Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel and Villas Saadiyat Island REVIEW - MASTER THREAD
Nov 20, 2013, 8:50 pm
#31
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Between AMS and BRU
Posts: 8,852
I'm here now.... And can tell you that when the wind is blowing, like it's today (a bit of a storm, which I would normally enjoy) you don't want to be here !!!
What a clusterxxxx of a design in the rooms where they have left about a 1,5cm gap open between the sliding balcony glass and the wall. It creates a very strong draft throught the room all the way to the entrance. And if that's not enough a very loud "whistle" accompanies it since the air is forced through a small opening there. Only to be rectifief by opening the door of the room completely, but then creating a storm in the room itself...
Impossible to sleep when the wind picked up at about 2am and the howling began. So there you are then, not sleeping in such pricy digs. And I guess with few options as well... another room is probably much of the same since I could hear the wind blowing all through the rooms when walking the halls, mostly with whistles as well. Not a happy camper at the moment
What a clusterxxxx of a design in the rooms where they have left about a 1,5cm gap open between the sliding balcony glass and the wall. It creates a very strong draft throught the room all the way to the entrance. And if that's not enough a very loud "whistle" accompanies it since the air is forced through a small opening there. Only to be rectifief by opening the door of the room completely, but then creating a storm in the room itself...
Impossible to sleep when the wind picked up at about 2am and the howling began. So there you are then, not sleeping in such pricy digs. And I guess with few options as well... another room is probably much of the same since I could hear the wind blowing all through the rooms when walking the halls, mostly with whistles as well. Not a happy camper at the moment
Last edited by RTW1; Nov 20, 2013 at 9:00 pm
Nov 20, 2013, 9:54 pm
#33
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Between AMS and BRU
Posts: 8,852
I've already done that... They are looking into what is available. But I don't really need another room, this one is perfectly fine (although a lot of things are also far from a good design, but I just expect to be able to sleep).
And I'm really not that inclined to complain about a room, but at some point the "howling" was so bad that I also thought an alarm had been triggered. But it was really just the wind forcing itself through the gaps at the door.
One night ruined, the hassle of possibly moving and nothing in a guarantee that the wind will not be howling there as well when it picks up again. It's that my flight is tomorrow with no decent option available to reschedule or else I would run as fast as I could from this soulless place.
Breakfast was very nice though (I really couldn't wish for more). But the water came down from the ceiling at the entrance as well. Guess they only design/build for sunny weather here...
Edit: been offered to upgrade to one of the suites on the 1st floor in the evening, I guess I will take it in the hope that the wind doesn't pick up again or that it will be a bit better... The Ops Manager hinted that another room would be mostly the same though, as I figured when walking the halls this morning and hearing the same howling at different rooms. Really disappointing though.
And as you can see from the picture, simply a stupid design failure (as there are many) by either not fitting the windows correctly or, even worse, an intentional air gap.
And I'm really not that inclined to complain about a room, but at some point the "howling" was so bad that I also thought an alarm had been triggered. But it was really just the wind forcing itself through the gaps at the door.
One night ruined, the hassle of possibly moving and nothing in a guarantee that the wind will not be howling there as well when it picks up again. It's that my flight is tomorrow with no decent option available to reschedule or else I would run as fast as I could from this soulless place.
Breakfast was very nice though (I really couldn't wish for more). But the water came down from the ceiling at the entrance as well. Guess they only design/build for sunny weather here...
Edit: been offered to upgrade to one of the suites on the 1st floor in the evening, I guess I will take it in the hope that the wind doesn't pick up again or that it will be a bit better... The Ops Manager hinted that another room would be mostly the same though, as I figured when walking the halls this morning and hearing the same howling at different rooms. Really disappointing though.
And as you can see from the picture, simply a stupid design failure (as there are many) by either not fitting the windows correctly or, even worse, an intentional air gap.
Last edited by RTW1; Nov 24, 2013 at 8:06 am
Nov 21, 2013, 9:04 am
#34
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Between AMS and BRU
Posts: 8,852
Well they've made a good service recovery... I'm now in a different room, a very nice suite. At least in this one the window frame has been done properly.
