The Abu Dhabi EDITION [Master Thread]
 

Hotel website. Opening October 2018.

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/trav...dhabi-edition/

"The hotel features 198 guest rooms and suites, with 57 exclusively serviced residences, for the ultimate haven-away-from-home. The hotel features an infinity pool, and a serene spa and fitness center. Distinctive food and beverage outlets include carefully crafted menus from celebrity chef Tom Aikens across 3 signature restaurant. The Lobby, Library bar and a three-story nightlife venue offer further distinctive social spaces. The hotel also has over 900 square meters of meeting and event space including a boardroom and a ballroom."

The hotel is under a soft opening at the moment. I visited to have a look, as I was having lunch nearby. They will have the grand opening in around a month or so.

Overall I am very impressed. It's great to bring the Edition concept into Abu Dhabi, as there isn't anything else like this in the UAE at the moment. Everything is well designed with neutral colours and natural materials, and the F&B looks like it should be very decent too. There is an Italian restaurant, a health-oriented restaurant, a steakhouse, and a very cozy looking bar.

There are two pools, one on the rooftop on the other building (residences) which will open shortly, and one in the main hotel building on the first floor. It was on the small side but with nice sun loungers and cabanas around the pool.

Standard rooms are reasonably large but pretty standard overall. Loft rooms, of which there are 1 per floor, are more like junior suites and seems to be the ideal room type if you don't need a separate bedroom and living room - very generous airy feeling in the room, and the one I saw had a study area hidden away which was interesting. 1-bedroom suites looked like a very typical suite layout.

See my photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/L2JEwQu89iMErd2Z8

Useful review! Looking at the photos, it really does not say Edition to me at all. It was always going to be difficult in Abu Dhabi, but I see editions as capturing and enhancing some of the coolness of the local area with good design and atmospheric common areas. This looks more like a conference JW Marriott to me.

The rooms were very tasteful, and very much in the Edition spirit. However, I was not a big fan of the lobby - the open atrium design makes it impossible to create a cozy and chic atmosphere. Perhaps the evening would be more atmospheric, and also when there are some people and buzz. The bar and the restaurants looked very nice spaces and should do well.

The trouble with "capturing and enhancing some of the coolness of the local area" is that the local area is Abu Dhabi :p

Thanks for the update w/ pics. Much appreciated.

Cheers.

Marriott press release.

Whoever writes the EDITION press releases is over the top/they're really long, although good info in there. You just have to skip over the flowery language to get to it.

EDITION Makes Its Debut In The Middle East Introducing A New Hotel In One Of The World?s Most Contemporary Cities, A Waterfront Oasis Unlike Anything Abu Dhabi Has Seen Before | Marriott News Center

Reservations are now open with opening rates starting from 750 UAE Dirham ($205), including breakfast*. The hotel will open in preview on 24th October and launch officially on 21st November 2018. *Rates are subject to availability, based on two people sharing one double room.

To make a reservation, please call +971 2 304 7002 or email [email protected] For more information about The Abu Dhabi EDITION, please visit www.editionhotels.com

Any updates regarding amenities for elites? Per official policy: no elite breakfast amenity at Edition.

I don't agree with some of the previous statement regarding offerings in AUH: there was already a Rosewood and a Four Seasons. Same area, similar concept. Pricing is more or less similar. If I can not get any kind of elite amenity at Edition, I rather head towards Rosewood or FS. Pretty sure at least the soft product will be much nicer.

Does anyone have any experience with the Serviced Apartments? There is surprisingly little on the web about them and they seem to only be bookable through Booking.com!

I find this a puzzling comment. By all means go to the FS or Rosewood if you want, but I just don't agree that they are direct substitutes for the Edition.

Location/Area - they are literally at two horizontally opposite ends of the island and takes a good 20-30 minutes to get from one to the other. If you needed to be near Rosewood/FS, you wouldn't stay at the Edition, and v.v.
Concept - again, the concept and aesthetic are completely different. Rosewood/FS is traditional luxury, and Edition is minimalist contemporary luxury. You really couldn't walk into a room at the Edition vs the Rosewood/FS say that they are "similar".
Soft product - I found that service throughout the hotel is much more engaging and proactive at Edition than either the Rosewood or FS. F&B at the Edition is considerably better than anything at the Rosewood

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Having said all that, although I didn't get stuck myself, there is reportedly a serious traffic problem due to roadworks on the (only) road leading to the Edition. If you are keeping to a tight schedule, you may want to give it a miss until the situation improves.

You have to get in touch with them directly. Some colleagues enquired recently and a 2BR runs at around AED 20k per month.

The apartments are designed and furnished in the same way as the hotel rooms, but just bigger, with kitchen, and located on the other wing from the hotel. If you like the aesthetics of the rooms, then you will like the apartments.

Thanks that is very helpful!
And assuming you get access to all of the hotel amenities?

How does the property treat ambassadors (or other elites)? , I understand they are different properties in terms of style and design but would you recommend it over the St Regis AD properties?

Did a quick staycation over the long weekend. Took advantage of their AED 200 F&B credit per stay. Given the total rate of AED 560 (net), this was an excellent deal.



Overall? It is a lukewarm property.



The good: Great hardware.

1. Top class furnishing, carpets, bathrooms, beds, common areas, showers, lounge seats... you name it. It is a (relatively) new hotel and the owners spared no expenses on the quality of the hardware.

