I confess to some bias in this review at the Intercontinental group is one of my favourite hotel brands. The consistent standard of service offered all over the world makes it an easy choice.
The Festival City hotel is on the Deira side of Dubai Creek, convenient for the airport and for the Old Town attractions such as the Gold Souk and Heritage Village.
On our visit the hotel was full with people celebrating the Eid al Fitr festival that follows Ramadan, so the atmosphere was very lively both in the hotel and the Festival City Mall, linked to the hotel by an air-conditioned bridge.
Along with the expected boutiques of all sorts, the Mall contains a hypermarket allowing us to stock up with everything for our days out.
We arrived very early but the reception kindly allowed us to check in way before the normal time despite being busy. Our room looked out over the Creek towards the world's tallest building, though the latter was shrouded in a dusty haze.
