Al Qasr, Madinat Jumeirah: A Week in Dubai During Ramadan

A week at Al Qasr, the five-star anchor of the Madinat Jumeirah resort, booked during Ramadan in a Junior Arabian Suite with club-room access. First trip to Dubai, and a test of how the city's dress codes and etiquette hold up during the holy month.

The Verdict

A genuinely excellent resort let down by one very fixable problem, and it is not the one we expected before travelling. Ramadan barely registered; the 6am towel run around the pool defined the week.

The Scorecard

• Booking & Arrival — 9/10 — A complimentary club-level car set the tone before we reached the building. Luggage was handled, and an early arrival ahead of the room being ready was absorbed without fuss, with a spare room offered for the day. This is the row where five-star pricing visibly buys you something.
• Space & Setting — 8/10 — The scale is the selling point. Al Qasr anchors a complex of several Jumeirah hotels and private beaches, stitched together by canal gondolas and free buggies, and it feels genuinely distinct from a standard beach hotel. The deduction is indoors: storage was tight for four people's luggage, with no bedside drawers, one small chest and a shared rail of limited hangers.
• Cleanliness — 8/10 — Nothing went wrong across the week in either the room or the public areas. Solid rather than spotless, and comfortably clear of the 8 we treat as the pass mark.
• Service — 9/10 — Strong from the arrival car onwards and consistent across a very large complex, which is harder than doing it well in one building. Staff were visibly willing throughout.
• Food & Drink — 7/10 — The half-board buffet restaurants are good. The problem is access to the rest: booking the included à la carte restaurants at the times we actually wanted was a struggle all week, which quietly pushes you back toward the buffet. For a five-star half-board rate, that feels restrictive.
• Pool — 6/10 — The pools are perfectly good. This score is entirely a function of what happens around them rather than anything wrong with the water — see the row below.
• Sunbeds & Beach — 6/10 (beds 3, sand 9) — The widest split on any scorecard we've published, and the reason this row is sub-scored rather than averaged into silence. Poolside loungers were unobtainable for the entire week: towels down at 6am, beds sitting empty until 11am, and no staff intervention at any point. It isn't unique to Al Qasr, but seeing it go completely unpoliced at this level is surprising, and a simple reservation time limit would end it. The private beach is the mirror image and scores a 9 — loungers available every day without a fight, clean sand, attentive staff, free ice lollies through the afternoon. The beach is the workaround, and the sea breeze is arguably the better option anyway.
• Extras — 8/10 — Unlimited free entry to Wild Wadi for the length of the stay is the standout inclusion, alongside club-room access and free run of the buggies and gondolas. Wild Wadi itself is smaller than the marketing implies, which makes it a good half-day rather than a full one.
• Feel — 8/10 — Grand, glamorous and canal-laced in a way that justifies the billing. The Ramadan question, which was the main unknown going in, turned out to be a non-issue: shorts, swimwear and normal holiday clothing were fine throughout the resort and in Dubai Mall, provided everyone covered up on top indoors.
• Value — 7/10 — Good for what the resort includes, particularly with Wild Wadi and the wider complex folded in. Dubai pricing still bites once you're inside: £13 for a bottle of beer and £18 for a glass of wine.

Overall: 7.6/10 — Would we go back? Yes, though ideally to another hotel in the same group first, having seen how much of the complex a Madinat stay opens up. Go in expecting to lose the pool-lounger war and to spend your days on the beach instead, and almost nothing else about the week disappoints.

Why this scores higher than it used to: the original card ran seven rows and had no line for booking, cleanliness or the resort itself — three of the strongest parts of the stay. Adding them lifted the total from 7.0 to 7.6. The sunbed failure hasn't been forgiven; it is now a sub-score of 3 inside a row of 6, visible rather than averaged away.

The Good

• Arrival by the complimentary club-level car set the tone — luggage handled, an early check-in accommodated with a spare room for the day despite the room not being ready.
• The private beach delivered every day without a fight: four loungers, clean sand, attentive staff, and free ice lollies handed round through the afternoon.
• The resort itself is vast — several private beaches and hotels within the Jumeirah group, connected by free buggies and canal gondolas.
• Unlimited free entry to Wild Wadi Waterpark is included for the whole stay.
• Dress code during Ramadan turned out to be a non-issue — shorts, swimwear and normal holiday clothing were fine throughout the resort and in Dubai Mall, provided everyone covered up "top" wise indoors.

The Bad

• Sunbeds around the main pool were impossible to get all week. Towels were put down at 6am and the loungers sat empty until 11am, with no policing of the practice.
• Room storage was tight for a group of four's luggage — no bedside drawers, one small chest, and a wardrobe rail with limited hangers between everyone.
• Booking the included à la carte restaurants at the times wanted was a struggle; the half-board deal effectively pushes guests back toward the buffet, which felt restrictive for a five-star stay.
• Drinks pricing stings — £13 for a bottle of beer, £18 for a glass of wine.

The Detail

The sunbed situation is the one real mark against this stay. It's not unique to Al Qasr, but it was surprising to see it go completely unpoliced at this level of hotel — a simple limit on reservation time would fix it. The beach is the workaround: loungers there were available daily with no drama, and the sea breeze is arguably nicer than the pool deck anyway. On food, half-board buys breakfast and dinner in the included restaurants, but pre-booking the better tables a week ahead is worth doing before arrival — turning up and hoping for a slot leads to falling back on the international buffet more often than planned. Total extra spend on upgraded dining, snacks and drinks for the week came to £1,150 on top of half-board. On dress code specifically: despite this being a Ramadan stay, there was no need to dramatically adjust wardrobe — shorts and polo shirts by day, smarter casual with trainers or boat shoes in the evening, swimwear at the beach and pool, cover-ups required only when walking through hotel interiors.