Review: Ritz Carlton Abu Dhabi

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Review: Ritz Carlton Abu Dhabi

Thanks for continuing on around the world with us as we celebrate my mom’s surprise 75^th! We just left Dubai and made our way via Uber to Abu Dhabi.  Miles and I wanted my folks to see Dubai and enjoy the World’s Highest High Tea, but also wanted them to experience THE BEST first class products the world had to offer, and that meant they had to fly the Apartment, and one of the easiest routes to find space is from Abu Dhabi to London. We couldn’t come through Abu Dhabi and not see the Sheikh Zayed Mosque and you can’t get a location better than the Ritz Carlton Abu Dhabi. 

The resort footprint is massive with a large main hotel structure, villas, and a village area with various restaurants featuring world cuisine.

The Deets:

• When: April 2017
• Where: Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.
• Loyalty: Marriott Rewards
• Status: Platinum
• Rate: 30k per night, per room
• Benefits: “ breakfast”

Check-In

We were greeted by porters and escorted to the Elite desk where our Platinum status was acknowledged. Marriott Rewards Platinum status guarantees club level at a bevy of Marriott properties ( including JW Marriotts which is why we chose it in Beijing over the Ritz), but the Ritz does not guarantee those benefits.

The front desk clerk told us that instead of he couldn’t give us club access, but he would give us breakfast served downstairs at the buffet. I thought this was a nice hat tip, and was appreciated.  This ended up turning into a problem…One that I wrote an entire post about.  The following morning when we arrived to the buffet we were told it wasn’t part of our rate. Ultimately, it was honored, and you can read about the details in my other post, but it turned into a 30-45 minute ordeal that never needed to happen. It was never something we expected until it was offered…anyways.

The Room:

We had adjoining rooms and they were both large with fantastic bathrooms.  My room had two beds and there was PLENTY of space, so much so that they put a loveseat between the beds. What a great idea. On the desk was a welcome note and a little treat. My first impression… 30k points is a steal.  Both rooms had small balconies overlooking the pool and the canal.

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I love Asprey products and I left a generous tip the first night we were there…

Visiting Sheik Zayed Mosque

There are shuttles running throughout the day that the hotel provides. If you end up missing one, the taxi fare is cheap. It’s roughly a 5 minute drive.

Another quirk…The concierge.

I wrote an entire post about this as well. We tried to schedule Afternoon Tea at the Emirates Palace and was told that we couldn’t – they were booked up, but they could do a tea at the hotel. However, when I called the Emirates Palace myself I got a reservation. Hmmmmm.

Food:

The Breakfast

It certainly wasn’t worth the drama over it being free or not. It certainly didn’t compare to the JW Marriott in Beijing, and personally I feel is weak for a “Ritz.”  The physical serving stations felt tired, and the food was good, not great.

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Other Facilities:

Gym

Watching the sunset and listening to the sound of prayer from the Grand Mosque.

I’d highly recommend going to Li Jiang. It’s on the lower level of the hotel and has a great view of the mosque.

Overall:

Would I stay here again?  Yes, but because of the location and price. For 30k points, it’s a fantastic deal and you couldn’t ask for a better location for visiting the Sheikh Zayed Mosque. The actual hotel, accommodations, room, etc are very nice, but we had a couple hiccups with the It’s also roughly a 20 minute drive to the Emirates Palace and Etihad Towers. I would, however, come to the hotel not expecting the traditional Ritz customer experience, and if the rate were to increase I’d go elsewhere.