Groombridge

I spent 4 nights at Anantara Qasr al Sarab at the end of November 2010 and am finally getting around to posting some picturess and writing a quick report.

SUMMARY: So long as you set your expectations for a large resort without personal or warm service, the experience here is a very good one, with high quality accommodation, good food, a SUPERB spa, and most of all, the amazing locale.

So here are some photos of the surrounding location, taken on one of the standard excursions, the sunset dune walk:













FLIGHT to ABU DHABI: Ms. Groombridge and I flew the reasonably priced Etihad business class from London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi, a very pleasant experience from the lounge at Heathrow, which contains a Six Senses spa and provides a complimentary 30-minute treatment prior to boarding. The service on board was superb, as were the amenities (an incredibly wide range of films curated with an eye toward ensuring an ample representation of critically respected movies; meals ordered whenever you wanted, rather than at set meal times).

TRANSFER to RESORT: We booked the transfer through Anantara, and they contract with independent drivers who meet their standard. The quality of the vehicle was good (Audi, Mercedes), and the time from the airport to the resort was much shorter than described, about 90 minutes, a very simple drive on a high quality road. The drivers themselves weren't both superb: for our trip to the resort, all was fine, but for the return trip, we felt the driver was closer to a NYC cab driver, both in personal hygiene and tendency to rapidly accelerate/decelerate for no apparent reason, than was ideal.

RESORT--PUBLIC AREAS: We were told that Abu Dhabi's government sees this resort as an investment in the country's future, a way of building up the tourism infrastructure in the country for the point in time at which oil dries up and can no longer provide the same degree of income for the emirate. So no expense has been spared in making Qasr al Sarab a showcase for indigenous design and culture. Accordingly, the architecture and design of this place are superb, with local techniques used whenever possible and an aesthetic sensibility that is simultaneously exotic and tasteful. This is not a aesthetic comprised of the sort of jewel-like tilework or intricate carving you find in Morocco, but is instead a place of tans and browns, an interplay of thick, flat walls, fortress-like crenellations, and wooden roofs. As you walk about from lobby to accommodation within the main resort complex, there are waterways in every space, long troughs carrying the liquid through the space, with small fountains along the way. In fact, I found the most atmospheric part of the resort to be the open-sky courtyards and walkways within the main resort complex, and quickly stopped using the complimentary buggy service to get to the adjoining villa complex, where we stayed, so pleasurable and evocative were the walks through the complex.

Here's looking out over the main complex:



And here are several shots of the arrival courtyard, with a close-up of the sort of indigenous decor you find throughout the resort:









ACCOMMODATION:

We booked a one-room pool villa, because we wanted a private plunge pool. We were quite happy with the villa, which was beautifully decorated with objet d'art redolent of the area, with appropriately luxurious bed and linens, and effective temperature control. There were some minor quirks: glaring "night lights" leading the way to the bathroom that were so piercing, and with controls so hard to locate, that they housekeeping had frequently found that guests had stacked their luggage in front of the lights to block the glare. Accordingly, they now show guests where the controls for those lights are. Similarly, the bathtub has no lighting, not even candles, around it, so is not really usable in the night-time if you want to bathe in anything other than darkness. But these are small quirks--overall, the pool villas are comfortable accommodation, if you definitely want a plunge pool. The pool villas are all located in a dedicated enclave next to the main resort, and buggy service will quickly and responsively take you from the villa complex to the main resort whenever needed, a short drive or walk. The area with the pool villas is, in my opinion, much less special and evocative than the main complex, since it is simply several rows of free-standing villas, with attempts at landscaping between them (difficult in this environment!). So I felt like I was in a less exotic realm when I was in the pool villa area, almost like a condominium complex in the US . . . and I missed the feeling of other-ness, of being somewhere completely unique, that I felt when walking about the main resort. Accordingly, if I were to do it again, I would book the Deluxe Terrace Room in the main resort complex, as the terraces are enormously atmospheric and viewsome. If you do need a private plunge pool, you might want to request one of the pool villas on the "front row," unlike ours, which looked out over the villas on the lower rows, contributing again to that "condominium complex" feeling of the area.