I'm a lot hapier than I was this morning, and although I'm now in a subsitantially better room it was an experience I rather would have missed. Weather like last night/this morning probably is exceptional but still.... The FD and Manager claimed ignorance but the staff that made up my room seemed to know exactly what the problem was. And it really was so loud and could be heard in the hallways that it must be a somewhat common problem. I feel my Diamond status has been really helpfull here, otherwise there might not have been much of a solution......
So let's see what another day will bring. I'll do a proper review, with pictures, in a few days when I'm home. That way everybody can make up their own mind.
I'm a lot hapier than I was this morning, and although I'm now in a subsitantially better room it was an experience I rather would have missed. Weather like last night/this morning probably is exceptional but still.... The FD and Manager claimed ignorance but the staff that made up my room seemed to know exactly what the problem was. And it really was so loud and could be heard in the hallways that it must be a somewhat common problem. I feel my Diamond status has been really helpfull here, otherwise there might not have been much of a solution......
So let's see what another day will bring. I'll do a proper review, with pictures, in a few days when I'm home. That way everybody can make up their own mind.
Nov 24, 2013, 8:12 am
#35
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Between AMS and BRU
Posts: 8,852
So I'm back home, and here's my full review.... I tried to be as fair as possible but not being able to sleep for half of my first night might have tainted my overall impression a bit. Although probably not a lot.
Booked my 2 night / 2,5 day stay through the Etihad Holidays / Hala Abu Dhabi agency since they offer a 2 for 1 at a number of hotels when you do a AUH stopover with them. So I got a rather nice rate of €300/$400 for a Park King for the 2 nights including breakfast. About 30% better than I could have done booking directly, and I didn't need the stay credit.
The hotel is about half an hour away by car from the International airport via Yas Island, a bit more when you drive through "downtown" Abu Dhabi. Nice thing is that (valet) parking is free. Location is on Saadiyat Island that is still largely undeveloped and by the looks of it will be so for a very long time. So expect a hotel that is surrounded by a lot of sand, and not much else :-). A very, very nice beach but otherwise you will be a bit of a captive to the hotel unless you want to go traveling for about half an hour to get anywhere. Fortunately it's also a rather big hotel that has all the facilities you need for at least a few days.
I started out in a (basic I presume) Park King on the 3rd floor. Very nice room with everything you can hope for in a room. Plenty of space, a nice big bathroom with a full size bath, and a decent balcony. Plus some fruit and a Nespresso machine.... so far so good. Until halfway through that first night were a storm was raging, not only outside but also inside my (and presumably other) rooms.
After complaining about the incredible loud howling noise inside the room a new room was offered the following evening, this one without any gaps in the sliding doors.
So the second night was in a very nice suite on the 4th floor. A very large living room, the same large bathroom but now also a big bedroom with a walk in closet. And now two balconies overlooking the beach (but also the villas between the hotel and the beach), one for the living room and one for the bedroom. A great upgrade, and a decent night sleep (the wind never was as strong again so that probably was a good thing as well).
So the good:
- A nice new hotel where most things are of very high quality.
- In general a very good staff that responded well to my questions and offered good service.
- A very, very nice beach and pool area. A nice change having an ocean that's actually good for swimming (although also very very salty, way more than I'm used to).
- Very decent quality of restaurants including a very nice breakfast buffet.
- The Diamond offerings: As the amenity, a glass of milk and 4 large chocolate cookies. Something different but nice. And the 4pm checkout was also appreciated.
- A nice spa area.
The not so good:
- Obviously... offering a room where the wind creates a mini storm inside of the room.
- Too massive for my taste which made it very impersonal and felt more like a business environment instead of a place for leisure.
- Too many people so for example at breakfast it felt like a swarm of locust had descended, also big crowds at the beach and the pool.
- Not enough attention to detail for some of the smaller things, like a big nice bath which takes a very long time to fill (not enough water flow plus a faucet that is placed in a bad location creating a mess) and mood lightning in the first room that uses fluorescent lights (creating not exactly the mood I was after).
- The very loud music in the gym (drowned out my own music) and the very basic equipment (the standard Life Fitness crap, no rowing machine and a very basic set of free weights).
