Bahrain has a surprisingly large SPG portfolio for such a small island -- there's a Sheraton reasonably close to the actual city center, and then there's a Westin and Le Meridien near the City Centre mall. The Westin and Le Meridien even share amenities, so it's interesting just how huge their presence is there. For…
Continue reading: Review: Westin Bahrain City Centre
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Am I the only one who doesn't have a city bucket list because there's no city I don't want to visit?
I'm surprised the room rate was so high given how empty the hotel seemed to be. You would think the rates would be half what you paid w/ the low occupancy rate.
I laughed hard when the concierge suggested to fly to Dubai to do sightseeing. LOL!
Hello Ben
As with all of your reviews this one is good too with extensive pix and write up highlighting all the important aspects of the hotel.
Though many of the pictures are wrongly captioned like for eg. Executive Lounge Seating has been captioned under a toilet pod picture 😉
A little part of me dies every time you write something like "That’s not cheap at all, but THE alternative was paying 12,000-16,000 Starpoints per night." Certainly there are more alternatives in a large urban center than a single Starwood property. And then I die a bit more when you eat breakfast and dinner in the hotel lounge.
Not a novel complaint, but I wanted you to know that you are making me die.
@ Chris S. — I'm terribly sorry you're dying. Clearly you don't have, nor value hotel elite status. Get well soon!
JRL
FYI, the upper-end hotels in Bahrain (e.g., all of the western brands) are part of a pricing cartel, which means that the minimum room rates are about the same everywhere, regardless of the occupancy rates. They can offer different soft benefits (e.g., associated with status or corporate contracts), but you'll almost never find a room at any of these properties lower than 85-90 BHD.
Bahrain is basically a weekend getaway for people living in the Eastern part of Saudi Arabia (especially in Al Khobar/Dammam) to party by bar and club hop. The only other time to really visit is for Formula One weekend.
Glad the lounge had good food and service, but the decor? Still in the 80s.
Did you have access to complimentary breakfast in the hotel restaurant in addition to the lounge? If so, did you try it to compare the differences?
@ Curious George -- Nope, I don't believe I got complimentary restaurant breakfast.
Tiny Bahrain is home to 2 UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy and Qal’at al-Bahrain – Ancient Harbour and Capital of Dilmun
Do you not have a travel router for wifi dead spots in the room ? I carry one of these with me all the time...very small and it works.
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WR702N-Wireless-Repeater-150Mpbs/dp/B007PTCFFW
My best friend was stationed in Bahrain for a couple of years, so I went to visit him once. Best thing to do in Bahrain is to charter a boat from the Yacht Club. Amazing to get out on the Persian Gulf. You can go fishing too. It was a blast.
In terms of the island, Bahrain has a much larger (percentage-wise) native population than Qatar or the UAE. There have been ongoing protests (that have petered out somewhat) against the regime, so it's not completely safe to travel around the whole of the country.
Someone referred to Bahrain as the Atlantic City to Dubai's Vegas. I think that's accurate.