Hilton Corniche Residence, Abu Dhabi

...run by the Hilton, The Hilton Corniche Residence

The apartments are located quite centrally just off The Corniche, what was the coast road until they reclaimed another patch of land, building out into the bay. Thankfully the new strip of land is being used for parks abd public areas, not building. What was The Corniche will now be the Old Corniche and the new seafront road will be called... well, you guess.


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...to cook for themselves, the Hilton Residence does also offer dining facilities.

Hampton's Restaurant is open all meal times, with a simple but sufficient buffet. It is light and bright, with the nice, large Hilton coffee mugs for breakfast. We did start the day there a few times, the breakfast was sufficient without being lavish, with the standard breads, salads, eggs and beef bacon and sausages, plus a japanese selection of soup, ... more

When people think of the United Arab Emirates, most people think of Dubai. However, Dubai is just one of seven emirates that make up the UAE. It is the one that set the standard for growth in the region, but for some people it is increasingly becoming too much. One Palm Island was inspirational, but with a third one now under construction there are many who fear the environmental impact on Jumeirah Beach. The construction frenzy extends down the coast to several new, themed cities, to new residential areas, marinas, the World's tallest building, the World's largest shopping mall, and many ask where it will end. Already there is a price being paid, in severe traffic congestion, and who knows about the other pressures on the infrastructure.

An hour away lies Abu Dhabi, the largest of the seven Emirates and the capital city. Often viewed from Dubai as "smaller", "more sleepy", even "boring", it is certainly less glitzy and has less "WOW!" factor but is also less artificial, less tacky and therefore more real, more genuine and has more soul.

I was in Abu Dhabi for a couple of weeks with the family and, instead of being stuck in a single hotel room, we decided to get ourselves into a serviced apartment and chose a block of apartments run by the Hilton, The Hilton Corniche Residence

The apartments are located quite centrally just off The Corniche, what was the coast road until they reclaimed another patch of land, building out into the bay. Thankfully the new strip of land is being used for parks abd public areas, not building. What was The Corniche will now be the Old Corniche and the new seafront road will be called... well, you guess.

LOBBY AND ARRIVAL
The lobby is simple and basic; after all this is not so much a hotel as serviced apartments, managed by a hotel chain. There is a small coffee shop to one side, a couple of sofas for waiting, and a small reception desk.

We were offered a choice of two apartments when we arrived and they took us to have a quick look at them both before deciding. As it turned out, they were identical so we selected one on a slightly lower floor.

Check in was quick and two porters helped us with our bags up to the apartment.

THE ROOMS
There seems to be two main categories of apartment, or residence. A standard room is a studio apartment, not that much different from a hotel room but with kitchenette facilities. A suite is a two-room apartment.

We had a corner suite which gave us the two rooms, though in fact it was more like three.

The door opened into a small hallway, just big enough to leave a stroller, then a corridor which led to the dining area. Half way along the corridor was a wardrobe which opened to reveal the kitchenette. This really did seem to be a converted wardrobe, but there were all the essentials needed to be able to rustle up an alternative to hotel food. There was a small four-hob electric cooker, a microwave, kettle (with free sachets of tea/coffee) and a small fridge. Above, there were small cupboards with some cups, plates and cutlery. It was tiny, cramped but enough to be self sufficicient.

The other end of the corridor opened into the dining room, with a round, marble-top table and four chairs. At one side was a window looking into the next building, at the other there was a work desk, with power point and a phone socket. The dining room extended into the lounge which had two single armchairs and one double seat sofa clustered around a marble-top coffee table. Across from there was the TV on top of a wooden drawers unit.

Next to the large window, leading to a tiny balcony, overlooking the Corniche building works, was a door to a large, walk-in cupboard with several high, deep shelves, plenty of room to store a number of suitcases or boxes.

A door led through to the bedroom which had a double bed, a little low but comfortable. More storage in the form of a chest of drawers, with another TV. The room was fairly spacious, we got the cot in on one side easily. There were also two further large cupboards for clothes.

Off the bedroom of course was the bathroom with sink, toilet, bidet and a bath with a hand shower plus a built in shower with adjustable nozzle for spray or pounding massage. The only thing I didn't like was the shower gel or shampoo dispenser; such a nice, classy place should not have cheap, tacky soap dispensers in the bathroom!

Tip: The standard rooms are pretty much hotel rooms with a kitchenette. The corner suites have three times the space, with dining area, lounge and bedroom and are well worth the extra money. However, sea-view rooms cost more but are not worth the extra as the main view is of a building site where they are extending the corniche into the sea.
Tip2:There is very limited crockery and cutlery provided, but if you call housekeeping they will supply pans, dishes, salad bowls, and much more - you have to ask.

FACILITIES
So you have a place to live, you are self sufficient with food, so how much more independent can you be here?

The 14th floor is actually the 13th floor, but the lift numbering goes 11, 12, 14. Superstitious? Nah!

On the "14th Floor" are the essentials. There is a Club lounge, which has a nice view over the bay and the building works. There is a good sized TV, several arm chairs, so suitable for socialising and in fact it can get quite busy of an evening.

Next to the lounge is a Computer room with 4 internet PCs each with a printer, plus three laptop plug in points. The printers are often empty of paper, so do bring your own. Frequently I found one set up for use in Japanese or Arabic, and some automatically launch Yahoo Messenger or Skype, but all were perfectly usable.
Tip: Internet access from the computer is free at any time. However if you connect from the apartment, there is a charge.

