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-   Trip Reports (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports-177/)
-   -   One Night At A Desert Resort (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1991215-one-night-desert-resort.html)

DanielW Oct 14, 2019 1:50 am
One Night At A Desert Resort
 
A weekend trip to Telal Resort in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi.

My previous trip report's can be found below:

A Trip to Afghanistan
A Journey Through Kyrgyzstan
A Trip Around The Arabian Gulf
A Trip To Yemen
A Trip To Jordan & Israel
A Southern African Adventure
Road Trip to Saudi Arabia & Qatar
Five Days In Japan
Underground In New Zealand
A Trip To Iran
A Trip Around The Mediterranean
A Long Weekend In Paris
A Trip To Ukraine, Belarus & Russia
A Trip To Kenya & Tanzania
Beautiful Thailand
To Muscat For A Travel Magazine
Everest in Full Picture
A Trip To Bali & Dili
A Trip To Northern Iraq
Winter Trip To Europe
Christmas In Mogadishu
A Trip To Sudan
A Trip To DR Congo & Rwanda
Twelve Days Across Africa
A Trip To Lebanon
A Long Weekend In Prague
A Trip To Laos, Vietnam & Hong Kong
Off Road In Kazakhstan
A Trip To Turkmenistan
Six Days In Sri Lanka
A Trip To Copenhagen & Stockholm
Sixteen Days In West Africa
A Trip To Maldives
A Trip To Armenia & Nagorno-Karabakh
To The Frontlines Against ISIS
A Weekend In Baku
Return To New Zealand Via South-East Asia
Three Days In Georgia
A Trip To Bulgaria
A Trip To Iceland & Greenland
Back To Southern Africa
A Trip To Canada
A Trip To Eritrea
A Trip To Romania
A Trip To Djibouti
A Trip To Bangladesh
Three Days In Mexico City
A Trip To Havana
New York, New York
Relaxing In Seychelles
Four Days In Namibia
Frankfurt To Bruges
Nine Days In Brazil
Sarajevo To Dubrovnik
Three Days In Libya
Four Days In Hong Kong
Six Days In Ethiopia
Baghdad To Basra
Chișinău To Odessa
A Trip To Bhutan
Karachi To Peshawar
Eight Days In Argentina
A Trip To Colombia
A Tourist In North Korea
Venice To Zagreb
Sixteen Days In Central America
Nine Days In Norway

DanielW Oct 14, 2019 1:50 am

Day 1.

Fuelling up the car on Friday just after midday, ready for the drive to Al Ain.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...2/XL/01-XL.jpg

But not before stocking up on some drinks and snacks for the trip.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...8/XL/02-XL.jpg

Telal Resort was located just west of the city of Al Ain with a just under 2 hour drive from Dubai.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...3/XL/03-XL.jpg

I managed to find a good Ramadan deal for one night at Telal Resort for only $247 including breakfast. With our first anniversary coming up I booked a night there for a weekend getaway in Al Ain.

Heading south down the E75 Truck Road.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...f/XL/04-XL.jpg

And crossing into Al Ain on the E16 highway.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...c/XL/05-XL.jpg

Making good time on the E22 Abu Dhabi - Al Ain Highway where the speed limit is a generous 160 kph.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...4/XL/06-XL.jpg

Turning left for the Telal Resort. Telal in Arabic means exquisite, rare and beautiful.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...1/XL/07-XL.jpg

And arriving in the front entrance just after 2:30pm.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...e/XL/08-XL.jpg

We then drove up the hill to the main reception area.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...2/XL/09-XL.jpg

Some awards the five star resort had won on display at the front entrance.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...a/XL/10-XL.jpg

And inside where we completed the usual check-in formalities.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...8/XL/11-XL.jpg

The official check-in time wasn't until 4pm (with check-out of 2pm) but they said we were welcome to relax by the pool until then and that they would notify us when our room would be ready.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...2/XL/12-XL.jpg

And taking a dip. Although the summer temperature was 40°C the pool was chilled to a nice and bearable 30°C.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...2/XL/13-XL.jpg

Enjoying a cool mojito while relaxing on a lounger under a sun lounger.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...5/XL/14-XL.jpg

At 3:30pm our room was ready. As our villa was one kilometre from reception so they had a fleet of Toyota 4WD's to shuttle guests about.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...6/XL/15-XL.jpg

Looking down on the 23-room resort. Our one bedroom villa is on the far bottom-left.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...b/XL/16-XL.jpg

And our room, 1007, just to the right.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...6/XL/17-XL.jpg

And inside the beautifully decorated room.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...d/XL/18-XL.jpg

Complete with bed covered in rose petals.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...e/XL/19-XL.jpg

And a single red rose on each pillow.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...b/XL/20-XL.jpg

The bathroom with the bathtub carved out of a single piece of granite. It was easy to see why the full rate for the room was over $500 per night!
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...7/XL/21-XL.jpg

The toilet and bidet.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...a/XL/22-XL.jpg

Complete with Ormonde Jayne toiletries.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...b/XL/23-XL.jpg

We the then went our for a walk to enjoy the surrounding desert landscape.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...d/XL/24-XL.jpg

The resident antelope in the dunes and palm trees.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...1/XL/25-XL.jpg

A local shepherd and his herd of camels top-right wandering the desert dunes.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...6/XL/26-XL.jpg

Long shadows beginning to form over the dunes as the sun begins to set.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...8/XL/27-XL.jpg

A trio of antelope just outside our room at dusk.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...3/XL/28-XL.jpg

We then got a surprise knock at the door with the delivery of some complimentary cake, chocolate-dipped strawberries and baklava!
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...f/XL/29-XL.jpg

Although the temperature was still above 30°C we couldn't resist lighting up our own personal fire bed.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...b/XL/30-XL.jpg

After calling up for a ride back to the main hotel building, we took a seat at the Desert Gate restaurant for some dinner.

