Despite the painfully high temperatures here in the UAE during the summer months, it does have its benefits. The main benefit is that a lot of people leave the UAE during the summer, and it’s not exactly the most popular destination for tourists due to the extreme heat. This means that you can get great deals on hotel stays and if you have ever been to the UAE you will know that hospitality is something they do very, VERY well here, and the choice of luxurious hotels is endless. This makes staycations very popular here in the UAE, particularly at times when hotels are offering great deals.
Last week was Eid al Adha, a major celebration in the Islamic calendar, so people working for the Government were given a week off work. Therefore, Dan and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to book a little staycation :).
We choose to go to the Park Hyatt Saadiyat Island. This is one of the newer hotels in Abu Dhabi, and given that it is located on Saadiyat Island it has the most beautiful natural beach. A lot of the beaches in Abu Dhabi are man made so don’t always have proper waves or nice white sand, but as Saadiyat is a natural beach the water is crystal clear and the sand is soft and white. It was awarded a blue flag in 2013.
Saadiyat Island contains the Cultural District of Abu Dhabi and is home to the recently opened Louvre Abu Dhabi (along with the Guggenheim in the future), so the area is very much focused on culture, tourism and leisure.
Check In
The best part of a staycation is that you can skip the unpleasant travel aspects such as airports, trains and buses. We jumped into our car and we arrived at Saadiyat Island about 20 minutes later! Bingo!
Like all of the hotels in Abu Dhabi, we just pulled up outside, jumped out of the car and the valet took the car off to park it. Our journey complete lol.
Whilst not entirely to my taste, the decor of the hotel was very stylish and modern. The reception area had a warm and welcoming feel with a lot of dark toned furniture and finishing. The dark tones were however compensated by the beautiful view of the pool and beach that you could see clearly from the reception area as soon as you walked into the hotel.
The check in process was also very pleasant thanks to the really friendly receptionist. He informed us that we had a sea view room which we were delighted about as that was not what we had initially booked, but we weren’t going to argue! On top of this he advised us to call to the reception on our last day to arrange a late check out, which they would be happy to accommodate given that it was a quiet period in the hotel. As we were only staying for 2 nights we definitely welcomed any extra time that we could get at the pool :).
The Suite
Another friendly employee accompanied us to our room with our bags. The main part of the room was styled in an unusual way but it was very impressive and it was a huge space. The bathroom area was my favourite part and in total it was almost as big as the bedroom! It was completely open plan and had a beautiful free-standing bath and rain shower / wet room.
We had a large balcony with a huge day bed / seating area and a stunning beach view :). Given that the temperature was ridiculously high, we most definitely would not be taking advantage of sitting outside unless it was next to the pool but it was still nice to have the option lol
In the evenings when we came back to the room, an ice bucket was always prepared as well as the usual turn down service and replenishment of bottled water and toiletries etc.
The Pool
After a quick coffee in the room on our first day (of course there was a Nespresso machine which seems to be the standard for all nice hotels these days) we headed to the pool.
The pool area was by far the most impressive part of the entire hotel. It contained multiple pools but the main pool which ran from the entrance towards the beach is one of the largest swimming pools in Abu Dhabi. It is lined with palm trees and surrounded by little private areas that contained 2 sun beds each, basically on top of the pool but not in it (if that makes sense) You could just throw your arm or leg off the edge and practically reach the water. It was so, so relaxing and the staff were attentive and brought a constant supply of cold water, cold towels, fresh fruit and ice pops throughout the day :). There was also a little ice cream cart that was wheeled around during the day if you wanted to purchase an ice cream by the pool.
In addition to the main pool, there were also two large kids pools and a number of smaller hot pools dotted along the landscaped areas. We stayed well clear of the hot pools on this occasion, but they looked very pretty at least :).
From the pool area there was a wooden walkway to the beach, which had loads of sun beds and umbrellas. Staff were there to provide towels and cold bottles of water. I really love swimming in the ocean, but I absolutely hate sand and generally don’t like lying on the beach but I had to have a dip in this open water with those big crystal clear waves (even through it was as warm as a bath lol).
We also had an early morning stroll on the beach the next day before it got too hot to walk on the sand.
The entire hotel / pool / beach had a very relaxing and peaceful feel. It was an extremely enjoyable place to be and 3 days definitely wasn’t long enough :(.
The Food
We opted for the full board deal which meant that we had breakfast lunch and dinner included. We ate in the ‘Café’ which is the main all-day dining restaurant. Whilst the lunch and dinner selection wasn’t huge, the food was very good quality which I definitely prefer over a big selection of poor quality food.
The breakfast selection was, however, massive and also really really good quality. There was everything from overnight oats, fresh fruit, breads, eggs, crepes and pancakes to pastries, fresh juices and tea and coffee.
Checkout
We spent two days lounging by the pool with the odd trip to the beach if we were feeling brave enough to face the hot sand and warm water lol. On our last morning we called to reception to confirm our checkout time and they informed us that we could stay until 6pm!!!!!! Hurray! Another day practically! And because we didn’t have a flight to catch or anything like that we spent every extra second that we could there 🙂 lol and this is why I love staycations!
Despite just being 20 minutes from home, we really felt like we had been on a short holiday. There is something about being by the ocean and not being on a schedule that is so refreshing and rejuvenating.
It was such a nice few days and I cannot wait for the next staycation already! 🙂 They are a great way to take advantage of a bank holiday and make you feel like you have been on holiday without all of the extra hassle.