I like Vida’s concept. They do things simple, and minimal, and they do it well. Over the last year or so we’ve reviewed quite a few of their outlets as part of an invitation, and would honestly recommend it to friends and workmates. Just recently, we were invited for a staycation at the hotel (yay!). I knew that I would enjoy it, and it wouldn’t be too hard to share about our experience, if I wanted to – so, I accepted 😉

We woke up late on Friday morning, after a night out at Pacha. Met up with two friends who had driven from Abu Dhabi to join us for late breakfast at The Bench in The Pavilion (waves to J and W!). The last time we did the brunch there, it was nearly a year ago now.  Full-house it seems, which shows how it has maintained its popularity, and good reason for that. I opted once more for their eggs benedict with bacon and it was just as good as it was the first time round 🙂

I thought I’ll put the milk holder because it was so cute. No other reason really 😉

After a wander through Emaar showroom with our guests, we bid farewells and headed to Vida for a late check-in. We were booked into their deluxe room, which at 32 square metres was honestly quite compact. Bear in mind that Vida’s concept is simplicity so it was as it is, sufficent and comfortable 🙂

Later in the evening we headed to Stage 2 for some pre-dinner drinks. We’ve been there many moons before as well for their Paired Seafare night – which I do also highly recommend (click here for my review on it). Now what I did not know was they do happy hour everyday from 5-8pm, with beers for only 19AED. I’ve seen 25AED in most bars but 19AED? That’s a great deal! We stayed on their couches indoors as it is getting a little icky outside, isn’t it. If you don’t mind it though, it’s quite nice next to their pool. I thought I’ll be a little adventurous and try their Jack meets Mary drink – which is Jack Daniel’s cooked with Rosemary, mixed with rose water essence. I’m more of a sweet drink usually, so I should’ve known better, ha ha. You might like it though, if you like your whisky? 😉

After 8pm we were allowed to bring our drinks down to 3in1 where dinner was served. Supposedly a Middle Eastern restaurant, the crowd appeared as such as well. The food reminded a lot of what Pavilions serves for dinner (click here for my review on that, June 2014). The tiger prawns was tasty, the steak was however slightly overcooked – G has asked for medium, but it was well-done. Service started out really well when it was fairly empty, but when the place started to fill out we waited for quite a long time for our drinks that never came. She was apologetic, and very sweet about it all so we stayed to finish the drinks that finally appeared, before we headed back upstairs to our room.

It was an early start in the morning and such a good swim in their pool, chilling in their cabana at times.  Ah, how I wish our pool will be operating again!   Breakfast was as it was at The Bench but on a smaller scale, delicious all the same. You order what you want from the menu and they cook it fresh for you. We checked out soon after, feeling absolutely refreshed, and recovered from Pacha 😉 I recommend it for tourists who are looking for a not-too-expensive hotel in Downtown Dubai. It’s a popular spot for business travellers as well. If you haven’t been to Vida, and want to start with a cheap night out – try their Vida Downtown Diva nights every Sunday 🙂 I personally haven’t been, and should probably add it to my ladies night list, soon! Many thanks to Vida for taking care of us 🙂

• Vida Downtown 
• Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard The Old Town, Downtown Dubai
• Tel: +971 4 428 6888 
• Fax: +971 4 428 6999
• Email Us: connect@vida-hotels.com