Ninety Nine Keys Around a Courtyard: Al Wathba, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort and Spa
A Superior Room at Al Wathba runs to forty five square metres and is reached from an exterior walkway rather than an internal corridor. The balcony looks over a courtyard of stone pillars and running water, with the last low roofline and then the desert beyond it. Inside there are Egyptian cotton sheets, down duvets, hypoallergenic bedding, a minibar, an espresso machine and an iPad, and a bathroom carrying a separate deep soaking tub alongside a rainfall shower.
The walkway is the detail that explains the whole property. Al Wathba holds ninety nine rooms, suites and villas and almost none of them are entered from inside a building. The resort is laid out as an Emirati village, low blocks set around courtyards with water features, stone pillars and landscaped gardens threading between them. Guests walk outside to reach dinner. Forty five minutes inland from the capital, that turns out to be the whole argument.
Where it stands, and how long the drive takes
The resort occupies a historical area of the Al Wathba district inside a regional park. Al Bateen Executive Airport is forty kilometres away and Zayed International Airport 44.3 kilometres. Dubai International sits at 163 kilometres. The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is roughly forty five minutes by road.
Al Wathba is known within the emirate for two things, and both are close by. The camel race track is a short drive from the gates, and the wetland reserve where flamingos gather sits in the same district.
The arithmetic of the road is what makes the property work. Qasr Al Sarab in Liwa asks for two and a half hours in each direction. Al Wathba asks for well under one, which makes a single night out here a reasonable proposition rather than a logistical undertaking.
Rooms, suites and the Royal Compound
Above the Superior Rooms the categories climb quickly. A two bedroom suite with its own pool runs to 260 square metres. The Royal Compound is the largest arrangement on the property, comprising a three bedroom villa, two villas of two bedrooms each and a one bedroom villa, with a majlis of 100 square metres serving the group.
Every category carries a balcony or a terrace, which follows from the village plan rather than being a feature bolted onto it. Cots are provided at no charge and connecting rooms are available. Check in is from three in the afternoon and check out at noon.
Five kitchens for ninety nine keys
Five restaurants serve the resort, with a bar, a coffee shop and a rooftop terrace alongside them. That is a generous ratio for a property of this size and a necessary one given the distance to the nearest alternative.
Al Mabeet is the venue that reads most clearly as a desert resort should, a Bedouin inspired camp serving Arabic and Mediterranean dishes in the open air. Terra Secca handles European cooking and has an outdoor terrace. Al Mesayan is built around the sunset hour, with cocktails and appetisers. Panache works poolside through the day and carries a swim up bar. Bait Al Hanine, which serves local and international menus, is currently listed as temporarily closed.
Fire pits are set into the outdoor seating and come into their own once the evening cools. Private dining for two and in room champagne service are both arranged on request, which places Al Wathba in the weekend market for couples as firmly as it sits in the family one.
Five kitchens across ninety nine keys means nobody eats the same meal twice on a three night stay. Forty five minutes from the nearest alternative, that is arithmetic rather than indulgence.
Saray Spa, and 2,200 square metres of it
The spa is the largest single facility on the property. Saray Spa occupies 2,200 square metres and holds eleven treatment rooms. Around them sit saunas, steam rooms, plunge pools, salt rooms, a Turkish hammam and a whirlpool, with relaxation areas laid out both indoors and in the open air.
Eleven treatment rooms against ninety nine keys is an unusual provision, and it means the spa functions as somewhere to spend an afternoon rather than somewhere to book an hour. The scale is closer to a dedicated wellness property than to a resort facility.
The pool, the rooftop and the sand beyond the walls
An outdoor infinity pool sits at the centre of the village, complimentary to guests, with cabanas, loungers and umbrellas around it and a children’s pool alongside. The rooftop garden and terrace look down over the whole arrangement and carry a bar of their own, and they are where the resort is best read at sunset.
The fitness centre runs around the clock with free weights and circuit equipment. Beyond the walls the resort arranges horse riding, camel rides, archery and desert crawler drives out into the dunes.
Two meeting rooms and a business centre serve smaller corporate groups, and the isolation is an asset for a closed session. Parking is complimentary, electric vehicle charging is available on site, and the property is Green Key certified. Staff work in English, Arabic, French and Hindi. Pets are not accommodated.
Who should book it
Anyone who wants the desert without surrendering a day to the road in each direction. Families are well served by the children’s pool, the free cots and the space between buildings. Couples are served by Al Mabeet, the rooftop and a spa built at a scale the room count does not require.
Take a balcony room, book a treatment for the afternoon rather than the hour, and be on the rooftop before the light goes.
Contact
HOTEL: Al Wathba, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Abu Dhabi
ADDRESS: Al Wathba South 56620, Abu Dhabi
TELEPHONE: +971 2 204 4444
EMAIL: info.alwathba@luxurycollection.com
WEBSITE: https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/auhlc-al-wathba-a-luxury-collection-desert-resort-and-spa-abu-dhabi/overview/
AREA: Al Wathba