I was a bit apprehensive about this hotel, as I had read all sorts about prostitutes etc in other reviews. I went with my parents who are in their 70's, and I'm 44, left hubby at home because he doesn't like flying. Checked in and we were given adjoining rooms so we had interconnecting doors, which was great as we could mix then shut the door at bed time. The prosititue problem wasn't obvious so I assume thay have 'cleaned' it up!!

The hotel was clean and comfortable, we were given a small fruit basket on arrival which was a nice touch. I had booked through Virgin Holidays and I think we got an excellent rate as it worked out at about £600 for 6 nights including flight and breakfast.

Transferes from the airport were easy. There was always a taxi or hotel car available to go to places, taxi rides were 20 - 30 dibdobs to most places, hotel nice and central for the Souks, Mall of the Emerites is only about 10 mins away, as is the Burj Al Arab.

All staff were polite and approachable and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay.

Mum and I went for a massage 200 dibdobs for an hour - lets just say I don't think they are used to massaging females, or those who just want a massage.... it was the only time the thought of prozzies came into our mind - it was quite funny though and the massage was very good.

My husband and I stayed at this lovely hotel for 3-nights. From the airport it is only a 15 minute drive, and is near all of the hot spots that Dubai has to offer, like Mall of Emirates and Jumeirah Beach. There are a variety of onsite restaurants to choose from, our favorite being the Italian restaurant Don Corleone, which was cozy, affordable, and served the most delicious authentic dishes. We also had the pleasure of watching a movie at the hotel's 8 screen cineplex.

Positives: Great location- just off of Sheikh Zayed Road, about 15 minutes from DXB. The variety of restaurants, 24-hour shoppette to buy any toiletries, snacks, or water. The rooms were spacious and very comfortable. The staff was friendly and overly hospitable. Hotel also offers a free shuttle to the airport and beach.

Negatives: Check-in time is 12 noon, yet when we arrived we had to wait 3-hours for our non-smoking room. This was even after having booked the room over a month in advance with the non-smoking preference. We were however provided a lovely complimentary fruit basket with management's apologies. The layout of the hotel is odd, that when we looked out the window of our suite, we could see the walkway to the restaurants and lobby. This area is enclosed, indoor, and unfortunately is loud with a high ceiling, so the sound of people would echo throughout this area, and unfortunately could be heard through the windows into our room.

Overall, this was a great hotel and we highly recommend it to others.

I stayed at the Metropolitan a few years ago and decided to give it another go. The hotel's location is convenient for business and the facilities are excellent. The guest rooms are spacious and well equipped, with tea/coffee making facilities and a selection of toiletries. The staff were friendly and helpful.

The hotel has a great selection of restaurants. The breakfast buffet offers a vast choice or cooked or cold dishes, lovely fresh fruits, and a whole table full of pastries and breads. The tea was not that great, but they do a nice cafe latte.

The big downside for me as a woman travelling alone on business is the prostitutes. They are not "in your face" and families/couples staying at the hotel might not really be aware of them as they mainly patronise the Rattlesnake where the expats hang out, and occasionally the Red Lion. I have been propositioned by ignorant middle aged English guys when dining alone dressed in conservative business attire. It is not all that pleasant eating alone anyway, but knowing that people are speculating about you and even coming over to hassle you makes dining alone very uncomfortable.

Fortunately the staff at Don Corleone were lovely and made me feel very comfortable. I like this restaurant as you can dine outside, making the most of the warm evenings that we rarely get in the UK! When two dubious Eastern European "ladies" did enter the restaurant (one of whom disappeared for well over half an hour just as her main course arrived) it was clear that the staff were not happy.

I am a bit surprised that the hotel management doesn't address this issue of the prostitutes. This is the only thing that put me off this hotel on my previous visit. This time I gave it another try as the room rate was good value, but I feel more comfortable at the Dusit or the Novotel.

I've stayed at the Metropolitan Hotel in Sheikh Zayed Road twice, last year 2007 I didn't get the chance to know the hotel because it was my first time in Dubai so pretty much a was out of the hotel all the time, if you want visit the city the location is very good, you are close to souqs, malls, airport, etc.

The Metropolitan has two big softball fields so it is perfect for softball players to stay there, my husband arrived a couple of days early and booked a private transportation with the front desk service to pick me up from the airport, they charged him 90 dirhams and the driver never showed up, not even apologize! In any case, I took the normal shuttle and got in the hotel.

The hotel is nice, average compared with other places in Dubai, with more research and time you can find a better place to stay for the same or maybe a little bit more money but it will be worth to do it, the rooms are quite small and dark, the swimming pool area is very nice, not sun after 2.00pm because of the location but still nice, they have a couple of restaurants there with good food but I will suggest to eat out, drinks are also quite cheap.

There are also some bars at the hotel, I agree with other reviews about the prostitution it is really heavy there, they don't respect anything and approach everybody even if they are in couples, if you are bothered about things like that avoid going there.

Finally, at the moment to pay our bill the hotel was charging us an extra 1300 dirhams (that is more than US$250), it was a mistake in the room rate and there was an extra day, we have to spend an hour explaining this to the lady because she refuse to change the invoice, I hear things like that happen very often so make sure to review your bill before charging the cost on your credit card.