Jake and I had been brainstorming on things we wanted to do at some point during while we're living here in the UAE. Although we thought it would be fun to check out the Emirates Palace Hotel since it is probably Abu Dhabi's most famous landmark, we really didn't think it would work out until we saw a recent ad in the paper with a super-special residents rate and relevant perks. With four kids we need two rooms and the special which includes a free adjoining room, a much reduced rate for the other room, free breakfast for all and free lunch and dinner for the kids sounded right up our alley. So overall it ended up not costing that much different than something like a Hilton or Hyatt might have cost us.
Plus, we were quite intrigued by the possibilities of people watching - I mean, *who* stays at the opulent, over-the-top Emirates Palace??? This is the hotel that was supposed to be the one in the movie "Sex in the City II" (but the one shown was actually in Morocco where the movie was filmed) and prided itself this Christmas as having the "most expensive Christmas tree in the world" - with $11M worth of jewelry draped on it, I believe it!
So after a non-budget breaking lunch of sandwiches and fruit at home after church, we headed up the road for the 10 minute drive from our house. Check-in was pretty slow and inefficient but they brought presents for all the ladies of the group. I received a bouquet of fresh roses and the girls all received a wrapped Barbie. Poor Jake - nothing for him. But the Barbies were big hits.
We finally made it to our rooms (but still no crib for Anna's nap) but we were delighted to meet our young and extremely perky European "floor butler" whose job was to take care of us during our stay. How fun! Regan was very intrigued by the idea of a butler and wanted to know what a butler did. My knowledge of what might constitute a butler list of duties is rather limited but he did bring the girls juices in fluted glasses. He wore a tux with tails and donned white gloves to deliver the juices. I also assume he would have brought me a cup of coffee in the morning since there was no coffee machine in the room but I didn't test that out. He also brought us a list of DVDs they had if we wanted to watch a movie on the DVD player. We clearly didn't keep him that busy during our stay.
Most of our time was spent at the pool and beach club - it was quite nice with a lazy river, two fast waterslides and a baby pool that was perfect for Anna. Meredith has really turned the corner on swimming and will now swim a bit with her whole head and face under the water (for anyone who has been around Meredith, water and swim lessons anytime during her life, this is a major, major accomplishment!). Meredith even did the lazy river on her own without an inner tube or noodle. There were several bridges with falling water. She didn't like it dripping on her head but she would just swim under the waterfall and it worked out just fine. My favorite line of the weekend was when she got caught in a faster current and she said, "Whoooah, the river is *really* getting lazy now!"
After about a 24-hour stay, the girls (and us) were sufficiently worn out and after tracking down our lost minivan and luggage left with valet, we made the long 10-minute drive back home. Naps (almost) all around.
Overall a big thumbs-up on what will probably be our one and only stay at the Emirates Palace Hotel here in Abu Dhabi.
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| The girls and their Barbie gifts courtesy of the hotel |
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| Anna's crib had kid-sized slippers in them (as well as three Emirates Palace rubber duckies and a teddy bear) |
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| Just finished dinner on balcony overlooking the Persian Gulf |
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| Same balcony but breakfast this time. |
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| Anna's new teddy bear |
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| Anna loved the shaded kiddy pool |
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| Home and WORN OUT! |
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