Saadiyat Beach Club - Luxury Beach Club in Abu Dhabi — Hotel in Abu Dhabi

There is no way I could ever in good conscience recommend this place to friends. Our terrible experience started from before we arrived at this beach club to the moment we were leaving. A one-star review is generous in my opinion after the nightmare of a day we had at a place that should be one of relaxation and enjoyment.

Booking: Before booking, I tried calling the establish several times to ask questions about what the day pass would entail. After no success, I moved forward with the booking of four single day passes for what I assumed would equal reserving four sunbeds like any premium beach club in the UAE with the price we were paying (375 per person for a group of 4).

Post-Booking: Within 10 minutes of booking, I realized I had missed the option to book a more cost-effective pass for couples that would have saved us 300 AED. I tried calling, emailing, and messaging on Instagram multiple times over the course of the two days to ask to switch our pass option to no avail. I then assumed that I could easily resolve this when checking in for our "reservation".

Arrival/Check-In: Upon arrived 10 minutes before our 12 PM booking, we entered to find the lobby of the beach club with a laughable line of at least 70+ individuals waiting to check-in. It took around 45 minutes for us to reach the desk only to be told that the sun beds are completely full and that it would be highly unlikely to get one, let alone four. It is then that we are informed for the first time that sun beds are first-come-first-serve. I scoured the website and the booking confirmation to see if I had somehow missed this information only to find that it is not one mentioned.

Service On the Beach: After we finally found seating on the beach (almost two hours since arriving), with many other guests being turned away after equally spending a significant amount of money (that mind you, is not redeemable on any food or drink), it took at least an hour to make any sort of order. I had to personally walk up to the bar and try to get any wait staff's attention to take my order and it was not until a member of the club mentioned that I have been waiting for a while, did I get any sort of service. Throughout the day, I could not manage to wave down any wait staff without chasing after them to ask for anything at all. Two smoothie orders took 2 hours to get to us. It began to feel like the whole day was a practical joke. There was even a moment that the wait staff saw me trying to catch them, and they intentionally turned away and ignored me even when a colleague pointed me out, and when I finally went up to them and called them out on it, they admitted that they saw me, but that they were too busy to even acknowledge me. Ultimately it was clear that they were severely understaffed, that the staff themselves were extremely frustrated to the point that they were fighting amongst themselves in front of customers, and that they'd reached a point that they did not care enough to serve customers unless they were members.

Leaving: When we were leaving, I went to reception reopen the discussion of the 4 single day passes that I'd mistakenly purchased instead of availing of the more economical couples day passes. At this point, any money I could have refunded after the horrible experience I'd had at the establishment would be worth it. I was told that it was impossible for them to process a refund for me, after already using the passes I'd purchased. When showing them proof that I'd tried to resolve this two days before coming but no one would answer, they basically told me that the only way I could attempt to get the refund is emailing their revenue manager and making my case with her. But it seems after reading equally negative reviews of this place, they'll try to force credit on me rather than consider giving me back my money, and to be frank, there is no way I am coming near this place again.

The whole business is a sham & there is no way they can justify the cost of their day passes. I'd write more but Google says I've exceeded...

I would have really wanted to give this place more than 2 stars, but I can't due to misalignment of price-quality ratio (on service and food primarily).

We've been to this beach club many times, and our feedback remained solid throughout. General feeling that we've had was that management just wanted to squeeze out as much money as possible at the expense of experience... For me price-quality ratio is off (also if I compare it with other beach club options, which we are now switching to). I think a lot of reviews might be riding on how beautiful Saadiyat nature is, but it's not the beach club's accomplishment but a convenience of location.. I'll focus on all other aspects beyond nature in my review.

Pluses: Facilities: modern beach club - facilities are new, clean, convenient. Men and women have comfortable changing rooms, with jacuzzi and sauna. You get towels and water with your fare. Beach club has both a swimming pool and access to the beach Food: You have a few restaurant/cafe options which give you some diversity of choice Offers: Depending on when you come, you might enjoy some of the offers. E.g. Tuesday if I remember correctly is ladies' day (ladies get 1 snack and unlimited drinks within allowed selection) which is nice to benefit from, however on days like this people might be loud / get drunk.