2. Great ambient lobby. Some people dislike it, but we loved the openness of it.

3. Good service at F&B sites – Alba Terrace & Library bar. They’re eager to please guests. The steakhouse (Oak room) remain closed due to Covid.



The not so good: Service overall. Lots of “sure, yes of course” / “yes I will take care of that” which lead to radio silence and me left in the dark.

1. Upon check-in, asked for the FD agent (Usama?) to make reservation at Alba Terrace for two at 7PM and also to immediately arrange for a champagne bucket and ice to be sent to my room. Assured that he will do both and ring me back to confirm. No news for 1 hour on either. Try ringing the FD to follow up – no answer. Ended up walking to the restaurant myself to book & ringing room service separately to get the bucket delivered. Usama later called back to say that he was ‘busy’ with other guests.

2. Needed extra amenities (shampoo, conditioner) delivered. It took them 90+ minutes and THREE separate follow-up calls from me + my wife to finally have it delivered. My wife was actually in the bathtub when we made the initial request, to get some more soap. . Suffice to say, she was long done bathing by the time the amenities showed up 90 mins later.

3. The pool is very small for a property of this size with limited seating. If you have been to the pool at the Royal Meridien Abu Dhabi, the one at Edition is probably less than about half the size of that. It is comparable to the Ritz Carlton DIFC (which is a business hotel). There were lots of kids in the pool (no separate kids pool) so I skipped swimming altogether (a shame since this is one of the main reasons I go staycationing)

4. Nothing to do nearby (save for a few cafes and restaurants) and very few taxis at the door to take you out - Ride share apps is your friend! Major construction going on in the area and the roads are a mess.



Probably wouldn’t come back, even with great deals. Small pool, spotty service, and boring neighborhood cannot be compensated by good quality hardware alone.

One of the major drawbacks. No idea what’s planned for the future with all the work going on around the hotel but could struggle without more to do in the area.

Thanks for the review. This is my back up for the Grand Prix if W don’t move my booking.

How are you flying to Abu Dhabi?

Had the new dates booked, BA have cancelled my Abu Dhabi flights today :( looks like for the whole winter season.

Exactly the same thing happened to me today! I’m going to wait and see what the confirmed dates are, and then maybe book flights to Dubai instead.

Any recent stays here?

Duplicate, sorry (bad plane wifi)

Very impressed with the AD Edition team. They upgraded to a standard suite on a stars booking before check-in during EID! Could not have hoped for that. My friend got in the night before and said the breakfast is excellent!

Also, the premier suite runs $50-$100 more but is smaller.

This is probably one of the worst hotels I’ve ever visited

Care to expand?

stayed a couple years ago when it was fairly new.

The genius valet left my car to roast in the sun all day in the scorching heat and damaged my car even though I asked to park it in the garage.

Ridiculous from top to bottom...what a joke, what a circus, bunch of clowns! First and last time ever at an edition. Beware at all costs and stay away by any means!

The long check in time was unnecessary. We were so tired. It was incredibly uncomfortable to wait.

They were playing games and lying about suite availability.

Flies infested lobby and atrium!

Very slow Wi-Fi internet!

The views are ugly. The marina is disgusting and all the boats are old. Construction all around.

Terrible steakhouse restaurant called oak room which I could write an entire book about! Definitely don’t order any steaks from here.

Housekeeping always late.

Very noisy, couldn’t sleep.

Mobile key didn’t even activate even though that’s one of the main reasons I chose to stay here.

No cotton slippers as mentioned on website. When I asked them, they said they will have them delivered but nothing came.

Bad smell from shower water. Informed staff but no action.

Bathroom bidet too small, poorly designed.

Didn’t clean room when asked.

I'm doing a quick three nights in AUH in January, and have preliminarily booked both the RC + EDITION. Similar rates at both. Would love some help choosing which one to keep :p. Any recent experiences?

Bumping this question, does this property provide breakfast for elites?

it doesnt. Book through an Virtuoso agent and you will get breakfast + $100 credit. You will still get the points / nights credited.

Is the breakfast set up still the same since January 2022? When I was there at the start of the year (corporate rate w breakfast included), there was no buffet. You would be seated and provided with a small menu of hot food that you could choose from. The problem was that they had a lot of other options (essentially a full buffet offering) that was not on the menu and you couldn’t help yourself. Had to keep suggesting items with the waiter and he would let me know whether they had it or not. Very strange set up and not at all enjoyable.

More broadly – despite Plat status and booking a paid rate suite, my suite had literally no view of the outside; window was totally covered by plants and shrubbery on the second floor.

Also the location sucks. Luckily I had a car but there doesn’t appear to be much in the area beyond a nice stroll along the marina. Not sure what the value proposition is for this property; I personally can’t see any reason to return.

Any recent stay reports? Wondering how they treat Titanium elites and if they upgrade…

With only 198 rooms? Ambassador or higher if ever.

David

I stayed there last year while I was Titanium and they upgraded me from Deluxe Room to Deluxe Room with Marina View (so basically same room just a slightly better view). I will return to the hotel later this year (now as Ambassador), but I do not have high expectations when it comes to upgrades.

I stayed there during Easter.
The stay was very nice and memorable.
The restaurants offering was very good especially the Oak Room.