Luxury Hotels - Emirates Palace or another choice?

Getting into Abu Dhabi at 8pm on a Tues night and the flight out is at 2am on the Thurs morning...so not that long a stay!

It will be Ramadan during my stay of which I've never experienced, so not sure which hotel would be a better stay

Emirates Palace is clearly the top hotel in Abu Dhabi, and definitely worth a visit. (Well, that statement was true before the opening of the new Park Hyatt and St. Regis on Sadiyaat Island, which I haven't tried.)

It depends what you want to do. The pool and beach at the Emirates Palace are magnificent, and the hotel is on the edge of downtown, as opposed to the more remote locations on Sadiyaat. Room design is a bit kitschy, but attractive. It also has a wide selection of [very pricey] restaurants; if you are interested in exploring local cuisine, I would recommend venturing out of the hotel for at least one dinner. I wouldn't expect pampering service; I would speculate that the Park Hyatt and St. Regis are better, although, being brand-new, maybe they haven't worked out the kinks, either.

During Ramadan, all of the hotels will have the iftar buffets at the break-fast time in the evening. I experienced Emirates Palace's offering a couple of years ago and it was great -- a very lavish spread of food, decoration, and entertainment that is fun to experience at least once. Summer is a good time to be at the Emirates Palace (of course it will be incredibly hot), though during Ramadan you can expect a reduction in services -- many hotels don't serve food and drinks, particularly alcohol, at the pool during the day during the month, and most, if not all, hotels in Abu Dhabi don't serve alcohol any time of day or night. You might check with the hotel on this if it's important to you.

It depends on your budget. You will be at your hotel for less than 24hrs, so you could get better value for money at the cheaper and newer St. Regis on Saadiyat Island. However, as the previous poster mentioned, Emirates Palace is clearly the grandest of all hotels in Abu Dhabi, and I would argue the grandest in the whole of the Middle-East. ^

I would suggest Qasr al Sarab by Anantara, but seeing as you are stretched for time, you better save that for next time.

Many thanks for your replies!

Would have loved to experience an Aman resort, but not enough time!