Great views, nice location - but nightmare journey
White X Beach Lounge – and the new Rixos hotel in which it’s housed – suffers from a brutal double-edged sword. Based at the furthest end of the east crescent of the Palm, the enviable view from White X’s beach loungers is sublime, taking in the sweeping coastline from Knowledge Village to the Burj Al Arab. But this unique location comes at a price: it’s a nightmare to get to. To travel all the way to Atlantis and back round the crescent takes at least 25 minutes, and don’t even talk about the wait for a taxi home.
All this might explain why White X’s tables, loungers and beds were largely empty when we visited on a Friday evening. The view was splendid, the mixed drinks fine (if not exactly cheap), the house tunes surprisingly coherent, but the lack of clientele gave the impression of an off-season resort town.
Another hiccup is the hotel’s frankly baffling customer service. Every time we rang ahead to check the bar had opened we were given a different answer; we were half surprised to find the bar even existed when we arrived. Perhaps it’s little wonder the rest of Dubai hasn’t heard of it yet.
By Rob Garratt
Time Out
Dubai ,
10 April 2012
For more information about White X Beach and Lounge click
here.