Minuses: Parking: In the recent past valet parking was included for all visitors. Since recently this option was removed. While it's not difficult to park your own car, it cheapens the experience as this is an option that was present before and is not anymore. While prices increase. Facilities: There's always some facilities closed. Sometimes it's women's sauna... sometimes it's men's sauna.. Almost every time we went there something was closed. While there's cold pool and jacuzzi in the area the temperates there are quite extreme.. If you don't like being boiled/frozen you might not enjoy it... In our last visit there was also a loud tractor driving right behind the beach beds for about an hour (if not longer) - because of the noise and fumes everyone sitting in our area was clearly annoyed, and I was alarmed that only after about 40 minutes one of staff members finally went to check on the situation. Another thing i don't like is how loudly the music is blasting at the pool - you can hear it even at the beach.. Starting from around 11:00 it's not a relaxing place anymore Occupancy: you can see that this place just wants to squeeze out as much money as possible.. even on the beach sun beds are extremely close to one another. Would be nice to actually get some space between beach beds as Saadiyat is a place of nature, and you're supposed to enjoy that vs your neighbours' talking... Service: Terrible food service at the beach.. This is in no way a reflection of the staff working there (they have been nice and helpful), but how gravely understaffed this place is... Few staff members working in this heat just don't have time to check in whether you need something / take away your empty places or anything else.. Don't expect anyone to proactively take your order from your sun bed, especially if you are located towards the outer edge of the sun bed area. Not a single time that we've been here has anyone checked proactively if we wanted to order anything. NOT A SINGLE TIME! Food: We didn't like anything we've eaten, food quality is not good, options are quite bland.. All food is extremely overpriced vs what you actually get.. e.g. calamari had a lot of just dough pieces vs actual calamari, and very few small calamari slices Pricing: everything is overpriced - the beach club itself (you pay only for entry and don't get any food included in it), food etc... I understand there's a premium that comes with being located on Saadiyat, but quality of service/food etc should match that - and it doesn't

Tip: If you want to have a chance of catching serene environment - come right for the beach club opening (8am i believe) - until about 10am it's nice and quiet.. After it starts...

Terrible experience and extremely rude service, shameful for a supposed "5-star" beach club.

I have been visiting Saadiyat Beach Club for several years now. However, upon my last visit, I was appalled at the incredibly rude service we received.

After planning our visit over a month in advance and driving all the way from Dubai to Abu Dhabi to celebrate a friend's birthday at Saadiyat Beach Club, we were told that two members of our party who are visitors from abroad, would not be allowed entry as they did not have physical passports with them. This is despite them presenting national IDs from their home countries and a copy of their passport.

The reception supervisor Heba was extremely unhelpful and rude, and spoke in an extremely entitled manner when I asked to speak to her about this. She repeatedly refused to process a refund for the day passes we had already purchased online (worth 800 AED), until I asked to speak to the club manager, who was far more polite and immediately offered to refund us for the inconvenience. When I returned to the reception desk to ask for the refund and complained to Heba about her refusal to provide one, saying I had never experienced such poor service in any beach club, instead of apologising, she rudely replied "we are the number one beach club in the world". When I asked "according to who", she arrogantly replied "according to us", in an incredibly dismissive tone. When I left, I let her know I would be leaving a review of the terrible experience I had just had; she sassily replied "thank you very much"- again, no apology.

I find it appalling that a beach club which claims to be 5 stars would:

Put in place such rigid and unreasonable entry requirements- this is not the case for any of the beach clubs I have been to- all of which are of a far higher caliber than Saadiyat beach club (despite what their arrogant staff may believe).

Fail to adequately and clearly communicate these unreasonable requirements before guest visits. While the passport requirement is mentioned on the confirmation email and on the website, you need to scroll down the small font multiple times to find it, something which I highly doubt the average person does to attend a beach club- this is not an airport after all, despite how self-important some of the staff may feel. Judging by the number of negative reviews mentioning the same issue, this is a systematic issue which the management should address by sending separate reminder emails and calling visitors ahead of time to re-iterate this ridiculous policy, to avoid disappointments.

Hire staff that are so rude, arrogant and entitled, with no notion of customer service. Again, judging by other reviews complaining of terrible and rude service, this is a chronic issue which the management should be addressing.

Have such archaic refund procedures. I had to manually fill out a form with my bank details (which I did)- nearly two weeks on, I have yet to receive my refund and have had to follow up over calls and email. If this is- as Heba so confidently claims- "the best beach club in the world", maybe they should think of implementing more modern, 21st century refund procedures.

Overall, a terrible experience and one I would give 0 stars to if I could. Save your money and go to one of the many far better private beaches in the area (such as the St Regis) where customers are valued and treated...