ITTN’s Shane Cullen travelled to Dubai with Visit Dubai as part of a travel trade fam trip. The four-night trip included a stay in Caesars Palace Dubai. On his travels, he chats to Bassem Saudy, Head of Global Sales and Business Development, and Candice Yang, Senior Sales Manager, both from Caesars Palace Dubai.
Caesars Palace Dubai
Caesars Palace Dubai offers ultimate luxury and relaxation in stylish and contemporary guest rooms and suites with even the lead-in rooms feeling opulent and spacious.
The beachside resort is located on the vibrant Bluewaters Island with stunning sea views and 500 metres of private beach access. While the complex is large with 479 rooms and suites, it balances size with facilities and isn’t so big that if you forget your sunscreen, you would be gone for half an hour retrieving it from your room. In other words, it’s the right size and for me, the right choice to stay in Dubai. It is also located at the start of “The Walk” a vibrant shopping and dining promenade that runs the length of the Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR).
Interview with Bassem Saudy & Candice Yang, Caesars Palace Dubai
Shane Cullen interviews Bassem Saudy, Head of Global Sales and Business Development, and Candice Yang, Senior Sales Manager, both from Caesars Palace Dubai.
Location, Location, Location
Bassem Saudy explains to Shane, “If you look at Dubai and in general, it’s not easy for the majority of the resorts – you step out of the resort and you’re in the middle of either traffic lights or to get on the metro, you will always need a taxi from your authority of the resorts. For us here [at Caesars Palace Dubai], it’s a walkable distance from here to Jumeirah Beach Residences. It’s 10 minutes to Marina Walk, so it’s a nice promenade. Also here, we have the gallery with restaurants and shops, so it’s really nice and convenient.”
Concerning dining options, Bassem Saudy shared, “You’re not confined to the hotel. You can go for a ramble and we encourage our guests in general to get more familiar with Bluewaters Island as an area because also it’s very upscale. It’s nice – the architecture, you know? Yeah, it takes you a little bit to the modern side of things.
Also, there are different areas of the resort between families and couples. So it’s a nice, lengthy beach and many swimming pools. So if you want to walk also around the resort, it’s really nice and convenient – it’s great.”
Award-winning Spa
To fully unwind, there are bespoke treatments at the award-winning Qua Spa. An 80-minute Swedish Massage will set you back 700 AED (eq. €177) while ladies’ facials start from 650 AED (eq. €165).
Two Halves of a Whole
Candice & Bassem explain the two different sections of the hotel – there are two towers, Palace Tower and Julius Tower. Julius Tower – “It’s more convenient for the family because also, the layout of the room allows that we can place an extra bed”. Also, it is proximate to the kids club facilities. While Palace Tower – “It’s more lifestyle”. Bassem details that the dark wood and marble is a Japanese contemporary design which gives generous space for guests though it doesn’t allow for an extra bed. He expands, “So that’s why we promote more for couples, and the whole design also from the pool, Neptune pool, it’s really nice and you can you see it’s more chilled music. So I would say it’s more convenient for couples definitely.”
Fine Dining & Celebrity Chefs
If you are looking for star quality when it comes to dining, the resort boasts celebrity power in the form of Gordon Ramsay with Hell’s Kitchen Dubai located here. Also on site is celebrity chef Alvin Leung’s Demon Duck offering a creative twist on Chinese and Asian classics. Adding to its culinary offering, the Japanese-themed Takahisa serves authentic sushi and wagyu beef, an Italian-themed Venus Ristorante with a menu inspired by the Amalfi Coast plus the buffet, Bacchanal with a multitude of decadent indulgent dishes. All in all, the resort has a dozen restaurants, bars and lounges including Havana Social Club to keep you fed and watered during your stay.
Bassem answers Shane’s query on the range of high-end restaurants on offer to guests:
Bassem Saudy: “In the Palace Tower, we have actually two celebrity chefs. Of course, Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen is very popular in the UK. Also, we have The Demon Duck which is by Chef Album, Chef Alvin – actually is my favourite. It’s very nice, very cool, trendy, and approachable as well. He comes a lot to the resort, you know, to speak to our guests, get some feedback and always very innovative in his names.”
It offers fun dishes and really quirky cocktails – well worth every cent and Shane would highly recommend it as a whole dining experience.
Bed, Breakfast & Board Basis
Shane asks “When you’re selling the property is it typically on a B&B basis or half board”?
“Depends on the market actually. So we have certain markets that would prefer just bed & breakfast and they are more free to have dinners anywhere outside. And there are plenty of options here and there are certain markets that prefer half-board. So, ideally, I would say central and Western Europe, they prefer half-board, they want to buy a package… then they know what they’re spending for the holiday.” shares Bassem.
Shane asks “And if you do opt for the half board option, you know what restaurants would be included in that?”
Bassam replies, “For the half board option, actually, we’re very flexible with our guests, very generous also in our offering, so we start from our buffet, Bacchanal, which is all the dining breakfast and dinner buffet. Also, we have in this tower, Julius, we have Venus, a very nice Italian restaurant. So, you get credit on the 175 dirhams (eq. €44) per person for this restaurant.
And for also Palace Tower, we have, as I mentioned, Hell’s Kitchen and Demon Duck, you still get also that credit over there.
“Brilliant, so you can use it in any restaurant?” asks Shane.
“That’s right, and Palace Tower guests… they get breakfast in Hell’s Kitchen – a very unique experience, right? A nice à la cart. Of course, everybody knows the special dishes of Gordon Ramsey, especially for breakfast, the egg Benedict and no one says no to that!” exclaims Bassam. And he’s right.
Water, Water Everywhere
Candice explains to Shane the ease at which guests can explore the area via a water taxi, “
“So there is a water taxi which basically belongs to RTA (roads & transportation from Dubai) so it’s official and it departs from Bluewaters Island and you can reach the marina side, i.e. the new harbour”. This overs views of the whole JBR skyline from the ocean and since it’s a local transportation service. It’s very reasonable (c. €1.25) and it takes c. 20 minutes.
Candice adds that there is a schedule and it’s fully air-conditioned as well – follow the link for up-to-date details here.
5-Star Recommendation for Ceasar’s Palace
Mr Saudy sums up the offering, “I think our level of service speaks for itself. We are a five-star, Forbes-recommended resort. So we got awarded for the second year consecutively for 5-star Forbes and Forbes guide. It is all about personalising the experience of the guest. So yes, it’s a very very hard achievement to reach. So we’re very proud of that – that would have been recognised for the second year. And, as I mentioned, the key for us here is the convenience of the location. Even if you’re coming from Abu Dhabi, it’s 45 minutes and you’re in the resort and we welcome guests from all over the world.”
He adds, “The villa is coming up as well. It will definitely elevate the whole resort look and feel and experience in the Palace Tower – a 4-bedroom ultra-luxury villa… I think it will be very convenient and very popular with the footballers.” and explains “We will open it so hopefully either during the summer or Q4 this year.”
