At World Travel Awards Middle East Gala Ceremony 2016 held in Dubai, the home-grown Rotana Hotel brand walked away with an astonishing 15 awards.

This included being named the Middle East’s Leading Hotel Brand for a record-extending tenth straight year.

The Rotana group features numerous brands in their portfolio, including the ‘value for money’ and some might say the business focused Centro hotels.

Phil Blizzard, in Dubai, takes look at what the multi-award winning group has to offer with this category of hotels by visiting the Centro Barsha.

Described as a lifestyle affordable hotel brand, Centro is a contemporary concept aimed at meeting the demands of the new generation of travellers, offering both finesse and functionality at reasonable rates. 

The name Centro suggests a central location and Centro Barsha is certainly that, from both the leisure and business perspectives.

For those on business the Dubai Government Free Zones of Media City, Tecom at Barsha Heights and Internet City are just a short taxi ride away, along with other business enterprises.

Close by is one of Dubai’s finest shopping malls, Mall of the Emirates, with the famous indoor ski resort of Ski Dubai.

So, after a busy day of meetings you could soon be gliding down the snowy slopes or ringing the tills at the multitude of shops with-in the mall.

The hotel itself is very contemporary in design, with generous space in the rooms - especially the one bedroom suite.

This is ideal for long stays since it includes a kitchenette/diner and lounge, separated the bedroom.

This creates more of an apartment feel, but with all the services of the hotel - from housekeeping to diner and recreation.

From that perspective there is the 24 hour takeaway deli, which offers more than just food.

The main restaurant C.Taste is divided into ’ zones’ with the rather traditional ‘all day’ diner, a section outside the restaurant where you can snack and work on a computer, plus the ‘indoor town square’.

This was my favourite for dinner - less bright than the main restaurant ‘the square’ was softly lit with candles and being surrounded by palm trees one felt you were outdoors under the stars.

The staff were attentive and informative with regards the menu - which is either ‘a la carte’ of a themed buffet, which on this occasion was Mexican.

Since the ‘a la carte’ was unfortunately disappointing in what was served the buffet might have been the better choice.

Breakfast, however, was a different story - a mouth-watering array of cold and hot dishes, European and Oriental, live cooking stations along with a sumptuous array of fresh fruit.

With a conference not far way, I wish I had more time to indulge in this fabulous breakfast line-up… next time perhaps.

A next time there certainly will be, since the Centro Barsha is in the right location for both business and leisure stays. 

For me right now, after a busy conference day I am off for a spot of ‘après ski’ at the nearby by Ski Dubai.

What else would you expect from a Blizzard!