Weekend in the Desert

I stayed in Dubai so it was about a 3.5 hour drive from DXB.  This includes a few rest stops I made along the road south of Abu Dhabi which was straight as an arrow, yet has a hard speed limit of 100 and contains many fixed photo radar cameras.

The final approach road to the resort winds its way beautifully amongst the dunes.

At check in I received a complimentary one level upgrade as a Platinum GHA member.  A welcome snack and drink of dates, Arabic coffee, and yoghurt smoothie was offered along with a cold towel.

 My car was parked by valet and bags delivered to the room shortly after walking from the reception area to my room.  I declined buggy service.

Here's the view from my room along with the ambiance after turndown service.

Unfortunately I took a video and not photos of the room itself, but it was very spacious, and had a huge bathroom with a tub big enough for 3 people easily.

Being a reasonably large resort with 300 staff, I was expecting service to be manufactured and pleasant but impersonal.  I was surprised to see that many of the staff remembered me by name and were quite warm.  I had a great conversation with many of the food service and activity staff, finding out not only about their experience working here and their home countries, but I also got an exterior tour of the staff accomodation which is basically a smaller, less luxurious resort unto itself just down the road.

As a solo traveller on this trip I did not splurge on the high end rooftop restaurant, but I did partake of the Bedouin style outdoor dining for my dinner treat. 

The starter course was massive and I felt like I barely touched it.

The setting is extremely pleasant, downhill away from the resort abutting a sand dune.

We watched the chef pull out lamb that had been cooking in an in-ground charcoal grill all afternoon.  So tender.

Some grilled prawns to go with the lamb.

Dessert.

Lounge area.

The breakfast buffet was so excellent and substantial that it would have taken at least 20 photos to capture it all.  So I simply captured my seat.

Both days I ate so much at breakfast that I had no need for lunch.  The second night I ordered a Wagyu burger from the poolside bar.

Wow ! Awesome location out here on a conservation reserve.  I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

The grounds are nice, too.

I did the sunrise camel ride and dune bashing.  I lucked out and got private trips for both activities.  The camel ride was not along a gravel road as mentioned in a previous review, but along a valley bottom sand "road" and then up the ridgeline of a 60 metre high dune where a station was set up with benches to enjoy the view, and coffee/tea, some pastries and fruit to consume while enjoying the view.

I had a short break in my room to rest before dune bashing.  Certainly glad I didn't eat before this activity.  As I was solo and visibly enjoying the bouncing around and sand going over the roof of the Land Cruiser, I feel like the driver was probably a bit more aggressive than usual.  Which was fine by me.

Even though I was solo they go in groups of 2 vehicles in case of trouble - which was needed as we got stuck at one point and needed a tug from the other land cruiser.

I don't stay often in luxury resorts but I was totally satisfied and impressed with Qasr al Sarab.  I would definitely visit again with family or friends.