Side trip in Abu Dhabi: Al Ain Rotana, Hotel

Two days before my 33rd birthday, we were already on our way to Al Ain as part of our weekend getaway. Actually, Al Ain is not part of my Top A-List since its not one of the Emirates but rather a second largest city of Abu Dhabi but I always wanted to visit Jebel Hafeet - I heard so much about it as one of the tourist spots.

I was choosing between Mercure Grand Hotel and Al Ain Rotana, although the latter was a little bit more expensive than the former, I made reservation few weeks back from Al Ain Rotana because it is closer from most of the establishments in the City whilst Mercure was already closer to the top of Jebel Hafeet.

We arrived around 2:30 in the afternoon - the hotel was pretty busy at that time, we waited for a few more minutes to get accommodated but we weren't able to have our rooms till almost 5:00 PM. It was so far the longest waiting time ever to get check-in in a hotel. Some of the receiving staff were apologetic but we were really getting frustrated, all tired and hungry so we decided to go to the nearest mall and eat lunch. Good thing, the hotel was located in the heart of the city, it was easy for us to find food.

We got a few missed calls and was able to  receive a call saying that our room is ready to be occupied so we head back to the hotel. Finally, after few hours wasted. I got the view from afar.

I like the balcony that we have, if only we have more time to just relax and enjoy the scenery. Read a book perhaps.

This was the first place I checked when we got in, I didn't notice the welcome note from the hotel. How thoughtful. Although, this didn't appease the feeling I had earlier. Not to mentioned that I even witnessed a Customer Service Officer mutter something to the Filipina receptionist which is really annoying. Doing that to someone especially in front of a customer is not acceptable.

Anyway, on another note: like the bed?

What about the this area? Neat but nothing special.

The usual hotel. Oh by the way, Al Ain Rotana is a five star hotel.

Something tells me that being in a lower star hotel gives you more service than a five star one. Just an opinion.

I like this one - where you can put your luggage

But of course, my favorite area in a nice place is the bathroom.

I haven't showed you yet the outside right?

There is still Christmas spirit all around the area even if it is already January. The front of the hotel

A giant Christmas tree in the middle of the reception area,

and Christmas lights everywhere

A coffee shop cum bread house style? Haha

Wow the glass roof!

Grand piano.

I like the piano touch, minus the pianist. We took some photos as well and my MINI me started to play with it - someone came near us and told us not to use it, in a not so nice way. This made me annoyed all over again. I mean, come on! Hello, Customer satisfaction, if you don't want guests to use it, you should know how to say it without offending someone, I'm sure you have done this a thousand times before or is it just me?

Again - Let's just enjoy the weekend and avoid anymore annoyance from this hotel. At the pool area.

Gosh, I just forgot take photos to share with you a Jacuzzi on the side bummer, but they have one, some swing and slides for the kids too.

That is the bar which is a common sight in most hotels

Oh, I'd like to share with you a nice idea that I only saw from Al Ain Rotana hotel. The pool bar menu shaped in a diving fin.

Neat, right. After our swimming, we head back to the hotel, refreshed ourselves and rest for a while. Then we drive our way to Jebel Hafeet during the night - the best time to visit the place. We weren't lost on the way, but we just don't know where we were headed, we had a few twists and turns, even pass by a park where a lot of people spend a starless night.

Then just go with the flow and finally find our way to the top

A sight to behold from Jebel Hafeet.

You can know more about the place from this information. Just click on the photo for a better view.

We only spent a few minutes on top, it was really freezing already and our tummy is giving us the mumbling. We had our dinner in Applebee's - a restaurant that I always wanted to try but never had the opportunity to do so until now. But I will give another entry for the same on another post.

The breaksfast buffet is what I am always looking forward to, as I mentioned a lot of time already.

The main buffet area

Tea pots! I like tea pots, nice touch.

Our table setting

The floors are the coolest. Tables and feet...on the rocks!

My experience with Rotana Hotel was not the one I was expecting from a five start hotel but then again, you can never go wrong with the facilities and amenities they offer. I would still recommend you to consider them on your visit to Al Ain. Maybe, ours, and the other guests arrived at the same time as we did, was a not-so-very-often incident. I can still forget that glitch. Besides, our fellow Filipinos will always top my most accommodating and friendly people in the world.

Al Ain has a lot to offer and I still have some pending posts to blog. See you again soon.

All the best,