Visited the Dar al Masyaf in Sept 2011 for 1 week having stayed before at Al Qasr. Yet again had an amazing holiday. We stayed on the half board summer flavours offer which is a great and deal saves you a fortune too.

Loved the happy hour in the villa every day. This was a great way of meeting people and hearing about their experiences in restaurants and on excursions etc. The selection of drinks at the happy hour is great too.

The only problem with this Resort is it spoils you so much you don't want to go anywhere else. Hope to visit again this year.

After staying last year in Al qasar we did decide to go back as this is one of the best hotels in Dubai for few days of relaxations and doing nothing. we had 8 days in dubai so we said 4 days doing and then 4 days in a more central to do shopping all day :)
Arrived around 23.00 we went to al Qasar reception and from there they arranged us to be moved to our villas .We had two rooms one on the first floor (facing the canal I loved it)and one on the second floor both of them were great and very quite so no problems there.
We order breakfasts in the room the people in the reception were great and everything was super clean like every time .
We had an amazing 4 days. We had dinner usually in the souq as there are the best restaurants one of the days we also had snacks in the pool bar but was not as good as the other places but ok
You should defiantly try the meat and co and the Toscana restaurant (Italian) all of them are a little expensive (90 euro for 3 spaghetti and 2 sodas no dessert, wine or beer in Toscana ) but that Dubai .
The evening drinks in the reception area was good as we are 6 people in the group it was fun be all together down there we usually seat outside and play card or other games.
The pool was nice like always but I think this year was colder than last year so it was a little chilly to spend some time in there and that made us a little sad as that was the favorite think to do last time .
Some nights was very busy at the souq but not a problem taking an abra back home as the guest of the hotel were the priority of the people working there (great guys)Make sure you make the round of the canals with the abra especially at nights it is magical … We had a great time . we will be back soon

I stayed in this wonderful hotel in the third week of January with my wife and I agree with many of the reviews that its a very luxurious and enticing place to stay. It does feel exclusive. The room, an Arabian Summerhouse room was wonderful and the maid and butler service very friendly and efficient

We had a couple of excellent meals out on the site including 'The Wharf' and the fairly expensive 'Pier Chic'

As the hotel bills itself as five star top notch in service and luxury I thought the breakfast locations, quality and service were mediocre which is not a great way to start the day. In addition the short period of bad weather was a shock to the hotel as its so rare so it did feel rather busy in all the buildings.

Finally, I did find myself asking people twice for any request I made. They were efficient in taking my orders for meals and drinks etc. They just weren't so efficient at delivery. Most of the time this didn't matter as the hotel delivers its service with an abundance of people serving you

I'd love to give the hotel a five star rating but it needs to iron out the above issues to get that

I found the Dar Al Masyaf at Madinat Jumeirah hotel by accident when I was browsing TripAdvisor, checking out a different hotel which I had been booked into by my agent. Among several indifferent posts was one saying that the writer now knows why he had always patronised the Dar Al Masyaf previously, and would only be returning there in future. I looked it up and found that every post that I saw gave the hotel 5 out of 5 which is unheard of in my experience, and that it was no more expensive than where we had been booked.

I made the switch, but having made the decision on behalf of my wife and friends with whom we were travelling, I was somewhat apprehensive about the choice as I was not at all familiar with the Jumeirah/Madinat area.

But I need not have worried. The Arabian Garden room which we were shown was magnificently large, and beautifully appointed. The entire concept of the complex, where one travels by small boat from villa to restaurant or hotel is enchantingly unique in my experience, and I wonder if not in the world. The villas which each contain 6 rooms, also have an individual butler service which will attend to your every need – booking and recommending restaurants and tours, arranging transfers, etc. The staff are all charming, and live up to the hotel ethos to answer with a smile, and a ‘Yes’ to any query.

I am already looking forward to next time.