Nurai Island — Hotel in Nourai Island

We are very seasoned travelers and I have not written a review in over 14 years, but a sense of duty towards other fellow travelers compels me to break with tradition. Let me start with the positive: the island has a nice set up (if one doesn’t mind the noise from the surrounding construction sites, the regular buzzing from pool heating system, or the choppers hovering occasionally over the island), and the housekeeping and restaurant staff are friendly and attentive. A special mention to Francis, the VIP customer manager, always smiling and eager to help. Also, like with many island resorts, one has to accept that everything is overpriced, whether a minimum of $100 for wine, $10+ for a coke, $30 - $50 for a plate of children pasta, or even $50 for the supply of a few logs of wood for the “light yourself” camp fire outside each villa - but if the quality and service is good, we have never complained as we think it comes with the package. Now over to the “rest”.

The hotel attempts to look 5 star but cannot measure up to any of the international luxury chains (Rosewood, Four Seasons, etc.) nor it’s local competitors (Jumeirah, Emirates Palace, Shangri-La, St. Regis). None of the management, whether Adib Moukheiber (GM), Selcuk Kurtul (Hotel Manager), or Ali Jnal (FO Manager) were ever to be seen, nor did they ever try to attempt to connect with us during our 9 days to apologize for a very a embarrassing booking mishap and to check if we were enjoying our stay. This lack of leadership is clear on a daily basis - no one to greet you anywhere, no one to provide guests with details of the resort, the restaurants, any of the events and activities. No sense of personalization, regardless of how long you stay. The villas on the edge of the pool (103/104) have no beach access (just stones - they tried to sell them to us at check in). The island runs on “self service” - the heaters on the terrace at the restaurants are for show only as none work and even the tennis courts that have cracked surfaces with dangerously exposed wires and a net too short (at the bottom not the top!), are never cleaned so we had to remove ourselves any litter, including leftover glasses and cups from the day before. And if it rained overnight, make sure we would would take care of drying any puddles on the surface as requesting for anyone to do so is a treated as a tremendous nuisance. “Of course”, if one has to borrow a racket or tennis balls from the resort, this set you back at least $25 per person per use.

The hotel offers a convenient hourly transfer by boat to the Saadiyat peer (the only free thing except for Nespresso capsules and water in the Villa) so that one can dine or shop in Abu Dhabi. Unusually, the boat is also shared with local staff jetting for their shifts from the main land so can get cramped, and even more perplexing, they get dropped off at the staff peer on the island before the guests which helps defeat any initial illusion it is a dedicated service for the resort guests.

Every Villa is provided with bicycles but given the island allows for “day guests”, one has to be careful to lock all doors and protect one’s belongings - our bicycles were taken at the beach and the restaurants on multiple occasions despite having Villa numbers on them and occasionally a personal belonging in the front basket - even the presence of my daughter’s wet bathing suit was insufficient in deterring other day visitors from helping themselves to the bike leaving us stranded and in need of a buggy. Local staff complained to us that “unfortunately management only cares about taking in as much money as possible in the shortest possible time, and does not have any regard for the needs of guests and staff”. It made us wonder that perhaps the hotel and its owners are in financial distress, which is why the hotel tries to cut corners at every opportunity. If you plan a holiday in this part of the world, look elsewhere - other real luxury hotel are...

As a mother coming to this hotel was something I looked forward to for a long time. We booked a one bedroom bungalow with promising privacy and a swimming pool. Just before 7AM we were woken up by a terribly loud drilling sound. It was so loud that I practically jumped out of bed. Needless to say, sleeping in and relaxation was gone out of the window. We called the reception and they promised to stop. It didn’t stop and continued endless to the point that around 10AM we gathered our belongings and left the room. Outside, staring at our “private” pool were several workers on the roof so enjoying the pool or the beach was out of question. The hotel manager offered us a free lunch which we respectfully declined because we came to relax and to sleep in not to have a mediocre free meal at over AED 3800 per night. I simply asked for another stay when the construction was over and we could get exactly what we paid for. I wasn’t interested in anything free- what I expected was for the management to simply refund us the money for the stay they couldn’t provide, move us to another villa away from the noise or offer a complimentary stay in the future to make up for a ruined holiday. None of these options were offered, none of our emails were answered and at this point we have decided to take this further. Yes, construction is something that will end eventually and this post may feel irrelevant. However, this is not about construction- this post is about terrible customer service when a client who paid in full and paid premium is placed into a situation where no resolution is offered and any discomfort is not something the hotel is willing to take responsibility for. Inna situation where room is paid at check out - I would have never paid but because prepayment is required the hotel has nothing to lose. This is not luxury - this is ignorance and if you are looking to spend your hard earned money - I would look at other options where your business is valued, appreciated and where from the moment you step inside the hotel and up until you leave - everything is catered to ensure you have a pleasant stay. Very disappointing and frustrating at the same time.

UPDATE: After about three weeks and a couple of email exchanges our stay was refunded. We hope to come back for a...

Our experience started when we got to the welcome centre and we were told by the lady to quickly get on the boat. She said that the people on the boat have been waiting for us and are not happy. This was not a very warm or nice welcome to the welcome centre. We got straight off the plane and had a transfer booked through Nurai island so we didn’t think we were late or had a specific time to be there by. As far as I’m aware the boat goes across every 30 mins, therefore we would have been happy to wait for the next one, and had a warm welcome.

We then reached the island and were shown some restaurants on the way to our room by the bell boy. After that we weren’t sure where to go or what to do. We weren’t given a map or welcome information regarding the island.

Throughout our stay we had to find our own way around the island, we also had to go to the reception to get our own map of the island when we asked for it. When I arrived to the reception for a map of the island, the receptionist said ‘did you not get a welcome pack’ and we said no we didn’t. He then just gave us a map.

We knew nothing about the bikes, and it was only when we saw some children riding them that we rang reception to ask for a bike for our son.

Whilst we were there we walked over to the spa, we were shown around the spa and then when we went into the massage room overlooking the ocean, there was a huge boat & crane outside the window. The price you pay for an experience was again taken away from us, therefore we didn’t have a massage that we wanted whilst we were there. Even the lady showing us around seemed a little embarrassed and closed the curtain.

It was advertised that we would have a butler throughout our stay on the island. We were never introduced to one and didn’t see one the whole stay. We had complained on the second day and even after that we had no sight of a butler. So you had advertised something and we had been sold something that we didn’t actually receive. We did not receive the service that was advertised.

The service during our stay was far from 5 star, and this is not what we expected. We therefore, had a very unenjoyable stay at Nurai island after spending a lot of money on...