Waldorf Astoria Ras Al Khaimah: Dubai Luxury, Half the Price

Ras Al Khaimah, an hour up the coast from Dubai, was booked on a whim after the Canary Islands quoted £2,500 for flights and £4,500 for a five-star half-board week during October half term. The Waldorf Astoria RAK came in cheaper than both — for more luxury, more heat, and considerably less wind.

The Verdict

Everything Dubai does, at close to half the price, with a more relaxed edge. Score: 7.9/10. This is now the default UAE choice over Dubai unless a special occasion calls for a waterpark. We'd go back.

The Scorecard

• Sunbeds — 8/10. No mention of a scramble — beach and pool loungers came without the drama seen in Dubai.
• Sand/Beach — 8/10. A huge beach out front, with a golf course alongside — plenty of room to spread out.
• Pool — 7/10. Solid pool offer as part of a relaxed, low-key resort — no complaints logged.
• Food — 8/10. Half-board buffet is good for breakfast and one dinner only; à la carte options (Lexington Grill) are excellent — a chateaubriand for four at £350.
• Service — 7/10. No specific complaints; general tone is relaxed and easy-going throughout.
• Value — 9/10. Roughly half the cost of an equivalent Dubai stay — flights and hotel came in cheaper than a Tenerife alternative.
• Dress code / vibe — 8/10. Quiet, low-key, more relaxed than Dubai — no sense of being upsold at every turn.

The Good

• Roughly half the cost of an equivalent Dubai stay for the same standard of luxury — flights for four on Emirates came to £2,150, against £2,500 for Canary Islands flights alone.
• A huge beach, a golf course out front, and none of the crowding found on Dubai's city beaches.
• Lexington Grill's chateaubriand is outstanding — £350 fed four adults a full steak each, in line with what you'd pay at Gaucho, or less.
• Drinks are noticeably cheaper than Dubai: a bottle of Corona was £6.50 in RAK against £14 in Dubai's Al Qasr/Madinat.
• The pace is slower and less transactional — no sense of being upsold at every turn.

The Bad

• Half-board only covers the buffet restaurant, which is fine for breakfast and one dinner but gets repetitive beyond that — à la carte options (Italian, Japanese, steak) are worth budgeting for separately.
• There is very little to do beyond the resort itself. Tennis courts, football pitches and a marina exist but the area is still building out.
• A desert safari transfer to the conservation gate took 80 minutes each way and cost £150 for a family return, shared on a nine-seater — a reminder that RAK is genuinely remote from Dubai's sights.

The Detail

Book B&B rather than half-board unless the plan is to eat every meal in the hotel buffet — à la carte at Waldorf RAK isn't expensive enough to justify the half-board mark-up, and the buffet options for Italian, Japanese and steak restaurants are reasonably priced on their own. Total food and drink spend for a week on B&B came to around £2,000, roughly double what half-board would have covered, but with much more variety. Beyond the hotel there isn't much to see — a golf course, a large beach, and building work in progress nearby — so this only works as a pure pool-and-beach relaxation trip, not a sightseeing base. A day trip into Dubai for a waterpark or shopping is entirely feasible from here and still cheaper overall than staying in Dubai itself.