Al Badayer Retreat by Sharjah Collection — Hotel in Al Madam

Stayed here with my wife for two nights. We both enjoyed the experience. For those considering a desert experience, overall I would recommend considering a booking.|First, the positives:||1. Beautiful setting: when our uber driver dropped us off, even he said to us “you chose a beautiful hotel!” Unlike some other reviews we read, my wife and I felt the resort was overall very quiet. We did not book a tent and still had a great time as our room was close to the outdoor pool. The resort is beautifully designed, with lush greenery throughout and lots of photogenic spots||2. Outdoor pool: for us, this was the highlight of our stay. In January, it was still warm enough to enjoy the sun in one of the sun beds. Also during our stay it was not so busy, we felt we had the entire pool to ourselves. The “waterfall” creates a very pleasant sound. Overall fantastic. ||3. Desert experiences: we booked dune bashing, bonfire, and a camel ride. The experiences were good. I highly recommend booking the bonfire, which they can arrange even for our small party. We got to roast marshmallows, and roast corn and sweet potatoes. While sitting there in the night, we also had the chance for some amazing stargazing. For stargazing, our first night was not so good as there was cloud cover. But the second night was good, just need to give your eyes some time to rest.||Camel rides were fun as we got to trek outside the resort a bit. The team was also considerate in arranging our ride at sunset. Which was beautiful.||Dune bashing was the most expensive. I personally felt motion sickness and was not feeling so good. But my wife enjoyed and wished it could have been a bit longer.||Another highlight was the falcon. Once, we missed the “show” by ten minutes but the resort arranged for us to see the bird anyways. A very nice touch.||4. Service: I thought the team was great in being helpful but not intrusive. Activities booking was very smooth, the front desk helped arrange our taxi back to Dubai. Also was not a bother to arrange extra water and toiletries. (Shampoo bottles are very small, which was a problem for my wife)||Improvements:||1. Food: both my wife and I felt the food offerings were a let down compared to the overall experience. She did not enjoy the pasta dishes but I thought the burger was OK. However I agree with her the food is a terrible value. High prices + 25% sales tax and service charge. Feels unaffordable. I wish they would pare back the menu, with perhaps more local offerings. ||2. Transportation and activities bookings: the communication with the resort before arrival could be improved. I had to download WhatsApp to ask about activities and basic questions about transportation. While eventually responsive on WhatsApp, I do wish the hotel would respond to email.||Overall, this experience was exactly what my wife and I were looking for and was a highlight of our stay. For others thinking about staying, be sure to budget about 600 AED for transportation, another 1000-1500 AED for activities...

I stayed here for 2 nights and 3 days. Both the outdoor and indoor pools were dirty and ice-cold. Every morning and evening, pigeons would drink and bathe in there, leaving feathers floating everywhere. The stairways and hallways of the hotel were covered in pigeon droppings, and if you woke up early, you might even see broken pigeon eggs on the stairs. This hotel is basically a pigeon nest in the middle of the desert.

On my last day, for no apparent reason, there was no hot water. When I reported it to the reception, instead of sending a technician, she told me to use the public restroom in the gym to wash up. When I complained further, they didn’t fix the issue but simply offered me another room’s bathroom to use. At that point, I wasn’t sure if I was staying at a hotel or living in my own condo. The reception service was completely unprofessional.

After checking out, I requested a taxi through the hotel’s designated service to go to the city. She told me it would arrive in 15-20 minutes, so I waited at the hotel. However, after 40 minutes with no update, I called the reception, only to be told that the taxi had already arrived and I should go outside. Shouldn’t the reception inform the guest when their taxi arrives? What exactly is their job if not to assist guests?

The worst part was the taxi service itself. Before boarding, I confirmed with the reception that the taxi accepted card payments. However, once inside, the driver insisted that he only accepted cash. He then forced me to go from one shop to another along the highway for 30 minutes, searching for an ATM to withdraw cash. When I asked him to take me back to the hotel to get a proper taxi that accepted cards, he ignored me and continued demanding cash. I wasted 40 minutes stranded on an empty highway because of this. Later, I realized that the hotel’s so-called “taxi” was actually just a vehicle used for desert tours, not a legitimate taxi service.

On top of that, the fare was a complete scam. A regular taxi from Dubai to the desert hotel cost me 180 AED, but this unprofessional, unofficial vehicle charged me double—360 AED.

Based on all these experiences, I absolutely do not recommend this hotel. Considering the cost and the time it takes to get here, it is...

First, the Mysk Al Badayer retreat is an excellent choice for people looking to go out of the central city and have a peaceful and relaxing time. The resort has one of the best services we have ever seen, with a special shoutout to Shoaib and Ismail for the kind welcome. However, there are numerous things that the resort needs to improve upon to get a 5/5 rating and be worth the money. Quick note: my review/opinion is of a resident of UAE. Tourists will find the resort exquisite.

Great things about the resort: Delicious dinner Excellent service Great for relaxation Great for tourists seeking heritage-type architecture One of the few resorts with its own beautiful private mosque

Things to improve: There aren't any desert activities included with the expensive stay, which is unfortunate because we were hoping to experience something related to the desert during the stay, all of which required extra pay. The images showed a movie night in the middle of the desert, but it was inside the resort in a small amphitheater. Everyone coming to the resort want to experience the desert, which was again very unfortunate. There was a paid archery activity for around 100 DHS, including a cheap quality archery board that felt like it was bought from the gift market for 5 DHS. The resort mentioned a mini golf area, but it was broken and unusable when we saw it. The breakfast section was infested with mosquitos and dead cockroaches on the floor. The buffet food in the breakfast was dry, and most of it was inedible. I was looking forward to the indoor swimming pool in the winter season, but the water was colder than the outside temperature - indoor swimming pools are usually temperature controlled, but this one didn't seem so. The resort has an excellent bonfire place which is around 150 per person, which I believe should be included in the expensive resort stay (without the marshmallows, at least) They had an extraordinarily blurry telescope, and you could probably see the stars better from...