To the right of the lounge and computer room is a Laundry room, with half a dozen washing machines and dryers, which can all be used without charge. There is even a counter with free soap and detergent, so you can do all the laundry free. (Iron and ironing board are also available, housekeeping will bring them to the room)
Tip: For drycleaning, or other things you cannot do there, the hotel does also offer a laundry service, but there is a cheaper dry cleaners just down the road.

Up on the 19th floor there is a small, outdoor Swimming pool as well as a compact gym, with massage service and even a children's play room. The play room has floor mats, a soft house, some rockers and a few baby toys - not much, but enough to occupy little minds for half an hour while mummy does the ironing!

FOOD AND DRINK
Despite encouraging guests to cook for themselves, the Hilton Residence does also offer dining facilities.

Hampton's Restaurant is open all meal times, with a simple but sufficient buffet. It is light and bright, with the nice, large Hilton coffee mugs for breakfast. We did start the day there a few times, the breakfast was sufficient without being lavish, with the standard breads, salads, eggs and beef bacon and sausages, plus a japanese selection of soup, dried fish and cold omelete. Overall it was nice but the staff were not very visible and very slow at clearing used plates. I resorted to piling up plates on the floor and at one time, when there was nobody around, I cooked my own omelete much to their horror.

The creatively-named Cappucino Cafe in the lobby has drinks and snacks. We never used it though - the one time I spoke to them was to ask for a small jug of milk to take to the room. It took several minutes of explaining and eventually she poured the milk but wanted to charge me $3 so I told her to keep it.

There is a 24-hour Room Service which has a variety of international food from curries to pizza. Prices are not cheap but are respectable and it usually took no more than half an hour.

Alcohol: The Hilton Corniche Residence does not have a bar, and does not supply alcohol. Nor are there any shops that sell alcohol; the law of the UAE (which includes Dubai) is that alcohol is only available in restaurants attached to international hotels. So if you want a drink, bring it in with you - there are duty free shops in the airport Arrivals, before customs!

Tip: There are plenty of restaurants less than ten minutes walk away; Pizza Hut is just behind the hotel; a little further, across the main road is a good Lebanese Restaurant. The Crowne Plaza and Millennum hotels both offer a choice of restaurants. Also being apartments rather than a hotel, they have no objection to food being delivered and the bellboy even brings it to the room. A company called "Room Service" take orders and do delivery from over thirty different restaurants.

SERVICE
After the dump we had stayed in previously, anything would seem good. When we first arrived, everything was excellent; we noticed that the balcony doors didn't lock so we called housekeeping and someone came to fix it within ten minutes. We asked for more hangers and towels, they also came in ten minutes.

However as the days wore on we found that first impressions did not last. Yes the service was generally good, but not exceptional. It took ages to deliver the iron and, when it came, it did not work so we had to ask for another; the long debate to get some milk in the cafe; the slow service in the restaurant; we tried to extend our stay for 24 hours and reception said it was not possible, but when we spoke to the manager it was resolved in five minutes. Overall it was acceptable, the people were certainly pleasant and friendly, but sometimes needed to listen better or to be more professional.

BEACH FACILITIES
Despite being on the Corniche, there is no seafront next to the hotel. However, the "Hiltonia" Beach Club is about a mile and half up the road and offers day-rates. If you are staying at the Hilton Residence, you can get 50% off the day rates - so you pay 25 Dirham ($10) for the day instead of double that. The Beach Club has a good sized pool complete with wet bar, a toddler pool, a beach of course, a play area with slide and seesaw, outdoor and indoor restaurants and changing rooms. Some evenings, the outdoor restaurant has themed buffets (eg Mongolian Barbecue) and on those evenings admission is free if you are dining, but being after sunset the beach and pool are closed.
Tip: Residents' discounted admission is by voucher. Before you leave the hotel, stop at Reception and buy the 50% admission voucher, which you then present at the Hiltonia Beach Club reception. If you don't bring the voucher, you don't get the discount, so stop at reception first!

OUT AND ABOUT
There is quite a lot to do in Abu Dhabi, it is like a smaller, more traditional Dubai. There are two main shopping malls, Abu Dhabi Mall and Marina Mall, which are at opposite ends of the city. The central Souk has a host of small shops, cafes and restaurants. It's worth picking up a "What's On" magazine which gives details on the various buffet nights, themed nights and deals offered by various restaurants as well as everything from Sales to toddler groups. Getting about is easy - taxis are plentiful and cheap - about $2.50 anywhere in town. If you prefer more comfortable, airconditioned taxis call Fast Car or Al Ghazel. If you want to drive yourself, car hire is inexpensive, though parking can be difficult - there are three carparking areas immediately around the hotel and I always found space in one of them.
Tip: When getting a taxi back to the Residence, ask for the "Corniche Residence". if you ask for "The Hilton" you will be taken to the Bayoun Hilton at the other end of town.

SUMMARY
Serviced apartments are quite common and offer a more independent and homely alternative to hotels. The Hilton Corniche Residence offers the best of both worlds: two room apartments, own kitchen facilities, laundry, but with the Hilton standards, restaurants and room service if required plus of course access to a good beach club.

If they can just improve some of the service aspects, it would be one of the best places to stay in Abu Dhabi.
 

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