HIIT or miss? An honest review of SIRO, Dubai's first fitness hotel
If fitness is your passion, SIRO, One Za’abeel Dubai could be the hotel for you…
We treadmill test Dubai’s first fitness + recovery hotel. A holiday where you feel the burn, just not from the sun.
Location
Taking up residence inside the engineering marvel that is the One Za’abeel building, SIRO has managed to carve its own distinct space, jump-squatting-up from its 30th-floor lobby. It’s a Strava pin that places it alongside the sawtoothed towerscape of Downtown Dubai, DIFC and offers elevated vistas that take in The Dubai Frame and Za’abeel Parks.
Look and Feel
Perhaps unsurprisingly for a hotel that has proudly declared itself a space of fitness and recovery – SIRO’s design orbits around core themes of zen and balance. There’s a sense of Scandinavian serenity throughout the communal and living spaces, with soothing ergonomic design touches, zero clutter minimalism and muted organic tones. SIRO subliminally communicates the idea of wellness and clean living so effectively, you honestly feel a few pounds lighter and pretty much purged of cortisol, within moments of arriving. But these calming Yins hide rooms with fiery Yangs. The Experience Box, for example – where you can take HIIT and ‘Sculpt’ classes – is a choreographed thunderstorm of LED lighting.
Rooms
The rooms have been designed to continue this wellness focus, with amenities and features that deliberately contribute to a sound body, sound mind, and sound sleep. We stayed in a Recovery Suite (there are Fitness Suites available for those that need a quick palate cleansing treadmill sesh in between the group cardio workouts) which comes with a private treatment room, special recovery bath, Swedish ladder and a bedroom with soporific sleep-enhancing features. It’s all incredibly luxurious but in a healthy, thoroughly unostentatious, SIRO way.
Facilities
Split between the twin paths of Fitness and Recovery, the facilities at SIRO mean you really can have your cake, eat it, and then burn off the associated calories. Train like a professional sports star taking one of those off-season Dubai breaks, with The Fitness Lab. It operates across a gym and several separate studios, offering up to 50 weekly elite-athlete-conceived classes in HIIT, pilates, cycling and other sweat-baiting activities. On the flip side, The Recovery Lab is part premium spa – part yoga shala, with treatment rooms that offer technologically enhanced rejuvenation techniques, cold-plunges, massages, dry-needling, assisted stretching, compression therapy and skin HIIT.
Food and Drink
SIRO’s own contribution to the edible experience is understandably, holistically minded with a nutritionist on hand to guide you towards making good choices; a Refuel juice bar; curated modular meals; and the outstanding, French-cuisine-focused all-day diner, Aelia. But there’s more. Because the hotel is situated in the One Za’abeel building – guests are just footsteps away from the gastronomic wonderland that is, The Link – with restaurants backed by a constellation of Michelin-recognised talent. So as with everything at SIRO, there are choices – you can take the road paved with tofu and kale, or the naughtier, arguably tastier one of butter and quail.
Rates
The standard rooms and suites packages usually come with group fitness classes included. The treatment sessions are usually chargeable extras, although there’ll soon be periodical offers with more wellness inclusions. The Recovery suite prices start at around Dhs3,400 (plus taxes), but there are lead-in options from Dhs1,200 which includes access to One Za’abeel’s Tapasake pool.
One Za’abeel, Za’abeel. Tel: (0)4 666 1700. sirohotels.com
Images: Provided