They had an outdoor grill where you could pick from a range of meat cuts of lamb, kofta, beef and chicken which they could barbecue for you.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...0/XL/31-XL.jpg

And about to enjoy a very tasty dinner from the extensive iftar offering.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...0/XL/32-XL.jpg

We couldn't resist indulging in some of the amazing desserts before retiring back to our villa at the end of a great Friday.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...f/XL/33-XL.jpg


Day 2.

After a relaxing sleep we managed to get out of bed just before 8am. It was overcast today and it took the edge off the summer sun.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...f/XL/34-XL.jpg

A short walk from our villa was the resort lake.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...0/XL/35-XL.jpg

Complete with some beautiful white swans. I was hestant getting too close but they were relatively pleasant and quite well behaved.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...d/XL/36-XL.jpg

Just after 9am we headed back to the hotel restaurant for some breakfast.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...f/XL/37-XL.jpg

With an equally impressive spread as dinner the night before.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...2/XL/38-XL.jpg

And enjoying a decent and sumptuous breakfast with my plan to skip lunch.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...2/XL/39-XL.jpg

Back at our villa were we relaxed and enjoyed a lazy morning.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...6/XL/40-XL.jpg

In the afternoon we called for a ride back to reception to check-out.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...f/XL/41-XL.jpg

And enjoying one last dip in the hotel pool.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...a/XL/42-XL.jpg

After being dropped back off at our car we discovered a bird had decided to make a nest in the rocks right beside it! The mother was flying around us in a bit of a frazzle, but the hotel concierge assured us they would keep an eye on it and put up a small barrier to protect the nest.
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...f/XL/43-XL.jpg

And about to make the drive back to Dubai after an amazing and very relaxing stay in Al Ain!
http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/ALAI...7/XL/44-XL.jpg

SKT-DK Oct 14, 2019 2:22 am
Wow that looks like an amazing place!
And a speed limit of 160 is much more fun than other roads with 110 or what it is and speed cameras (like the E65)!

hkskyline Oct 14, 2019 2:42 am
Will the tires melt in the intense desert summer heat?

Neat resort and amazing setting!

offerendum Oct 14, 2019 7:40 am
Very nice Daniel!

nequine Oct 14, 2019 1:19 pm
Nice looking place to go for your anniversary! :)

757 Oct 14, 2019 1:20 pm
Looks like a wonderful quick getaway!

DanielW Oct 15, 2019 1:02 am
Originally Posted by SKT-DK (Post 31625941)
Wow that looks like an amazing place!
And a speed limit of 160 is much more fun than other roads with 110 or what it is and speed cameras (like the E65)!
Thank you, SKT-DK:). Yes, our first time staying at a desert resort and we were really impressed. Nice to cruise at 150+ kph too, and legally :D.
Originally Posted by hkskyline (Post 31625972)
Will the tires melt in the intense desert summer heat?
Neat resort and amazing setting!
Cheers, hkskyline:). The tires hold up surprisingly well. They probably age/degrade alot faster though and you have to replace them by law after 5 years regardless of tread.
Originally Posted by offerendum (Post 31626470)
Very nice Daniel!
Many thanks, offerendum:).
Originally Posted by nequine (Post 31627704)
Nice looking place to go for your anniversary! :)
Yes, everyone raves about the $1350 per night Al Maha Resort but this place looked almost as good for a fraction of the price.
Originally Posted by 757 (Post 31627707)
Looks like a wonderful quick getaway!
Thanks, 757, yes, a great way to relax and reset:).

SKT-DK Oct 15, 2019 2:38 am
Originally Posted by DanielW (Post 31629512)
Thank you, SKT-DK:). Yes, our first time staying at a desert resort and we were really impressed. Nice to cruise at 150+ kph too, and legally :D.
If you liked this one, you should give the Anantara Qasr al Sarab a try too - Their pool villas are great too (although maybe not as great as the one you just went to) and the landscape is stunning. We went last year and wish we had longer time there!

DanielW Oct 15, 2019 3:08 am
Originally Posted by SKT-DK (Post 31629652)
If you liked this one, you should give the Anantara Qasr al Sarab a try too - Their pool villas are great too (although maybe not as great as the one you just went to) and the landscape is stunning. We went last year and wish we had longer time there!
Yes, the Anantara Qasr al Sarab looks amazing, definitely on our list for this winter. We stayed at the Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar in Oman recently and really loved it:)!

http://www.dsw-photo.com/Photos/OMRT.../XL/108-XL.jpg

SKT-DK Oct 15, 2019 4:33 am
Originally Posted by DanielW (Post 31629694)
Yes, the Anantara Qasr al Sarab looks amazing, definitely on our list for this winter. We stayed at the Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar in Oman recently and really loved it:)!
Sounds like a great plan - and in that case, I think you would be pleased to hear that we much preferred the Qasr al Sarab to Al Jabal al Akhdar (we went to the Omani one earlier this year) :cool:

tom tulpe Oct 15, 2019 6:35 am
How were they able to serve alcohol, in the daytime, during Ramadan?
(On the whole Abu Dhabi looks a lot less strict than Qatar.)

injian Oct 15, 2019 1:27 pm
are all rooms purposely built far away from reception or was it just your room?

amazing pictures as always! :)

lb8001 Oct 15, 2019 1:36 pm
Congratulations on the anniversary. You picked a lovely place to celebrate

HawaiiTrvlr Oct 15, 2019 3:52 pm
Great report (as always). I have friends that used to live in Al Ain. The only drawback to staying there is the ride back and forth between your villa and reception. Wouldn't golf carts for guests make better sense or do they need a 4wd vehicle?


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