A few weeks ago I was in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates for a couple of days. Wife and baby came with me. It was only the second time that the little one had been with us in a hotel, so we wondered how he would take to it!
LOCATION The hotel is very central in Abu Dhabi. Coming into the city from the airport it is about a 25 minute drive; coming in on the main road, once you're in the city centre turn right onto Hamdan Street from the first underpass and it's two blocks down on the right hand side.
The street is full of shop, restaurants, cafes and offices. Within five minutes walk there is a Burger King, Starbucks and more. A couple of large malls are within a five minute drive.
ARRIVAL There is an entrance facing onto Hamdan Street but the main entrance is on the other side so if you are coming by car and want to park, or use the valet parking, you need to get to the other side. It's easiest to go past the Crowne Plaza then take the first right then right again.
You enter into a small hallway from where an escalator takes you up to the lobby and reception on the second floor. When we arrived a porter took our bags and loaded them onto a trolley. We went up the escalator to reception where we were greeted by a friendly receptionist. My "Six Continents" card was in one of the bags so we waited for them to appear. And waited.
And waited. Finally I just went back down the escalator to get them myself and found all our things sitting on the trolley, unattended, just inside the door. I was not impressed.
LOBBY & CHECK IN The lobby contains a small lounge area and a cafe. The Reception desk is to the right, from the top of the escalator. The lifts are around the to the left. There is a small concierge desk which was usually unstaffed.
The lobby area is quite small but a very high ceiling, eight floors high, gives it a feeling of space. The check in was very quick once I had retrieved our bags and we were upgraded to a junior suite, which was appreciated.
A quick mention of the lifts, which were a bit confusing. Yes, I do know how to operate a lift! However, there were four; two didn't go below the lobby level. Another one did, but only to the basement, not the ground floor - so when I used it, I appeared in the basement bar! Only one seemed to go to the ground floor. So if we wanted the lift to ground floor, as we had the baby in the stroller, we had to either call the lift, then not get on and call again and wait for the ground-floor lift to show, or else go to the lobby then transfer to another lift.
ROOM The suite was quite well equipped, probably too well filled as it was a bit cramped.
From the doorway there was a small hall area with a sliding cupboard door on the right. When opened, it revealed a six inch deep cupboard containing a fuse box.
The hallway opened into the living room area. In front, facing right was a two seater sofa and behind that a one seat armchair, around the coffee table. The sofa and armchair were upholstered in a very hotel-pattern - rose and beige striped embellished with thin blue and gold stripes. Next to the armchair was a writing desk, which was a reasonable size but the electricity sockets were on the floor behind, not easy to reach.
To the right was a small, round dining table and three chairs. Against the right wall was a kitchenette comprising a kettle, tea and coffee making facilities, a sink and two electric hobs. Beyond that, opposite the sofa, was a TV unit, underneath which was a useful minibar.
It was small, nicely furnished but there was so much in there it felt cramped. We could barely squeeze the stroller between the sofa and the dining table or TV unit.
Between the desk and the TV unit was a door into a small hallway with the bathroom to the right and a suitcase stand on the left. Beyond, was the bedroom which was the same size as the living room but felt much more spacious as it was less cluttered.
The bedroom contained a king sized double bed against the right wall. Opposite, against the left wall, was a chest of drawers opposite with a TV on top. Beyond that was a cupboard containing a trouser press. On the right side was a make-up station for ladies - a shallow archway in the wall, with an inset shelf, large mirror and lights on either side. Bizarrely there was a telephone socket half way down the make up station, but no phone.
The bathroom was reasonable, the bath was full size with jacuzzi vents. The toilet was a bit cramped though. The thing that really annoyed me was that the bathroom had a speaker linked to the bedroom TV, so if the TV was on in the bedroom you could hear it clearly, and loudly, in the bathroom. The trouble was that there was no way to turn it off or even turn the volume down. So half the time I was in the bathroom I was forced to listen to whatever was on TV. And it was usually crap.
Overall the rooms where nice; well furnished, in good condition. The kitchenette was nice. The living room area could have done with a little less, though, as it was crowded and cramped. Also, I really don't want to listen to loud TV while on the bog, so give it a volume control - give us the choice!!!
RESTAURANTS AND BARS Most of the restaurants are up on the 9th floor. The main one, the Garden restaurant, offers buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner. The beakfast buffet was very good, with a wide selection of fresh fruits, salads, and a range of cheese and cold cuts. The cooked section offered poached or scrambled eggs, and even pork bacon and sausages - not very common in the UAE! There was a fresh eggs station and, something quite rare, a juicer machine with a selection of fruits to pop in and press your own fresh juice.
To one side of the Garden restaurant there was also "The Wok", an oriental restaurant, and "The Nine" which offered a choice of modern and Mediteranean cuisine. There was also Vincents cocktail bar.
Down at lobby level there was Capuccino's coffee bar. Down in the basement is Heroes Diner.
FACILITIES The hotel contains the usual fitness cente "Powerfit" which has the usual gym, plus a massage service.
The swimming pool, "Acropoolis" (sigh) is on the rooftop and styled in greco-roman fashion. For those preferring the beach, there is a courtesy shuttle to a nearby beach club where hotel guests have complimentary membership.
On a mezzanine floor there is a beauty salon and hairdresser.
For the business guest the hotel offers a business center on the 17th floor and a range of conference and meeting facilities, 12 meeting rooms accommodating up to 500 seating and a conference centre for up to 350.
OUR STAY When we went to bed at around midnight we heard some grating and bumping noises from above which sounded almost as if someone in the room above us was moving furniture. We didn't think too much of it and fell asleep. At around 5.00am we were woken up by some noise and realised that whatever we heard was still going on, and louder. There were heavy footsteps, sounding like high heels on a tiled floor; the sounds of wheels rumbling across our ceiling. I phoned Reception to complain and it turned out at our room was below the canteen! We were unable to get back to sleep properly, so we dozed until six when the person in the next room decided to have an argument; first it sounded like he was bellowing down the phone (it was one-sided) then he had another with a woman. At 6.30 am we gave up trying to get back to sleep.
Before I set out to the office I went to reception and demanded we be moved to another room for that night. They were very apologetic and obliged, helping my wife to move a little while later and putting a fruit basket in the room. Our second room was identical, except quieter.
The only other comment was that we had ordered a baby cot which was delivered to the room shortly after we arrived. It was broken, though, the frame at one end wouldn't remain straight. However it seemed stable enough and we squeezed it in to one side of the bed and he slept in it quite well. However when we moved room we were given another cot, which was also broken - the base was at an angle, so he slept with his head quite a bit higher than his feet and the didn't sleep very well. How ridiculous that both cots we were given were broken!
SUMMARY Overall we enjoyed our stay. The hotel was nice and comfortable, the rooms was pleasant and the breakfast buffet was very good indeed. Down side was the forgetful porter, noisy first room and broken baby cots. We'd stay there again, but if we get the same room we would not wait for the noise to start!
Ignore the bits below about type of travel etc, I can't file the op without filling them in but the options are not appropriate. I was there for a 2 day business trip, with my family.
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And, obviously, it goes without saying that you took full use of the Powergym and Acropoolis... I will pass on all the obvious puns scattered.. great review though.. As previously discussed, they all look the same right !
scuzz 02.04.2004 11:35
No pun intended I take it? You said about the TV being heard in the toilet was usually crap! Sharon
m.lyon 29.03.2004 11:12
Sounds quite a nice hotal but for the noise!! Great op. Marc
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