Le Royal Méridien Abu Dhabi — Hotel in Abu Dhabi

This hotel was recently completely redone and it shows. The lobby is beautiful with artistic accents and a comfortable/modern feel. We are currently at 1 month of an almost 2 month stay here and the staff at the hotel has been excellent. Rajeev, one of the restaurant managers, is always friendly and helpful. Kristof, the guest services manager has been great and is receptive to feedback. Yu-Ya, a waitress in Palmier (the buffet restaurant) is so nice, remembers our specific coffee orders, and even remembered that we asked for peanut butter and Nutella before, and asks us if we want it that day! The valet parking team is full of hard workers that stand out in the blazing heat all day long, we really appreciate those guys!

As a platinum member, we received a great suite upgrade to a corner suite. The room is nice and modern, with a dining table, couch, 2 TVs and a king bed. The middle of the room is separated with a media center type of wall where both TVs sit. The bathroom could be a tiny bit bigger, and my only real complaints are the cheap toilet paper and that the shower is a little bit too small.

There are 2 pools on the properly, one inside and one outside, the outdoor one is pretty good size, but the indoor one is small. I believe both pools are scheduled to be updated soon, along with the spa and gym, which are pretty much the only parts of the hotel we saw that might need a little work.

We arrived in the middle of Ramadan, which means that most restaurants are closed during the day, and even some restaurants close for the entire month. The club lounge is also closed until Iftar. As platinum members with club lounge access we had a very generous benefit to get free food/drinks at a restaurant in the hotel called Wheat. We were able to order anything on the menu, all day long, except for alcohol. This benefit proved to be extremely valuable, since you really can't get food anywhere except for hotels and a few restaurants around the city during the day. I'm not sure if they will do this again next Ramadan, but it was certainly appreciated! On top of that, the hotel provides Iftar to-go bags for Taxi Drivers (I think on one special night during Ramadan) to give something back to the drivers, which is a nice gesture.

All the restaurants are excellent. Wheat has tasty juices, smoothies, shakes, and sandwiches. Cafe Palmier has breakfast, which has a very nice selection of food including a variety of breads, cheeses, spreads, and hot dishes. After a month, the food can get a bit tiring of course, but the breakfast overall is very good. Amalfi is a wonderful italian restaurant that serves imaginative meals and desserts like a cotton candy tiramisu. Market Kitchen has a great menu with a tasty cocktail selection. They also have an executive business lunch. Stratos, the newly opened rotating restaurant on top of the hotel, now has afternoon tea and serves dinner too. We tried the afternoon tea, which comes with elegant finger sandwiches, scones, and desserts. Everything was good. They even have a tippling tea that comes with Hendrick's gin! I find the prices are pretty reasonable for a hotel, especially after talking to the executive chef about the ingredients they use, all of which are top of the line.

All in all, I think this is probably one of the top hotels in Abu Dhabi, and is well...

Stayed April 2013 whilst the property was undergoing substantial renovations.

As a result they did not have a sea view room for me when I arrived despite me making a reservation directly with hotel via their own web site.

Initially they wanted to put me in a city view room but would not agree to give me a discounted rate as it was a lesser room than what I had reserved.

I stood my ground and eventually the reception staff offered me what I thought was a club suite room for 300DHR per night. After working out that this would be about $150 Australian dollars for two nights I quickly and gratefully said yes. At this point I just wanted a room and was desperate for anything.

The room was great. It was bigger than my own apartment back home albeit on a rather low level with what I would consider "sea glimpses" rather than sea views.

The wifi signal was only strong enough to work in the living area and not the bedroom.

Eventually decided to go downstairs to the hotel restaurant for dinner as nothing else on the street would be open at around midnight.

Restaurant is a rip off. Even with 30% discount for SPG members total bill came to about $90 Australian dollars for me and my wife for a fairly average seafood buffet. Unexpectedly, drinks we ordered were not included as part of the buffet price and were charged separately. Not happy at all about that. I have never seen a buffet where drinks were not included until then.

Next day we made use of the concierge to book a desert safari tour. The information given however was not correct. Initially we were told that the costs would be added to our room bill. However when the tour guide showed up we discovered that the operator was from an unrelated company and expected payment in cash. No problem but misinformation nonetheless.

The real problem was when checking out and I saw they wanted to charge me 700DHM per night instead of what I thought was 300DHM per night.

I argued with the reception staff that I was promised a rate of 300DHM only to be told that it was 300DHM EXTRA for the suite room. I guess I should have known better. If it sounds too good to be true it usually is.

However, I distinctly remembered the reception staff who served me saying it would be 300DHM per night and so did my wife. Also I was only put into that situation because the hotel did not give me the room I had initially booked for in the first place so I stood my ground and had the supervisor called over.

I told the supervisor that I was given misleading information and said it was probably because the staff member who served me was a trainee (he had a trainee badge on).

The supervisor was good about it and agreed to only charge me the 300DHM + 70DHM per day for my Internet usage which was not included in the room I had...

We visited in mid January and had a pleasant visit.

Our stay was for a January break to find some sunshine and we took full advantage of the pool facilities.

The customer service and staff at the hotel could not be faulted.

Our welcome, by Fato at the front desk was efficient and friendly. The lobby is very modern and accommodating, with many areas to sit chat and conduct business.

We had a great room, with a complimentary upgrade to a suite due to SPG Gold status.

The view was fantastic and the room spacious, clean, modern and relaxing, with a very comfortable bed.

We generally had meals buffet style in Cafe Palmier, there was a great selection of quality food, plus some freshly cooked items available at both breakfast and dinner.

All items were regularly replenished with many styles of food catered for, Indian, Chinese, Arabic, all very good.

The staff in Cafe Palmier, made our stay, Geoffrey the manager and Rolando the asst manager, were very pleasant, polite and chatty, they recognised us at every sitting and always gave us a choice of tables, it can be very pleasant sitting by the window overlooking the pool.

The service was exemplary MariFel, Eko and Salman were so courteous and genuinely friendly, they worked so hard yet maintained an air of efficiency, with immaculate grooming.

We enjoyed the club lounge too, it was big enough to accommodate quite a few people yet still maintained an air of intimacy, Ei Phin was a great hostess.

There was always food available, wether it be breakfast, sandwiches and cake in the afternoon or drinks and snacks in the evening, accompanied with complimentary wine, beer and spirits a very nice touch.

We also ate in Stratos, the revolving lounge and restaurant, with amazing and continually changing views of the city.

Again the service, from Sherwin and Moavia, was second to none, the quality of food, presentation, taste and imagination was stunning. We both had Kobe steak, it was just amazing.

It was a great evening and a strong recomendation.

We did have a couple requests during our stay which were dealt with by the Deputy General Manager, Urs and the situation rectified beyond our expectations, you can see were the customer service standards are set.

One thing I would mention is that if you are expecting a "true" spa experience it might better to enquire of one of the sister hotels, as the facilities here are functional but basic.

Concierge or the front desk would help with any questions or requests.

In all a very pleasant stay, great staff, great food a...