We spent 2 weeks at the Chaaya Lagoon on Hakuraa Huraa.
I would recommend it without hesitation…rooms were great and the food was fantastic…best AI food I’ve ever had.
It’s a small hotel with 80 rooms on a 6 acre island. Some of the hotels we looked at had 350 rooms (if full that’s 700 people on a small island). At Chaaya Lagoon, we were usually on our own sat in turquoise blue water watching fish. It was quiet and peaceful (except for the group of Italians who stayed for a long weekend…you could hear them across the island and at the other end of the restaurant).
The rooms were water bungalows with a glass panel to watch the fish (there are a handful of beach bungalows too)…could be noisy at night with the water lapping underneath the bungalow though. There was a private balcony with steps down into the lagoon so the wife could sunbathe while I looked for Nemo. There was one occasion when staring at a little fish while snorkeling and I noticed a dark shape near me and crapped myself when an enormous black ray swam past.
Never been to Dubai on holiday but went there for a few days for meetings…wouldn’t go there on holiday to be honest. We ended up watching end of season football matches (I was with 3 Man U supporters) in a bar. The beach bar in the grounds of a western hotel was just full of rich young westerners. Similar to the people on Towie or Made in Chelsea. Perhaps it’s better if your on holiday.