Here's a view of the "backyard" of the pool villa, with the main resort complex in the background:



And here's the view from the pool villa, looking out over the other rows to the desert beyond:



EXCURSIONS: The resort does not have a significant number of excursions, and they are highly repetitive, so while we had originally booked both a dusk and a dawn dune walk, they are the exact same walks, so we cancelled after having done the dusk one. That said, it's a beautiful excursion: you depart in 4-wheel drive vehicles and drive for 15 minutes out into the dunes until you are surrounded by solitude. We also did the "dune bashing" excursion, which was incredibly memorable, if nauseating. I'm not necessarily prone to motion sickness, but I'd recommend dramamine or some other motion sickness medication if you do this excursion. It's fairly exhilarating: you drive literally right up the side of huge dunes until you can go no more, and then the driver spins the vehicle around and you plunge straight down. I've never done anything like it, and it was thrilling. The excursion I would NOT recommend is riding the camels, which is really underwhelming--you simply ride them along a flat, gravel pathway, so unless you have never been on a camel and simply must, I'd avoid this excursion.

Otherwise, we spent ample time by the pool, where the service was ok but not stellar. The pool itself is so large that it felt quiet and relaxing, despite many people and children there on the weekend days (Fri-Sat). On non-weekend days, we had the place virtually to ourselves. Here's a photo of the pool from the main resort complex above:



FOOD: For breakfast, there is a large buffet with a tremendous array of options. The fine dining restaurant was very good, as was the more casual restaurant, and both had a great atmosphere.

SPA: The spa building is quite impressive, particularly the chain of rooms associated with their hamam treatment. More important, the quality of the treatments, conducted by Thai therapists was superb, making us wish we'd scheduled our treatments for earlier in our stay, as we would certainly have gone back for more.

So altogether, despite the impersonality of the service, which I miss after time in smaller and more intimate resorts, this is a very accomplished resort, and one that provides tremendous access to a really special environment.

NYBanker

Thanks for the detailed post. I've been eyeing this property for some time. While not absolutely perfect, it still seems like a one-in-a-lifetime trip for some kids from the States.

In your picture of the pool complex, it looks like there is another development off in the distance. Is that part of this complex, or another property?

Groombridge

That complex is the "Royal Pavilion," an exclusive part of the Qasr al Sarab resort comprised of 10 Royal Villas. The minimum number of villas to be booked in order to stay in that part is 5 Royal Villas. There's detail about this on their website.

blueline7

Many thanks for the informative and interesting report!

When I was reading it, I could not help but to compare it to my recent stay at the Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa in Dubai.

Although my ability to truly compare the two resorts is limited of course to having only stayed at Al Maha, from your review and pictures it seems that Anantara Qasr al Sarab is clearly superior.

First and foremost, there is no architecture to speak of at Al Maha...whereas the environs depicted and described by you are very impressive.

Secondly, the food was quite average or below at Al Maha, at least to my taste, whereas it seems you were quite happy with the food at al Sarab, which is nice to hear.

One aspect that I am not entirely sure about, is that your description of the rooms seemed to indicate a high degree of satisfaction on your part, but it was not clear to me from the photos of the rooms themselves that I was able to locate on Tripadvisor , whether they were anything particularly special or luxurious. At al Maha for instance, I personally found the bedouin aesthetic a little raggedy, and although spacious, found that the rooms were nothing particularly special, in contrast to the refined taste of an Aman design, for instance. Was wondering if you had any further comments or descriptions of the rooms which would help me understand more how they appeared, etc., because although the general taste seems to be similar to al Maha, it also seems that the rooms were more refined at al Sarab.

In terms of the camel ride, I too found the experience, at al Maha in my case, to be very underwhelming. Similarly, at al Maha in my case, I found that the nature walks - dawn and evening - were repetitive, and especially so once you got out in the dunes for the dune bashing, since the environs and wildlife were explained in the course of that as well. I could not however agree more with you that dune bashing is exhilarating and something to be tried, although the motion sickness is a real issue for many people, resulting in vomiting in fact on a daily basis I understand, from the guides....

