Review: Two Suites At The Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi

Your posts and reports are much better and useful than Mr. Schlappig ones. You should own this blog! Congrats!

Nice trip report, Tiffany. I know Emirates allows stopovers on awards tickets, but do they also provide car service back to the airport (on first class awards)?

Concur - much better report than the usual hyperboles.

On that, can we stop needlessly plugging Ben's name into guest posts? "The suite ben normally gets..." "ben has his routine down to a science"..."ben is underselling the shower".

Why on earth wouldn't you swim in the Gulf? I lived in Abu Dhabi for the last year and went swimming on the Saadiyat beaches all the time. Without a doubt some of the nicest and cleanest beaches I've ever experienced.

Why wouldn't you swim in the Gulf? Is it supposed to be dirty or something?

You should point out that chauffeur service is no longer provided on Emirate reward redemptions using Alaska miles.

Perhaps I missed it, but what time of the year was this? And also, was this before the demise of Emirates chauffeur on awards? Thanks

Great review Tiffany! The views from the second room are worth the tradeoff in my opinion!

@ Sean -- They don't, technically. The post I linked to described how it can still work from airports, which is what we did.

@ Jason Horner -- Hah, well. I've never swam near Saadiyat, but last time I swam in the Gulf I became very ill. It might have been a coincidence, but was a bit of a turn off.

@ grandgourmand -- It wasn't provided on award redemptions when I was there either 😉

@ Francisco C -- Oops! Late February! And after, so follow the link to see how it can still work in some locations.

Ok, thanks for clarifying.

The comments in the link indicate the loop hole for the chauffeur is closed.

Great report. I concur with Ehch on the numerous references to you-know-who.

I stayed there in March of this year on points. However, I was only Platinum at the time, so couldn't use an upgrade. My regular / moderately upgraded room (don't recall which) was still excellent. Also received fruit - but no chocolates.

No sandstorm while I was there, so I didn't spend as much time on the grounds, but couple things stood out: gulf swimming was fine for me, the "not-stated-as-included-but-not-charged-for" breakfast buffet was a full spread and very satisfying before a day of dune bashing, and, yes, the resort sits further away than most things in the area. (BTW took Uber from airport as I traveled Etihad coach.)

The biggest thing was that the resort room access is ... unique. Shaped like a spread out "U", I was on second floor near the end of the wing. Seemed like I walked a mile to my room! And then, anything beyond the ground floor is only accessible at mid-points, not the ends, and not where the ground floor opens to the pool area/grounds. So you leave the pool, for instance, walk into the building, walk the opposite direction to get to the nearest stairs, and then back-track the other way to reach the furthest wing. Not good architecture. This is probably moot with the Diamond Suites, as they are likely centrally located. But something to keep in mind if you're in a standard room.

Thanks for your post.

@Tiffany - Can you confirm that the chauffeur service works, on award redemption for business and first, if one presents the boarding passes at the EK chauffeur service desk on arrival ?

Thanks
Andrew

@ Andrew F -- It worked when we were there at the end of February, but I haven't had a chance to try it since. Will ask around and see if I can get an update.

@Tiffany,
Just to point out it's a Gazelle.

I spotted the antelope, so I'd like my bonus points, please. How long until they post? 😉

Looks very nice. For the record, there's also a Hyatt in Abu Dhabi and you can get some nice rates using BRG there.

P.S. This post can serve as an example for "when is an upgrade not an upgrade" series 🙂

Stunning view indeed, but not of the Arabian Sea, at least not if you were in Abu Dhabi. Perhaps if you were in Goa...

I'm headed to Dubai Sept 1st. Did you use an ATM and get the SIM inside of the airport or outside of it>? I'm new to international travel as you can tell.

@ Katherine -- Yep, there are ATMs just after you leave customs, and the mobile network providers have kiosks as well.

'Saadiyat is certainly a bit off the beaten track' would be a massive understatement. Is there still major construction going on all over the island?

Tiffany-I’m a Hilton Diamond and Hyatt Globalist making my first trip there later in the Summer and trying to decide where to stay among the ‘nicer’ hotels in each portfolio. (I’m eliminating the Garden Inns, Doubletrees, Hyatt Place/House, Etc.) While I’ll vet where I can stay whether I’m using points, free night carts, etc., my biggest question is location and accessibility. It may not make sense to stay at hotel X if it’s out of the way and inconvenient to get to. Any thoughts on which hotels are preferable for location, amenities (e.g. pool, executive lounge, breakfast buffet) access to sites and/or transit? Thanks.