Review: EDITION Abu Dhabi

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We had about 28 hours in Abu Dhabi, as we were arriving around 10PM and departing around 2AM two days later. Abu Dhabi has lots of hotels to choose from, and on this trip I was looking forward to trying the EDITION Abu Dhabi, one of Marriott’s newest hotels in the city (it opened in November 2018).

The rate for our one night stay was about $200. Ford booked us through the Ritz-Carlton STARS program, which offered free breakfast (EDITION is otherwise one of the Marriott brands where elite members don’t receive complimentary breakfast).

I was able to use Your24 for this stay as a Marriott Ambassador Elite member. This allows you to check in whenever you want and keep the room for 24 hours, pending availability. My awesome ambassador was able to confirm our room starting at 11PM for 24 hours, allowing us to have a room for almost our entire time in Abu Dhabi.

The EDITION is located in Al Bateen Marina. It’s about a 30 minute drive from Abu Dhabi Airport, and just a very short drive to the corniche, Emirates Palace, etc. (it’s about a 15-20 minute drive to the mosque, Saadiyat Island, and the Louvre).

I love the design of EDITION properties, and this one is no exception. The hotel has an atrium spanning all seven floors, and I found the lobby to be exceptionally beautiful.

EDITIONs consistently have cozy lobbies with lots of comfortable seating, and this one had couches, chairs, and even a pool table.

EDITION Abu Dhabi lobby

EDITION Abu Dhabi lobby

EDITION Abu Dhabi lobby

EDITION Abu Dhabi lobby

EDITION Abu Dhabi lobby

Our check-in process was efficient, and the front desk agent confirmed we had the room until 11PM the next day, that our rate included breakfast, and that we had been upgraded to a suite. Awesome!

We took the elevator up to the fifth floor, where our room, 529, was located. But first I admired the atrium one more time.

EDITION Abu Dhabi atrium

EDITION Abu Dhabi atrium

EDITION Abu Dhabi atrium

Our suite was massive. Inside the entryway and to the right was a half bathroom.

EDITION Abu Dhabi suite entryway

EDITION Abu Dhabi suite guest bathroom

Then there was the living room, which featured an “L” shaped couch, two chairs, and a table with both a chair and a bench.

EDITION Abu Dhabi suite living room

EDITION Abu Dhabi suite living room

EDITION Abu Dhabi suite living room

EDITION Abu Dhabi suite living room

Waiting on the living room table was a sweet welcome amenity.

EDITION Abu Dhabi welcome amenity

Also in the living room was the coffee machine and minibar.

EDITION Abu Dhabi in-room coffee machine

EDITION Abu Dhabi in-room minibar

Then there was a door leading to the bedroom. Usually I find in suites you can barely walk around the bed because of how small the rooms are, while this room was massive.

EDITION Abu Dhabi suite bedroom

EDITION Abu Dhabi suite bedroom

Across from the bed was a desk as well as a wall-mounted TV.

EDITION Abu Dhabi suite bedroom

Then there were closets along the hall leading to the master bathroom.

EDITION Abu Dhabi suite hallway

The bathroom had double sinks, a tub, a walk-in shower, and a partitioned off toilet and bidet.

EDITION Abu Dhabi suite bathroom

EDITION Abu Dhabi suite bathtub

EDITION Abu Dhabi suite toilet & bidet

EDITION Abu Dhabi suite shower

Toiletries were from Le Labo, which I love.

EDITION Le Labo toiletries

The room had two balconies — one off the bedroom with a lounger, and one off the living room with a couple of chairs.

EDITION Abu Dhabi suite balcony

EDITION Abu Dhabi suite balcony

I loved the views from the hotel, as it faced both the marina and Abu Dhabi skyline.

EDITION Abu Dhabi suite view

Our time at the hotel was fairly limited, though we still checked out the major features. The hotel’s 24/7 gym is located on the second floor, and features a good amount of equipment.

EDITION Abu Dhabi gym

EDITION Abu Dhabi gym

Then the hotel has an outdoor pool. There’s a pool bar as well as an Italian restaurant next to it.

EDITION Abu Dhabi pool

EDITION Abu Dhabi pool view

EDITION Abu Dhabi outdoor area

The hotel’s bar, Library Bar, is located between the lobby and the pool.

EDITION Abu Dhabi bar

In the morning breakfast was served at Market at EDITION, also located just off the lobby. This is the hotel’s all day dining restaurant, and breakfast is served from 6:30AM until 11AM.

EDITION Abu Dhabi restaurant

EDITION Abu Dhabi restaurant

Our rate included breakfast, and they didn’t state any limit on what we could order. Breakfast is entirely a la carte, as there’s no buffet, which I like.

The breakfast menu read as follows:

I had a cappuccino to drink, while Ford had a maple cold brew.

EDITION Abu Dhabi breakfast cappuccino 

EDITION Abu Dhabi breakfast cold brew 

To start we had an acai super fruit bowl. Yum!

EDITION Abu Dhabi breakfast 

I had the spinach and ricotta crepe, while Ford had the shakshuka eggs.

EDITION Abu Dhabi breakfast 

EDITION Abu Dhabi breakfast 

Anyway, a couple of quick notes about breakfast service. Our server was from the Philippines (I believe her name was Sayira), and she was so lovely and professional. Ford at first tried to order the super charged cold coffee, and she immediately informed us they didn’t have it, and apologized profusely.

She asked if we were staying one more night, because she promised she’d make sure they have it the next morning. Unfortunately we weren’t staying another night, but I appreciated the way she took ownership of the situation.

Her friendliness and professionalism really stood out to me.

Fast forward a few weeks, because we ended up staying at the EDITION again because of how much we liked it the first time around. While this review is about our first stay, our second breakfast experience was so bad I need to specifically call it out.

First of all, this time around the person we were being served by wasn’t friendly at all. Ford once again tried to order the super charged cold brew.

About 10 minutes after ordering our appetizer was brought out, but still no coffee. We asked our server to check on that. 10 minutes after that our mains were brought out, but still no coffee. We once again asked our server to check on the coffee. Five minutes later we asked again. Still no coffee.

We waited five more minutes. At this point we had been sitting down for 30 minutes and were done with our breakfast but still didn’t have coffee. I asked again. “Sorry, we actually don’t have that coffee.”

WTF?! We waited 30 minutes only for them to tell us that they didn’t have the coffee we wanted? At this point I asked to speak to the manager, because this kind of service is unacceptable.

We waited five minutes and there was still no manager. Since our server couldn’t have been less helpful, I asked one of the other people working in the restaurant (a young French guy) walking by to get the manager. He said he was the manager.

We explained the situation to him, and he basically said “I was just made aware of this situation, I didn’t know,” blah blah blah.

He seemed more concerned with making it clear it wasn’t his fault rather than, you know, managing the restaurant.

So suffice to say we had two polar opposite restaurant experiences there. The first experience was great, the second one was possibly the worst service I’ve ever received in a hotel breakfast restaurant.

Bottom line

All things considered, I really like the EDITION Abu Dhabi. The rooms and public facilities are beautiful, the location is great if you’re looking to sightsee (though I wouldn’t stay here if you just have a quick overnight and want to visit the mosque, since there are closer hotels to the airport), and most of the employees here are well intentioned.

I’d stay here again and would also recommend the hotel, though they definitely need to retrain the breakfast staff I had during my second stay here.

If you’ve stayed at the EDITION Abu Dhabi, what was your experience like?