Fairmont Bab Al Bahr

Sonis , is a perfect bar mixer you can ever meet , over all hotel check-in and other things which are to be considered are perfect

Villa was amazing. his service was amazing and the food was amazing! thank you Bikal for everything and we will deffinetly be back soon!

Best service ever, definitely recommend. Always quick to help you no matter how busy. Kailash and Brett were very good to help with places to go in Abu Dhabi also.

We recently returned from a 10-day trip at Fairmont and looking back, it was a good hotel with good facilities, however for the length of time we stayed, the facilities soon became limited. It’s ideal for shorter break. The staff are helpful and despite some strange hotel rules (we were on an all-inclusive board) sometimes felt more like an “all excluded” board due to limited menus and drinks on offer, the staff were sensible in most cases to make our trip more enjoyable and extended the menu offering so that we could try other options. The different packages and what they offer is just too complicated and frustrating. The beach looks great in the pictures, but it wasn’t really used by guests as it’s somewhat small and uninviting. As guests who arrived early in the morning after a long flight from UK, we thought the hotel would extend its hospitality and allow us to have breakfast ahead of check in, unfortunately we and other guests we spoke to weren’t given this courtesy, shame as it would have been a nice way to start the holiday rather than hanging around the lobby. Overall, the staff made the holiday enjoyable as they were all sensible and were able to work around some of the hotel restrictions especially as we were staying for a long period of time. The restaurants were all excellent and the quality of food was very good. It’s good that the hotel offer alcohol and whilst the beer can option for all-inclusive was disappointing, the draft beer was nice. One thing I would ask for is their default wine offering is extended, I was offered the same red wine at each restaurant, which became very dull after a couple of days! The bedrooms were big, a big plus if you want space to spread yourself out! As a family of 5 with interconnecting rooms this worked well for us! I would like to thank all the staff we came across, especially the following: Shirazi – Hotel manager who removed unnecessary obstacles in organising our interconnecting rooms and being flexible with our all-inclusive package to ensure we got the best experience at the hotel/restaurant. Dr Akam – she helped organise all of our excursions and was so engaging and helpful (yes she is a doctor with many talents!) Hassan at Macro’s grill took pride in ensuring we had the best experience at the restaurant. Pradeep, Anita, Asha and Sara at Bridge’s bar, always looked after us every evening. Kaung at the pool side, he’s so happy and helpful, ensured we had beds ready ahead of us arriving and providing pool side service always with a smile. Al Makthoum & Chezka who were tentative and really made us feel at home. Rahmat who quietly just gets on with providing an excellent dining experience, he didn’t go unnoticed! Leah, always ready to sort our rooms out every morning with a big warm smile.

After taking a night flight from the UK to Dubai and then having the long transfer from the airport, we arrived at the hotel at 11am. We were immediately disappointed as despite emailing ahead to inform the hotel of our early arrival and requesting our room to be ready, we were advised we could not check in until 3pm and was therefore not entitled to a drink or food until we had checked in. On our 6th visit to Abu Dhabi other hotels had not treated us like this. It was downhill from there on in!. The cafe lounge was not part of the all inclusive but I requested we could at least have a drink. The hotel reluctantly agreed after a long discussion so we were given complimentary coffees but no lunch. At 2pm we finally got one room, at 3pm we got the other room. Room was amazing couldn't fault it in anyway. Julie from housekeeping looked after us. Pool and pool bar was fabulous, staff round the pool was really helpful, friendly and attentative. Thank you to Parwej, Brett, Nivin, Amran and the rest of the team, not forgetting the lifeguards & chefs. Food choice was good, always hot when served and they tweaked our orders to perfection. Breakfast the 1st morning was horrendous, it was like a cattle market, people pushing in, knocking bread rolls off the counter, coffee was cold, the toaster didnt work properly, I do like brown toast!, We complained to Ivan who brought us toast to the table, and later decided to upgrade us to the Gold lounge for breakfast which was much more civilized and relaxing. 1st evening meal we had in Bridges bar, amazing food and they had sparkling wine (french Brut) on the all inclusive, result!. Great staff in Bridges bar, thank you to Glen and the team Sanjiv (fellow Gunner), Anita, Asha, Sara & Pradeep. They always served us with a smile and always wanted our Bridges Bar experience to be amazing, which it was. We had booked the Marco Pierre White steakhouse for our Anniversary meal (not part of the all inclusive) table was decorated lovely with rose petals and jewels, food was exceptional, thankyou chefs. Thank you Jabber & Aiken for serving us. Only when we came to leave was we asked to pay, we said book it to our room but they couldnt do that as noone had asked us for card details upon check in, slightly embarrassing as never had to do that before. Dont normally bring my card out at nights on an all inclusive holiday. Next we tried the Marco Pierre White Italian, my mum wanted the lamb off the paying menu, when we suggested we got an allowance from the all inclusive to offset it, staff member Marco told us we didnt. When we then commented on the food, which was bland and the vegetables served with lamb were that spicy you couldnt taste the lamb. Marco sarcastically asked us if we had ever been to Italy and experienced real Italian food as he was from Rome. Luckily my parents have been all over the world and was able to real off all the places they had been to in Italy, but he was definitely not attentative to his audience and I would question if working in hospitality is his forte. We never went back to the Italian during our 10 night stay. Next night at the buffet restaurant, hubby had been drinking Carlsberg as the all inclusive beer, but was told on ordering he had to have Heineken, strange as he couldnt have that at any other place. At this point the all inclusive concept was so confusing and needs a lot of work for all staff in the hotel to be on the same page. Next night Bridges Bar again, food comes out of the MPW kitchen, Burgers were cold, we sent them back, returned cold for the 2nd time, didnt eat that night. Glen offered us anything off the paying menu to compensate so next night we had the Shepherds Pie, fabulous. Next night to the Lebanese restaurant, we were told we couldnt have the sparkling wine as not on their all inclusive menu, strange as on the all inclusive elsewhere. Asked the Manager to go get it from Bridges bar, he refused, so I got up myself and went to get 2 glasses of fizz and returned to the restaurant. Food was excellent in there though. My biggest disappointment is I could of drunk 5 bottles of rum during the day but we couldnt order my mum a hot chocolate without paying. I have stayed at far superior hotels where the all inclusive dine around concept is exceptional. Fairmont you have a lot of work to do to make this an exceptional holiday experience. We will never return to this hotel but we will return to Abu Dhabi for our 7th visit.