- Finding charges for breakfast on my bill at checkout, when the rate I booked included breakfast and it otherwise should have been complimentary for a Diamond as well.
For me the biggest let down was the size of the place which made it feel very impersonal. Combined with all the imported staff, this place could be anywhere.... and that's in my opinion not a good thing.
Location is very remote as well, sometimes that's good for a beach destination... but again in my opinion, not so good when it's all phony and man made.
I also didn't like the mix of guests that were there, might be an incident but during my stay I encountered 80+ % Germans and a lot of the staff also spoke German to them.... again not what I'm after when I'm not in Germany.
So overall I did appreciate the property for the luxury it offered and the great beach. But not for the remoteness and the lack of ambiance.
Even without the problems with my first room I most likely would not have been impressed and it's unlikely I will ever return.
Some pictures to give an impression of what to expect.... but take a look at Google maps as well, so you can see how remote the location actually is.
Some views of the hotel and the beach:
My first room, a Park King on the 3rd floor:
And the second room, a suite on the 4th floor:
Booked my 2 night / 2,5 day stay through the Etihad Holidays / Hala Abu Dhabi agency since they offer a 2 for 1 at a number of hotels when you do a AUH stopover with them. So I got a rather nice rate of €300/$400 for a Park King for the 2 nights including breakfast. About 30% better than I could have done booking directly, and I didn't need the stay credit.
The hotel is about half an hour away by car from the International airport via Yas Island, a bit more when you drive through "downtown" Abu Dhabi. Nice thing is that (valet) parking is free. Location is on Saadiyat Island that is still largely undeveloped and by the looks of it will be so for a very long time. So expect a hotel that is surrounded by a lot of sand, and not much else :-). A very, very nice beach but otherwise you will be a bit of a captive to the hotel unless you want to go traveling for about half an hour to get anywhere. Fortunately it's also a rather big hotel that has all the facilities you need for at least a few days.
I started out in a (basic I presume) Park King on the 3rd floor. Very nice room with everything you can hope for in a room. Plenty of space, a nice big bathroom with a full size bath, and a decent balcony. Plus some fruit and a Nespresso machine.... so far so good. Until halfway through that first night were a storm was raging, not only outside but also inside my (and presumably other) rooms.
After complaining about the incredible loud howling noise inside the room a new room was offered the following evening, this one without any gaps in the sliding doors.
So the second night was in a very nice suite on the 4th floor. A very large living room, the same large bathroom but now also a big bedroom with a walk in closet. And now two balconies overlooking the beach (but also the villas between the hotel and the beach), one for the living room and one for the bedroom. A great upgrade, and a decent night sleep (the wind never was as strong again so that probably was a good thing as well).
So the good:
- A nice new hotel where most things are of very high quality.
- In general a very good staff that responded well to my questions and offered good service.
- A very, very nice beach and pool area. A nice change having an ocean that's actually good for swimming (although also very very salty, way more than I'm used to).
- Very decent quality of restaurants including a very nice breakfast buffet.
- The Diamond offerings: As the amenity, a glass of milk and 4 large chocolate cookies. Something different but nice. And the 4pm checkout was also appreciated.
- A nice spa area.
The not so good:
- Obviously... offering a room where the wind creates a mini storm inside of the room.
- Too massive for my taste which made it very impersonal and felt more like a business environment instead of a place for leisure.
- Too many people so for example at breakfast it felt like a swarm of locust had descended, also big crowds at the beach and the pool.
- Not enough attention to detail for some of the smaller things, like a big nice bath which takes a very long time to fill (not enough water flow plus a faucet that is placed in a bad location creating a mess) and mood lightning in the first room that uses fluorescent lights (creating not exactly the mood I was after).
- The very loud music in the gym (drowned out my own music) and the very basic equipment (the standard Life Fitness crap, no rowing machine and a very basic set of free weights).
- Finding charges for breakfast on my bill at checkout, when the rate I booked included breakfast and it otherwise should have been complimentary for a Diamond as well.
For me the biggest let down was the size of the place which made it feel very impersonal. Combined with all the imported staff, this place could be anywhere.... and that's in my opinion not a good thing.
