Staycation review: SO/Uptown Dubai

Written by:
Manaal Fatimah
28th November 2023

A case study of style and substance – that’s SO/ Uptown for you…

SO/ Uptown is the new-on-the-block urban hotel that stands tall in the heart of the city. Stylish and chic, it takes a page or two out of every coffee table book and presents a picture of elegance.

Location

The SO/ Uptown hotel sits in the Uptown Tower in Jumeirah Lakes Towers. It’s an urban getaway through and through, a city hotel soaring upwards to see the rest of JLT’s glittering skyline eye to eye. A winding driveway transports you to the lobby six floors up from the ground, and that’s where your ascent begins.

Look and Feel

SO/ Uptown is a stylish hotel. It is such a stylish hotel in fact, that that really is the best way to describe it. Everything in the lobby drips elegant chic, from the climbing walls of the lobby, printed with a leafy, rainforest-esque wallpaper, to the velvet sofas and the rest of the contemporary, geometric furniture. The colour green is a recurring sight, splashed across most of the space in a deep emerald shade. The hallways are gold and white, featuring Greek-style statues with modern makeovers and enormous coffee table books.

Rooms

We were given a Collection Room on the 41^st floor. The space itself is beautiful, with more velvet and accents of dark, glamorous wallpaper. The wooden wardrobes give the whole look a touch of elegance, while the drop-down lamps and the quirky, cylindrical side tables mix it up. Clearly, SO/ Uptown’s mood is entirely design-led. The aesthetics are paramount – upscale and ‘uptown’- and are flourished by the sweeping views of the city beyond yonder. The bathroom is perhaps just as spacious, elevating the cityscape feel with a view right in the bathtub’s line of sight. White and black marble are the champions, making the already high ceilings of the bathroom feel even higher.

Facilities

SO/ Uptown has all the amenities one would expect at a five-star destination. There’s a picturesque pool complex attached to a lounge, a gym that operates 24 hours, a spa and a salon for some self-care, if you fancy. There is also an element of the corporate here, perhaps because of the cityside location. The ballroom holds capacity for events with up to 600 guests.

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Food and Drink

Restaurants at SO/ Uptown paint a well-rounded picture without the mind-boggling variety of some locations. French-Italian style Brasserie Uptown offers all-day dining and a breath-of-fresh-air breakfast experience. No buffets here – just a curated set menu you can take your breakfast pick from. The Citronelle Club, the Pan-Asian spot with a touch of French is quite the nice bet for a dinner date. The highlights of the menu were the xiao long bao – juicy, warm and comforting – and the duck, cooked to tender perfection and elevated with a myriad of sauces.