Since you were there for many days, I am wondering how you spent your time after trying the activities that you wished to try...i.e. did you not find it a little boring there after a day or two? That was my impression of al Maha at least, especially in the middle of the summer with the heat...

Would love to hear from someone who has stayed at both al Sarab and al Maha...but seems to me that al Sarab is at least one large step, if not more, above al Maha.

Thanks again for taking the time to post your great report, which I find to be very compelling and reliable.

Ericka

Beautiful!

mecabq

Thanks for a great report and pictures. I have also been eyeing this for awhile; the sand dune walk looks like the best reason yet to make the trip.

This is probably because of the speed cameras along the highway. The experienced drivers can spot them easily or know where they are. So I guess your driver was zooming until he came upon a camera -- which is why the drive took less time than advertised!

idaud

Excellent post Groombridge (and not just because I'll be there in 3 weeks time). Lots of useful nuggets of information that will come in handy for my trip.

I had taken note of your earlier suggestion to me in a prior post of considering the deluxe terrace room instead of the 1 bed pool villa but they have upgraded me already and have made sure that I am in the "front row" to avoid the condiminuum feel that you talk about (at my request). I'll take a look at the deluxe terrace whilst there and request a move if necessary.

I am seriously tempted to leave my camera in the suitcase and just use your pictures instead - amazing photography - I don't think my compact will be able to compete!

I have managed my expectations according to the feedback I have received on this resort. It seems that this place will blow you a way if you don't come armed with expectations because of its setting. Here's hoping that the food and the spa are as they were during your visit and if so, there will be no arguments from me.

Thanks again for the once again excellent report.

Jac747

Looks gorgeous and thanks for the detailed report and wonderful photos!

Groombridge

That's terrific that you've received an upgrade to a pool villa--if there's no difference in cost between that and the terrace room, I'm sure you'll appreciate the extra space of the villa, the plunge pool, etc. and will have no regrets at all about not being in the lower-category deluxe terrace room. Enjoy--and please do post about your experience there.

Groombridge

Good questions.

The resort is so new that the rooms are in terrific condition, and were built and designed to high standards and specifications such that I imagine they will retain their good condition even as the months and years pass. I wish I'd taken pictures of the interiors so you could see, but they are very, very nicely decorated, with brass lamps and vessels in niches along the walls of the living room, stone floors with covered with local rugs, beautiful draperies, and so on. I'd describe it as a mix between a high quality Aman and Four Seasons resort interior.

Regarding how we spent our time, we were both looking for ample time lounging by a pool, as an escape from cold weather and relentless work schedules, so we were eager to be at a place where we only had a few activities, and could relax by the pool with good books to read. If you're looking for an array of activities, this is probably not the place for you, as the excursions are limited and repetitive, not nearly as extensive as what Al Maha appears to offer. But if you're wanting to relax in this sort of environment, this resort is a really comfortable and accomplished/impressive option.

vuittonsofstyle

I have been staying at Al Maha ever since it opened, but last time, just after it was taken over by Starwood, I swore I would never stay again. Qasr Al Sarab, however, hooked me right from the start - it is an extraordinary property. You simply cannot compare the quality of this resort with Al Maha, which is pathetic in comparison.

blueline7

Many thanks for this, vuittonsofstyle. You confirmed my suspicions....I too would never go back to al Maha, and thankfully al Sarab seems like a wonderful place for a desert escape.....

Kagehitokiri

great stuff as usual ^
incredible photos

205 rooms isnt too bad

i wonder if service has dropped off some from vuittonsofstyle's stay
wow, sizable from pictures. unfortunately 5-10 villas, at $1K each

vuittonsofstyle

Lots of people I know have stayed at Qasr Al Sarab recently and service is, if anything, even better. OK, not Aman level, but then you would not expect it from a resort this size. Everyone raves about the food and the accommodation.

NYBanker

Thanks.