Local Guides World
IKS
2 reviews on 1 places
Roka is a fantastic concept with beautiful interior and excellent food. Everything is well prepared, fresh, properly presented and the place is very comfortable and pleasant for both lunch and dinner with lots of light and natural elements. We had Sunday brunch so tried quite a few dishes and everything was superb. Like with every other restaurant in Dubai, service is where they fall short. Bunch of people attending the table (mind you, there were as many waiters today as there were occupied tables), which created lots of confusion. Drinks didn't arrive for 30 min, we had do remind 3 different people for drinks to finally be served. Someone who looked like manager spilled wine while serving it. Brunch dishes brought in wrong order, no one ever asked how was the food or bothered to explain the dishes. Check was brought without asking first whether we wanted anything else. No flow of service which is particularly important in fancy restaurants with sharing set menus. It's not a buffet. Just do better guys .. such a shame for a beautiful restaurant like that.. hire people who are trained waiters and assign them tables to take proper care of.
My daughter started at DAA couple of days ago so can't comment yet on the quality of education or my child's experience. I'll update the review at a later date to include more details. So far I have observed the following:
Drop offs and pick ups are a nightmare. We didn't plan two hours a day to get our daughter to and from school that's 5 min from where we live. The traffic is awful as they only planned one tiny access road for a 3000 people school and a massive hospital right next to it. Both my husband and I need to go for drop offs and pick ups in order for one person to stay in the car stuck somewhere near the school while the other person goes to get the kid. It's beyond ridiculous. Given that Dubai is a new city and neither the school nor the hospital have been there for 500 years, I am not sure how they allowed for this poor traffic planning.
Second, we were instructed in one of the many letters we received prior to the school start to get registered with the Slices cafeteria and book meals for kids. After several unsuccessful attempts, writing emails, filing tickets etc, the receptionist at DAA (not terribly kind either) tells us that their site doesn't work yet. It would have been nice to know that in advance to avoid calling and writing emails. Also, why are they not open? Were they surprised that the school started last week of August? They mentioned a website upgrade, which I would expect them to do over the two months kids are out of school.
Thirdly, school uniforms are compulsory and again, it's difficult to get an appointment with a monopolist that sells them. Once we bought them, we found them to be 100% polyester at a premium price.
The school's payment system doesn't update correctly and doesn't reflect the deposit we paid months ago, thus asking for more money than needed when paying tuition. Lots of communication and lengthy emails going out to parents before school start, could have streamlined a bit.
The classroom seems small and very basic, with wooden benches. Transitioning from a nursery environment where kids had plenty of creative and fun space to move around, I am not thrilled my child will be seated there for hours, but let's see how it goes
If they don't do something about the traffic situation and food, we may not continue with them next semester. Given the size of the property, sports and science facilities, this may be a better choice for older kids, not kindergarten age.
Drop offs and pick ups are a nightmare. We didn't plan two hours a day to get our daughter to and from school that's 5 min from where we live. The traffic is awful as they only planned one tiny access road for a 3000 people school and a massive hospital right next to it. Both my husband and I need to go for drop offs and pick ups in order for one person to stay in the car stuck somewhere near the school while the other person goes to get the kid. It's beyond ridiculous. Given that Dubai is a new city and neither the school nor the hospital have been there for 500 years, I am not sure how they allowed for this poor traffic planning.
Second, we were instructed in one of the many letters we received prior to the school start to get registered with the Slices cafeteria and book meals for kids. After several unsuccessful attempts, writing emails, filing tickets etc, the receptionist at DAA (not terribly kind either) tells us that their site doesn't work yet. It would have been nice to know that in advance to avoid calling and writing emails. Also, why are they not open? Were they surprised that the school started last week of August? They mentioned a website upgrade, which I would expect them to do over the two months kids are out of school.
Thirdly, school uniforms are compulsory and again, it's difficult to get an appointment with a monopolist that sells them. Once we bought them, we found them to be 100% polyester at a premium price.
The school's payment system doesn't update correctly and doesn't reflect the deposit we paid months ago, thus asking for more money than needed when paying tuition. Lots of communication and lengthy emails going out to parents before school start, could have streamlined a bit.
The classroom seems small and very basic, with wooden benches. Transitioning from a nursery environment where kids had plenty of creative and fun space to move around, I am not thrilled my child will be seated there for hours, but let's see how it goes
If they don't do something about the traffic situation and food, we may not continue with them next semester. Given the size of the property, sports and science facilities, this may be a better choice for older kids, not kindergarten age.