Frugal Expat

Hotel Review: Beach Rotana Hotel in Abu Dhabi

My friends in Dubai decided to spend their weekend here in Abu Dhabi as we didn’t meet since our last birthday road trip in August 2009.

So, they drove to Abu Dhabi on Thursday night and we checked in quite late in Beach Rotana. The rooms assigned to us were on the 7th floor. A strong food smell welcomed us as we stepped out from the elevator. We realized that it was still dinner time and the “Rosebuds”, their all day dining restaurant, is located in the lobby at the heart of the right wing of the hotel. As it is an open-air restaurant, it is not a surprise that the food smell lingers and it is very evident in the corridors of each floor. Luckily, the food smell doesn’t penetrate inside the room.

Perfect pool to take a dip!

It's the Rosebuds Restuarant view from the 7th floor corridor

The soaring atrium of Beach Rotana Hotel

We took one single room and one twin room. The rooms are just enough, not spacious nor too small. It is equipped with modern and chic furniture from the sofa to its note pad holder. I personally like the quality of their bed. It’s large, soft and very comfy. The same with the pillows and duvet – so soft – and the texture is very fine.

The Rosebuds Restuarant

My only comment is the TV set in the room. With such high end quality products in the room, you will somehow expect a better television set like a plasma and flat screen that will go along with the room’s modern ambience. They still have this old “bulky” TV unit.

I actually appreciated this self-explanatory red tag.

Anyway, we slept late because we were busy catching up with each other’s latest gossips and news. The next day we had our breakfast at the “Rosebuds” restaurant. Unfortunately, we woke up very late. So the moment we stepped in the entrance of the restaurant, the waiter approached and bluntly reminded us that they were closing in the next 15 minutes. I wish he informed us in gentler manner.

As we checked in quite late, the turndown service was already done.

We didn’t manage to have a closer look at the breakfast buffet selection. We simply had a quick round then we started filling our plates. Indeed minutes later they began to clear their buffets. We felt the urge to hurry up though we knew that we could still stay longer if wanted to.

Beach Rotana Standard Room

Later we headed to the pool side which was also adjacent to the beach area. There were just few people around though I didn’t swim, my friends did. There is an extensive construction works just meters away from the beachfront. You cannot ignore it because buildings are mushrooming left and right.

The sauna and steam bath area

My other girl friends hit the sauna and steam rooms. There was nothing spectacular about it even for their Jacuzzi but I liked the airy ambience of their locker and changing room.

To sum it up, it was a great weekend and we truly enjoyed our stay.

The beachfront - opposite to that is the Reem Island where extensive construction works are on-going