3* fantastic, central hotel with a 5* attitude!
In late 2009 and again in 2010 my father came to Dubai and stayed in the Arabian Park Hotel upon recommendation of his travel agent in Germany... I had heard about the hotel and was aware that it belonged to the Wafi City shopping mall nearby, but so far hadn't had the chance to "inspect" it for VT :-)
The hotel is located in Al Jadaf, which is a stone's through away from the aforementioned Wafi City, Garhoud Bridge and the Creek... it's actually a pretty central location and although the hotel's rating is 3 stars let me tell you: its standards are far higher than that!
My father reports that the rooms were very comfortable and clean, and the staff were all extremely friendly and courteous. The daily breakfast buffet has vastly improved since 2009, and the hotel offers regular free shuttle bus services to the Wafi complex, which has numerous restaurants and cafes.
Unique Quality: The ground floor of the hotel also has a small but sufficient gym and a great bar (where we sat on far too many evenings, talking many hours with far too many drinks... haha!). There is also a lounge and library area with wireless internet access on each of the seven floors, a business centre and private meeting rooms on the first floor, and a well-equipped gymnasium and large salt water swimming pool and terrace area located on the ground floor. This seems to be a very popular hotel with business travellers and tourists alike.
The only complaint or "warning" that my father had is that it's advisable to ask for a bedroom on the 5th floor or above: his room was on one of the lower floors at the front of the hotel, and every morning at 6am a truck was pumping waste water out of the hotel's underground tanks (many buildings in Dubai aren't linked to a proper sewage system, but have tanks instead) so this woke him up every morning.
Overall, the hotel's interiors and facilities are - compared to other 3-star hotels in Dubai - far superior and very impressive indeed. It's quite a new hotel and very modern.
Their motto is: "An affordable business & leisure hotel with a 5-star attitude".
I would definitely recommend the Arabian Park Hotel as a fantastically located hotel with a very, very reasonable price-tag indeed!
--> UPDATE 2010: Every guest of the hotel also receives a Wafi City Welcome card with various vouchers which entitle you to up to 30% discount in the Wafi's numerous restaurants and bars. For more information about Wafi City, visit my seperate tip under "Shopping".
Also, there is a small kiosk/snack bar in the hotel's lobby which is open until approx. midnight where you can purchase soft drinks, chocolate, magazines, newspapers and cigaretts as well as sandwiches and coffee/tea.