Location is very remote as well, sometimes that's good for a beach destination... but again in my opinion, not so good when it's all phony and man made.
I also didn't like the mix of guests that were there, might be an incident but during my stay I encountered 80+ % Germans and a lot of the staff also spoke German to them.... again not what I'm after when I'm not in Germany.
So overall I did appreciate the property for the luxury it offered and the great beach. But not for the remoteness and the lack of ambiance.
Even without the problems with my first room I most likely would not have been impressed and it's unlikely I will ever return.
Some pictures to give an impression of what to expect.... but take a look at Google maps as well, so you can see how remote the location actually is.
Some views of the hotel and the beach:
My first room, a Park King on the 3rd floor:
And the second room, a suite on the 4th floor:
Last edited by RTW1; Nov 24, 2013 at 12:38 pm
Jan 4, 2014, 3:44 pm
#36
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: 30 minutes south of EWR
Programs: UA 1k MM;*A Lifetime Gold; Marriott Lifetime Platinum; HiltonHonors Gold. Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 7,816
Thanks for the trip report, RTW1. We are going to be there over Presidents Day Weekend, so it's nice to see what to expect.
We are booked into a Suite.
We are booked into a Suite.
Jan 16, 2014, 4:45 am
#38
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: Gold, plat, diamond and more
Posts: 3,360
Stayed two nights at the hotel in August. Despite being non rev nights, the service and the whole stay was really great. Even got diamond amenity points without asking at check in. Had a standard room, but the quality was as is typical of PH. Top notch. Nice pool/ocean view. Pool area was really nice, but we rather used the private beach which had all facilities. One evening we participated in private reception, which had exclusive sea food, including fresh oysters. The free diamond breakfast was of course great as well. I would really recommend this hotel if you stay for a few days relaxation.
Jan 19, 2014, 5:05 am
#39
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Berlin
Programs: LH FTL, BA Silver, Sixt Platinum, HH Silver
Posts: 51
PH Abu Dhabi
All,
my wife and I are planning to spend some time in Abu Dhabi in May, would you recommend the Park Hyatt for a stay of around 10 days? We have no kids, and are looking at spending our days moving between pool, beach, restaurants and bars.
Have the service issues mentioned above been resolved in the meantime? And: are there still any kind of construction works going on?
Thanks for your help...
my wife and I are planning to spend some time in Abu Dhabi in May, would you recommend the Park Hyatt for a stay of around 10 days? We have no kids, and are looking at spending our days moving between pool, beach, restaurants and bars.
Have the service issues mentioned above been resolved in the meantime? And: are there still any kind of construction works going on?
Thanks for your help...
Jan 19, 2014, 7:06 am
#41
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Berlin
Programs: LH FTL, BA Silver, Sixt Platinum, HH Silver
Posts: 51
However this time we would like to relax and simply do nothing...
Jan 19, 2014, 7:32 am
#42
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Between AMS and BRU
Posts: 8,852
This property isn't bad for doing nothing.... and May is still just in time for that. But essentially you are a bit captive at the hotel due to the location (remote and AUH not really being interesting).
Still in 10 days you will have seen all the restaurants about 3 times, that would be a bit much for me. Even thouhg I liked dining right at the beach. But 5 days for a beach location is normally my max....
Still in 10 days you will have seen all the restaurants about 3 times, that would be a bit much for me. Even thouhg I liked dining right at the beach. But 5 days for a beach location is normally my max....
Jan 19, 2014, 9:13 am
#44
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: Virtuoso, Marriott Stars/Luminous, Hilton Impresario, IHG Luxury & Lifestyle, Hyatt Prive etc
Posts: 2,004
How about a splitting your time between the desert and the beach. 5 nights at Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi and 5 nights at Qasr al Sarab?
Jan 20, 2014, 3:08 am
#45
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Berlin
Programs: LH FTL, BA Silver, Sixt Platinum, HH Silver
Posts: 51
Good idea to split. But I think rather than moving from one remote place to the next, we will go to a fancy and more lively place in Dubai afterwards. Will very likely come with EK anyway...