I haven’t organised a group brunch for a long time….last one was end of last year – City Brunch at the new Westin (which wasn’t all that great, that I couldn’t be bothered writing about it..).
So few weeks ago when a friend was organising his birthday brunch, I thought I’ll put my hand up and offer to do it, since I’m still a lady of leisure ( as leisure-y as you can get with a 10-month old…woohoo 🙂 ). I went through all the brunches on my Ent app, made a few suggestions, and he picked Gastro Kitchen. 241, pool and Beach access it said, perfect.
A bit of googling went, and no info was to be found of this said brunch on their website (If it’s there, please send me the link and I’ll update the post). I managed to find details of it here instead, then went over to their Facebook page to double check if I could reconfirm the details – none. I did however find a number to book. So I rang.
“Tables outside were fully booked,” she said.
“Tables inside still available,” – which was fine.
“Can we have a surprise birthday cake for the birthday boy as well?” – Yes.
She went on to ask if we were going to be using Groupon or Entertainer – Entertainer it is.
Done 🙂
Fast forward to Friday. I got a call at 1pm from the birthday boy saying that there was no reservation made at Gastro Kitchen.
“Fully booked,” they said.
I spoke to the lady, and after giving her my number, my name, all my details, no reservations were found.
“It’s been fully booked for two weeks,” she said.
Frustrated, I went on to explain the whole conversation with the said lady (Dammit, I didn’t get her name) – and after a long time, she managed to get a table for the troupe upstairs at Al Maeda (Thanks). Moroccan Brunch, it seems. Same price. That would do.
How was the Morrocan Brunch?
Would I be able to give an unbiased review of it, considering the embarrassment I had to put the birthday boy through, and myself as well? Sorry no, don’t think so.
Even with the Entertainer, AED 299 with soft drinks (and to be fair, fresh juices, coffee and tea as well) – I thought it was quite overpriced. I’ll give them a bit of credit though – loved the fact that they had pool and beach access. If you’re not a big fan of Moroccon fare ( lamb tagines, couscous, hummus, etc..), I would suggest to give this brunch a pass. Unless Gastro Kitchen was fully booked and you really wanted and pool and beach brunch at the Double Tree, at least do the drinks package so you’ll be happy for the afternoon 🙂
There is no entertainment – it’s all downstairs at Gastro Kitchen. The live music, the kid’s entertainment. So go to Gastro Kitchen instead. Not that I know if it’s good or not either. It’s just one of those ‘grass greener on the other side’ situations.
Oh, and we never got the birthday cake.
What I should have done better?
I should have rang them back to reconfirm, and asked them to send me a confirmation via text and email. I gave them my details, but I never got the confirmation afterwards. So blame it on me, I really should’ve asked them for it. Getting a bit rusty on the organising front, isn’t it. Frustrating, really, when things like this happen. Looking at their Facebook page it seems this is not the first time this has happened, another patron had left a very long upset message on their review section (with no responses from the hotel either….odd!).
Doubletree Hilton, please get the brunch details on the website, or somewhere on your facebook page. Please use one of those automated text or email systems to confirm brunch reservations as well.
Not the best first impressions with the hotel itself (noted that Ramusake and Maine is not under the hotel’s management), though I’ll say – we did love the pool area 🙂 To compare brunches of similar price which includes pool access … I’ll say, give the Rooftop Brunch at The Burj Club in Burj Khalifa a try. No beach, but pool and view… yes. Review to come very soon 😉
- Moroccan Friday Brunch
- Al Maeda Restaurant
- Doubletree Hilton Jumeirah Beach
- Deal : 241 with the Entertainer this month
Disclaimer : We paid for our meals. All thoughts are our own 🙂
Thanks for sharing!