosvenor House, The Meat Company at the Madinat Souk, Maya Mexican LRM, The Royal Orchid chinese at the Marina, and Prime Rib LRM my favourite.
While we were in Dubai we went to the Budha Bar, Dubai world Cup horseracing what a great day that was, Barasti Bar at the Mina Seyahi great atmosphere.
Shopping at the Mall of the Emirates, Ibbn Batutta Mall and Karama.
The Harbour was great value for money there were 5 of us and as it was Easter the hotels were very expensive, so we had the best of both worlds the apartment and the use of the LRM beach club and pools.
As this is a fully serviced apartment/hotel the rooms were cleaned everyday and a turn down service every night where they left bottles of water and chocolates by your bed, the whole place was spotless.
We had a great holiday and can't wait to go back to Dubai in August.

Some aspects of this hotel are excellent others average.

The apartments themselves are excellent, spacious and clean. We stayed in a two bedroom classic and had partial sea views/marina and overlooked one of the building sites.

The Azur restaurant was very good, excellent service/food and reasonably priced.

It would be difficult to find this hotel if you asked for the Harbour Hotel - even the large sign outside calls it the Emirates Marina so be worth printing off the map and show to Taxi drivers.

The hotel is surrounded by building work, however I found this quite fascinating and did not interrupt our sleep etc.

There are some nice restaurants etc around the Marina which is a very short walk away.

I believe the hotel was full for the first time since opening when we visited and therefore we encountered problems, as follows:-

- breakfast service was very disorganised, no one seeming to know which tables they were serving etc
- there is not separate service lift and therefore you could wait for some time to get a lift, bearing in mind there are 52 floors
- the hotel have an agreement with Le Royal Meridien, however this is only for a limited number and on a couple of occasions we could not get a pass to visit, would therefore suggest that you get a pass the day before.
- turndown service was very hit and miss, received this twice out of the 5 nights stayed and on the last night bell rang at 10.45 pm

Overall this hotel has a lot to offer and I would stay their again if visiting Dubai.

(Also the Hotel has been given 4* which seems low until you see the Grosvenor/LRM and they are truly 5*)