Hotel Review: Zabeel House The...

Feel like part of the neighbourhood at this community-focused hotel

Key selling points for travel agents:

Residence-style rooms including The Apartment with kitchen, dining and lounge
In-room amenities include stocked SMEG fridges
Rooftop pan-Asian restaurant
Large gym, spa and co-working spaces
Bikes for guest use

Overview: Perhaps the greatest compliment you can pay to Zabeel House The Greens when it comes to first impressions is that it doesn’t feel like you’ve walked into a hotel, rather a cool co-working space and buzzing neighbourhood cafe. Yet this hotel is part of the prestigious Jumeirah Group, Dubai’s hospitality hero behind beacons of five-star luxury such as Jumeirah Burj Al Arab, Jumeirah Emirates Towers and the new landmark Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab.

Cafe and co-working space

Zabeel House The Greens by Jumeirah is deliberately different. Opened in 2018 as an “upscale casual” brand, this four-star property certainly meets that brief.

Designed for those who appreciate the Jumeirah treatment but want something more urban and contemporary, the hotel is embedded in its location, providing a focal point for local residents in The Greens and the residential tower in the same Onyx building, plus the many business on its doorstep and across the road in Dubai Media City.

There are branded bikes outside to borrow and explore the surroundings, while a quick wander around the Onyx will reveal more dining and retail options.

Bikes to borrow at the entrance

Accommodation: It’s easy to find the discreet hotel reception set amongst the eclectic array of social seating areas and a bijou boutique stocked with local designer items and, after an efficient check in via iPad, guests can explore their chic surroundings.

A friendly member of staff calls the spacious lift, and each room has a small plant on the wall by the door making them all feel residential and personal.

There are 200 rooms and 10 apartments all inspired by contemporary open-plan New York loft living, with large windows, wooden floors, neutral tones, glass dividing walls and industrial-style flourishes. Hard, unfussy surfaces are offset with classy soft furnishings and clever lighting, plus an extensive use of mirrors to open up each space.

Rooms deliver New York loft living

Bathrooms are fashionable and functional, with bathtubs and showers, and comprehensive amenities that are thoughtful and eco-friendly, from bamboo toothbrushes to the lesser-spotted loofah.

Accommodations range from the Popular Room, some with balconies and outdoor seating, to Popular Plus with a dedicated seating area and Studio with a separate lounge. For families, there's a two-bedroom room that sleeps up seven and longer-stay guests might prefer The Apartment with kitchen, dining area and lounge.

All rooms feature functional flourishes such as a SMEG fridge, stockable with minibar must-haves, a coffee machine and kettle.

Rooms are refreshingly practical – think bedside chargers, logical lighting and a flatscreen TV that does not require a Master's degree to operate.

Facilities: Zabeel House ticks all the boxes for millennial travellers. For guests who have to mix work and play with their stay, there’s the bright and comfy co-working space The Study.

There's the excellent Native Club Gym, which is spacious and stacked with state-of-the-art equipment, plus an outdoor gym and two padel courts, while the Native Club Spa offers a range of treatments and sports therapies.

There's also a large outdoor temperature-controlled pool that includes in-pool loungers, plus guests get special rates at Wild Wadi waterpark and the private beach at Jumeirah Zabeel Saray on The Palm.

Swimming pool

F&B: Social Company on the ground floor is aptly named, as a magnet for hotel guests and local residents, where a generous and healthy buffet breakfast by day, and come evening transforms into a community bar, complete with cocktails and street-side terrace. Guests can sample the after-work sharing menu with its selection of small plates, or for dinner try the inventive tapas dishes. Mains include familiar favourites like Grilled Salmon, pasta or the signature Social Steaks.

Upstairs on level four is buzzy hangout Lah Lah, an extensive, award-winning pan-Asian kitchen and bar with a lush and lively interior and large, atmospheric terrace – almost as vast as the menu that encompasses the greatest hits of Asian cuisine, from sushi to bao buns, fragrant curries to signature Peking duck.

Lah Lah terrace

The Lah Lah Tasting Platter for two is a good overview of the regional specialities and kitchen classics, including green papaya salad, vegetable spring roll, grilled duck on vine leaf, chicken satay, chilli prawn and yuzu soft-shell crab for AED170.

Buzzing yet refined, Lah Lah is where hip locals in the know meet for drinks, cocktails and shisha, plus bowls of water for the canine clientele. It can get lively, especially with live DJs and bottomless drinks at the Saturday Evening Brunch.

From AED550 (US$150) per night. Zabeel House The Greens by Jumeirah, The Onyx Tower 3, The Greens, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE. For more information, visit www.jumeirah.com/en/stay/dubai/zabeel-house-the-greens