Eight Hundred Metres of Beach and the Jetty to Sir Bani Yas: Danat Jebel Dhanna Resort
The drive west from Abu Dhabi runs about two hundred and twenty kilometres and takes roughly two hours from the airport, on a straight road past Ruwais and out towards Al Dhannah City. The last stretch turns off towards the coast, the industrial landscape falls away, and the road ends at eight hundred metres of private beach with a resort along the back of it.
That approach is the essential fact about Danat Jebel Dhanna. It is the established five star property on the Al Dhafra coast, it holds 133 rooms, suites, private villas and beachfront chalets, and it serves two quite separate purposes. For many guests it is the mainland base for the crossing to Sir Bani Yas Island, whose jetty sits a short distance along the shore. For others it is a beach resort in its own right on a stretch of coast where there is very little else.
Eight hundred metres of sand
The private beach runs for eight hundred metres, with loungers, umbrellas and full service along it. Water sports and boat trips operate from the shore.
The light here is worth mentioning, because it is not the light of the eastern side of the emirate. This is the western coast, so the sun sets over the water rather than behind the buildings, and the beach faces it directly.
Al Dhafra is the largest region of the emirate and the least visited, running west from the capital towards the Saudi border. Ruwais is an industrial town rather than a tourist destination, and the resort sits in relative isolation on the coast beyond it. That isolation is the reason the beach stays quiet.
One hundred and thirty three keys
Accommodation runs across rooms, suites, private villas and beachfront chalets, with Gulf and garden outlooks and balconies or terraces on most categories.
A Deluxe Room measures thirty eight square metres and looks over the Gulf, the landscaped gardens and the beach. Standard provision includes a flat screen satellite television, complimentary high speed internet, individually controlled air conditioning, a hairdryer, a personal safe, a minibar and tea and coffee making facilities. Bathrobes, slippers and daily housekeeping come as standard across the property, in room dining runs around the clock, and family and interconnecting rooms are available.
The chalets are the strongest product on the list. A Beachfront Chalet measures forty square metres and carries two bedrooms and two bathrooms, with landscaping and a sandbank between it and the Gulf, and a private patio and lawn large enough to take breakfast on. That combination gives a family separation from the main building and a door onto the beach, and it suits the longer stays that a journey of this length encourages.
Interiors are comfortable and well kept rather than fashionable, which is what a resort that has been trading on this coast for years should be.
Tides, and four more kitchens
Five restaurants serve the resort alongside in room dining around the clock. Tides is the all day room, opening at six in the morning and running until half past ten at night with international menus, theme night buffets, an open bake oven and show cooking stations where guests can talk to the chefs.
Given the isolation, the kitchens carry more weight here than they would in the city. There is nowhere else to eat within a considerable drive, and the operation is sized and staffed with that in mind.
A remote resort is judged on its breakfast and its evening menu, because guests have no alternative to either. Danat has been working under that constraint for years, and the food is better than the map would lead you to expect.
Body and Soul, the courts and the pools
The Body and Soul Recreation Club is the wellness centre, holding massage treatment rooms with steam and sauna alongside them.
Temperature controlled swimming pools serve adults and children separately, which matters through the summer on this coast. Sport is unusually well provided for a resort this far out: a fully equipped fitness centre, two floodlit tennis courts, a squash court and basketball facilities. Indoor and outdoor play areas serve younger guests, and the children’s pool is temperature controlled too.
The floodlights are the practical detail. They mean tennis is playable after dark through the hotter months, when the courts would otherwise be unusable from mid morning onwards, and a resort with a substantial corporate clientele needs somewhere for guests to go in the evening.
The jetty, and the island crossing
The Sir Bani Yas Island jetty is the practical reason many guests book here. Water taxis cross to the island in about thirty minutes with four scheduled departures daily, serving the Anantara villa resorts and Desert Islands Resort and Spa.
That makes Danat Jebel Dhanna the natural staging point in both directions: a night before the crossing, a night after it, and a beach to use on either side. Built into an island trip rather than treated as a destination on its own, it is a straightforward and useful booking.
Meetings, and the Ruwais trade
The resort takes substantial corporate business from the industrial sector at Ruwais, and the facilities are sized for it. One ballroom and two further meeting and event venues serve indoor gatherings, and an outdoor venue known as The Garden handles events that want the open air.
For anyone travelling west along the Al Dhafra coast, or crossing to Sir Bani Yas, this is the established option on the mainland. Take a chalet, use the beach at sunset, and time the arrival around the ferry.
Contact
HOTEL: Danat Jebel Dhanna Resort
ADDRESS: Danat Jebel, near Al Dhannah City, Jebel Dhanna, Ruwais, Abu Dhabi. P.O. Box 12333
TELEPHONE: +971 2 801 2222
EMAIL: contact@visitabudhabi.ae
WEBSITE: https://www.danathotels.com/danat-jebel-dhanna-resort/
AREA: Al Dhannah / Ruwais