Last updated: December 21, 2023
25hours Hotel One Central Dubai is quite simply unlike any other hotel in Dubai. As a hotel guest, every second spent here involves discovering something new, quirky and exciting, so for the inquisitive traveller, it will pique your interest on every level.
The 25hours hotel group has many properties across Europe – each one adopting a different theme through its aesthetics. Located right by the Museum of the Future in the DIFC district, the roots of 25hours Hotel One Central Dubai are deeply embedded in the culture of the ancient Bedouins – nomad travellers with a rich history steeped in tradition. Global architecture and design studio Woods Bagot, along with 25hours Hotels have managed to juxtapose this with a forward thinking modern future, reflecting the area in which it stands and today’s version of Dubai. Take our word on this, it’s difficult to explain but makes perfect sense as soon as you step into the incredible lobby!
Rooms categories include the medium bedouin, large glamping, farmstay suite, artist village suite and Hakawati suite. The Hakawati suite is definitely the most impressive, featuring a double bath tub, dancefloor, two private bars and even a photobooth! But our stay in the more modest glamping room which takes inspiration from urban nomads, was welcoming and comfortable. We loved the natural materials, the Persian rug and wooden flooring and the seriously cute hanging chair, as well as the open wardrobes and rainfall shower.
There’s quirkiniess hidden around every corner of the hotel at 25hours Dubai, from the amazing courtyard space which incorporates the hotel’s restaurants, to the awesome rooftop Monkey Bar, the canopied pool, state-of-the art-gym with outdoor terrace, and The Extra Hour Spa which features the first outdoor mixed use sauna. Celebrity stylist Wassim Steve also has a salon within the hotel which we made full use of for a big bouncy blow-dry before a night out on the town.
It’s no wonder that 25hours One Central attracts the creative crowd. You’ll find thousands and thousands of book dotted throughout the hotel and a stylish co-working space to really get the juices flowing – how could you not feel inspired working in these surroundings?! The incredible courtyard area seemed to attract plenty of clients, with guests and visitors having meetings all day and night – we can only imagine one or two lucrative deals have been pulled off over a coffee and croissant!
We enjoyed breakfast each morning in the cool and Insta-friendly Tandoor Tina restaurant (the hotel has five restaurants in total). Here, there’s a full buffet with literally everything you can think of, along with a separate menu to order from. We loved the shakshuka and the eggs royale – both beautifully cooked and presented. At lunch time, we sampled the true taste of Tandoor Tina with some Northern Indian cuisine to really get the tastebuds working overtime! We enjoyed rich and satisfying butter chicken with enormous chunks of meat, Indian spiced Scotch eggs, mountains of fragrant rice dishes, and they definitely weren’t lying when they christened ‘the really cheesy onion nan!’
We spent early mornings in the gym and even attended a free spin class on the terrace, and then in the afternoons, we indulged in white wines by the pool, kicking back on huge bean bag style loungers. Our only criticism of the entire stay was that the canopy sometimes shades the sun, so if you’re a sun worshipper like us, you’ll need to strategically position yourself, or keep moving round as the sun does! And if you want to get out and explore all that Dubai has to offer, 25hours provides Schindelhauer bikes and access to the hotel’s MINI should you want to step on it.
In the evenings we hit the brand new Monkey Bar – a really cool hangout with curved banquette seating, hanging plants and foliage and a killer cocktail menu – we should know, we definitely worked our way through most of the drinks on there! There’s also a DJ playing on certain nights so you can dance, party and catch up with friends in the coolest of surroundings, and we both agreed that even if we hadn’t been staying at the hotel, we’d still want to visit this cool hotspot which hails from Berlin.
25hours Hotel One Central Dubai is a truly unique experience and I’d urge anyone heading out to the UAE to stay there, because you’ll be blown away by the vision which has been brought to life by both the hotel brand and the design studio.
For the visionary, the traveller and the creative, or perhaps if you’re all three, then you’ve literally arrived in heaven as soon as you walk through the doors. For more information and to book your stay (from £170 per room per night), go to the 25hours Dubai website. To check out our reviews of other Dubai hotels, click here.
