The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai

This is a tricky review. I stayed at the Ritz-Carlton from 19-24th Sept 2025. On arrival I was told there was renovation work on the beach by the Dubai Government and it was short notice. That may be true but I’m certain they had enough notice to inform me ahead of time but I suspect they didn’t because they knew it would be off-putting so they waited until I arrived. I heard them telling the same thing to guests checking in on the 24th and the work had been going on many days already so that seems to confirm they were waiting for guests to arrive before informing them. This was my first visit to the Ritz-Carlton and I’d been looking forward to it for months. Sadly the renovation work on the beach had significant impact to my enjoyment of the holiday. It’s was essentially a construction site on the beach with barriers separating sun loungers and sea and guests having to walk through a small gap and across large tyre tracks to get to the sea. Sections of the beach were restricted with the parts that were open not in the best condition with a white scum on the service and some debris and plastic. I’ve no doubt this is temporary due to the ongoing work but it was still very frustrating and disappointing. I feel bad for the Ritz-Carlton as it is the Government and not RC’s fault but when you’re paying a good amount of money for a 5 star holiday it left me feeling deflated. I’d stayed at the Waldorf Astoria the week before so was able to compare both hotels. On my first night at