We recently spent the weekend at the Anantara on the Palm for the perfect weekend of R&R. The 25th of May marked our four year Dubai-anniversary – four years of living in Dubai! We like to celebrate each year with a staycation and this year we decided on the Anantara.
We’ve visited the hotel previously for brunch but when we arrived and the hotel staff took our bags, I was so ready to make the most of the hotel experience. Anantara is a Thai hotel chain and we were greeted with the same Thai hospitality and warmth as you receive in Thailand. We arrived at 10am, even though check in wasn’t until 2, as we wanted to make the most of using the facilities so we headed straight down to the pool.
Surprisingly, the weather in Dubai right now is still perfect and we’re not melting away just yet! It was lovely just laying out, soaking up the sun and reading. Around midday we went for a little walk along the beach front and checked out the over-water villas before heading down to Revo Cafe for a bit of lunch. (I say “a bit” of lunch, I ordered the southern fried chicken sandwich and it was about 15 inches long!)
We were able to check into our room an hour early which was great because we had booked a Premier Lagoon Access Room which meant that we had a terrace with two sun loungers and direct access down into the lagoon pool from our room. It was such a welcome break from the craziness that is Dubai and due to the location of the hotel on the palm, we couldn’t see any of the high rise towers so we really did feel like we were on holiday for the weekend.
The Beach House
The hotel has a great selection of restaurants (all of which are on the Entertainer as well which is a bonus) we were torn between Mekong, the Thai restaurant; Bushmans which is an Australian BBQ and grill or the Beach House which serves Mediterranean cuisine.
We decided to dine at the Beach House for our evening dinner as we won’t have the luxury of dining outside for much longer in Dubai – summer is definitely approaching! The restaurant is set on the beach which has a lovely view of the Marina in the background.
We shared the Beach house Antipasti to start, I had the grilled tiger prawns and Ryan had the seafood pasta – his pasta included prawns, mussels, clams, red snapper, calamari and crab! All of the portion sizes were extremely generous so you should arrive hungry! Our waiter, Nicholas, was extremely friendly and informative of the menu and we never had to ask for anything.
The lagoon access room is open 24 hours so when we got back from dinner the plan was to go for a a night swim. By the time I had my bikini on, Ryan had already fallen asleep on the sun lounger on our terrace! So I went for a little swim in the lagoon which was lovely and then proceeded to fall asleep on the other sunbed. It was so peaceful.
Breakfast
I am such a fan of a breakfast buffet. Lady in the street but a freak at the buffet – that’s me all over 🤣 the selection at this breakfast buffet was great, it had so much choice! I just get too excited and pile so many things on my plate that it ends up a bit of a mess. But everything was super tasty and fuelled us for our next nap out on the terrace!
Our second day was spent between the terrace and the lagoon, we wanted to make the most of our room so requested a later check out. The highlight of the lagoon was the little bar boat that comes along serving up cocktails whilst you’re in the lagoon! I chose a Malibu Coconut, it was heavenly!
We left the palm feeling super relaxed and as though we had actually left Dubai – even though the drive home was only 18 minutes!
Vacays and Sunny Days 