Five thumbs down for The Banyan Tree Al Wadi:td:
Jul 31, 2011, 3:47 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Abu Dhabi UAE
Programs: EY Plat, IHG Plat Amb
Posts: 895
Five thumbs down for The Banyan Tree Al Wadi:td:
Last weekend we stayed at the Banyan Tree Al Wadi.
Before getting into things I really have to ask this first: How did a group of relatively clever Singaporeans get suckered into this deal?
The Banyan Tree Al Wadi in Ras Al Kaymah, United Arab Emirates. (1 hours from DXB):
Driving up the private, but messy, dessert drive we were shocked to see that the entry gate was marked by a row of large dumpsters.
After arriving at the lobby we noticed that the decorations to the building were somewaht like dessert resorts, but came nowhere close.
We entered the lobby and a central courtyard had one of those marble balls that rotate in it, this one didnt move and the water had fungus.....
Check in took quite some time and after that we were brought to our villa's with a golf buggy.
The room looks OK and is one of the better parts of the experience. Finishes are rather poor, but most things work. The fake nespresso machines do not work, but dont mind calling housekeeping; they know and cant help it.
There is a small plunge pool attached to each villa. The level of the water is however wrong It is elevated from the deck (weird detail).
The pool is very sandy, but that is still OK.
Not OK is the pump room right next door to the pool with noisy pumps running 24/7.
Another funny detail is that all the dessert sand hasnt been cleaned after construction and what you are looking at is actually construction dirt
You will find many things to observa at BTAW that are wrong. The dessert look is for instance full of fire hydrants.
The lists goes on and on. What is Banyan Tree doing at this place? The FF&E package is really bad, service is bad, etc. This place is bad across the board.
On a positive note: The Rainforest spa is a nice idea and the Thai restaurant is not bad for UAE standard.
Do not stay at BTAW.
Drive the other way at stay at Bab al Shams or Qasr al Sarab!:-::-::-::-::-:
Before getting into things I really have to ask this first: How did a group of relatively clever Singaporeans get suckered into this deal?
The Banyan Tree Al Wadi in Ras Al Kaymah, United Arab Emirates. (1 hours from DXB):
Driving up the private, but messy, dessert drive we were shocked to see that the entry gate was marked by a row of large dumpsters.
After arriving at the lobby we noticed that the decorations to the building were somewaht like dessert resorts, but came nowhere close.
We entered the lobby and a central courtyard had one of those marble balls that rotate in it, this one didnt move and the water had fungus.....
Check in took quite some time and after that we were brought to our villa's with a golf buggy.
The room looks OK and is one of the better parts of the experience. Finishes are rather poor, but most things work. The fake nespresso machines do not work, but dont mind calling housekeeping; they know and cant help it.
There is a small plunge pool attached to each villa. The level of the water is however wrong
It is elevated from the deck (weird detail).The pool is very sandy, but that is still OK.
Not OK is the pump room right next door to the pool with noisy pumps running 24/7.
Another funny detail is that all the dessert sand hasnt been cleaned after construction and what you are looking at is actually construction dirt
You will find many things to observa at BTAW that are wrong. The dessert look is for instance full of fire hydrants.
The lists goes on and on. What is Banyan Tree doing at this place?
The FF&E package is really bad, service is bad, etc. This place is bad across the board.On a positive note: The Rainforest spa is a nice idea and the Thai restaurant is not bad for UAE standard.
Do not stay at BTAW.
Drive the other way at stay at Bab al Shams or Qasr al Sarab!:-::-::-::-::-:
Last edited by miles4all; Jul 31, 2011 at 3:50 am Reason: typo
