Hotel Review: The Dubai Edition

The Dubai Edition is a luxury boutique hotel with 275 guest rooms and suites located in Downtown Dubai.

I have alway been a fan of Edition Hotels and recently completed a stay at The Bodrum Edition at the tail end of my wedding trip to Istanbul.

The vibe of Edition hotels is elevated, boutique, and much like a new money version of a Ritz Carlton. Given this new Edition was opening in Dubai, a city known for glamour, I was excited to check it out.

The hotel is located in Downtown Dubai, near the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mail, one of the very areas that’s a bit walkable in the city.

Hotel Booking

I was looking to take advantage of a stash of Marriott points I received as part of a recent sign up bonus for the Marriott Bonvoy Explore Card. Sign up bonuses are one of the best ways to increase your points balance so if you are looking to top up see the best credit cards we recommend for every type of traveler.

The time I was looking to book was November 2022, a little while after Marriott made a change to their points award chart.

I found a room, Superior Higher Floor with Balcony, for 159,500 for 2 nights = 79,750 per night.

This is pretty standard for a hotel of this caliber, which I would have expected to be 80,000 points / night anyway. I was only staying for 2 nights so didn’t mind paying the rate.

I was especially surprised to see the cash rate so high. On average the room was going for 3,920 AED that equals about $1,067 per night.

Wow was this expensive for Dubai, but as I soon learned this was just before the Qatar World Cup so the rates were greatly higher than normal. On average you can expect the Dubai Edition to be between $350 – $500 per night, depending on the season you visit.

For this trip the points booking was a no brainer and I was excited for a relaxing two days at the property.

Hotel Overview

I arrived at the hotel in the early afternoon Dubai time, the sun was out and it was a very hot day in the city. The hotel was located just across the street from the entrance to the Dubai Mall, which made it easy to find and my cab driver knew exactly where to go.

Pulling up to the hotel it has a very chic entrance and wasn’t too busy as I pulled up.

As you enter in through the lobby you are greeted by a huge great room that features an Italian inspired Duomo restaurant. While the lobby appears to be quite I noticed it did fill up during the days with lots of people not necessarily guests coming in to enjoy the space.

A signature move of Edition Hotels is a grand spiral staircase and that is not missed at the Dubai Edition. You can’t miss the iconic placement right as you enter the front doors.

As soon as I got to the hotel I decided to do a bit of exploring. I mainly wanted to checkout the pool deck and I approached the 3rd floor lounge where it was located along with the gym and spa.

The pool side area has another bar and lounge that is a great place to unwind and grab a drink. Luckily most of the seats in the lounge are covered and with fans running, something that is definitely needed to get away from the Dubai sun.

There was multiple spaces to hang out by the pool bar and while the hotel was relatively full this area had plenty of space to relax.

Onto the pool area is really where you get the best view and an iconic Dubai sight of the Burj Khalifa. While the pool deck is not huge I thought the view more than made up for it and with chairs lined up straight away there is nothing obstructing your view.

You can really see the size of the hotel from the pool deck with a very bold sign of The Edition on top. Not necessarily on brand but Dubai is known for its skyline so it was no surprise to see the signage.

Another view of the pool deck shows the main seating area that again had plenty of room even in the front to grab a seat.

Thats exactly what I did and took in this view for a bit while relaxing.

I decided to pop into the gym and get a quick workout after and was actually incredibly impressed with the size. The gym was huge by hotel standards and completely empty, an added plus.

There was plenty of equipment and room to workout although this was mid day so I wasn’t surprised to see it so empty.

Room Overview

I was booked in a Standard King Room, Higher Floor, and although I tried for an upgrade based on my Marriott status the hotel was actually fully booked. I didn’t mind though because I was more than happy with my room.

The room featured a king bed, decent space, and all rooms come with a balcony.

My view was of the back of the hotel but I didn’t spend too much time outside anyway given the heat.

The other side of the room shows the bathroom and tub, which also features a see through glass that’s common in trendy hotels these days.

I actually found the use of curtains around the bathroom to be a bit annoying since you don’t get much privacy, even with a small glass sliding door.

Hotel Food

Just like airline food, I always like to try the food offering at the hotel restaurants and room service.

I decided to go classic with a club sandwich and would say this was similar to the one I had at the Bodrum Edition a few months back. A decent sized sandwich but a bit too much going on for me where I think they would really benefit from sticking to less ingredients.

My wife got an Indian curry and this was actually incredible. The flavor was well balanced, not too spicy, and came with a number of side dishes that we enjoyed. Dubai has plenty of Indian food options so I’m not surprised to find good Indian food on a room service menu.

Later on in my stay I checked out the lobby restaurant and to my surprise it was mostly empty every time I passed by.

There were plenty of tables and it had an elegance too it but the lack of crowd made it quite boring to be in.

I ended up not even eating here but decided to hang out outside and grab an espresso. The outdoor area is actually much better than inside, covered in plants and plenty of seating.

Summary & Takeaways

Overall I would say that I had just an ok stay at the Dubai Edition. The hotel did have an additional bar and rooftop restaurant but unfortunately both were closed for the duration of my stay for private events. In fact the first two days of my stay the pool was also closed for the same event.

The Dubai Edition has all the aesthetics of other Edition hotels but the vibe here felt a bit odd and quiet at times. The hotel seems to be catered for events and outsiders to come hangout at vs guests to stay in the hotel. Luckily I booked my stay on points since I would’ve been really disappointed paying over $1k a night here at the cash rate.

The Dubai Edition is still a new property so maybe it will improve over time. Dubai has plenty of luxury hotels to compete with so they don’t have an easy path forward but I’ll plan to check them back out another time to see if it has in fact improved.