Ornament on Zayed The First Street: Royal Rose Hotel Abu Dhabi
Zayed The First Street runs through Al Markaziyah, the central district of Abu Dhabi’s main island, and Royal Rose stands on it at number 1025. What surrounds the building is the working city rather than a resort compound: office blocks, the old downtown grid, the World Trade Center Mall a short distance away, and the Corniche promenade within walking reach at the northern end of the street.
Abu Dhabi Mall is a few minutes by car. Louvre Abu Dhabi is 7.6 kilometres away on Saadiyat. Ferrari World is 30 kilometres out on Yas and Yas Waterworld 28. Abu Dhabi International Airport sits 36 kilometres from the door, with no hotel shuttle on that route.
The point of the address is walkability. A guest here can cross a good deal of the old downtown on foot, which is not available at the waterfront hotels, where every errand begins with a taxi. It also means the hotel is a practical base for the museum island and for Yas without being committed to either, since both are reachable in well under an hour by car.
Gilt, marble and a chandelier that means it
Hilton’s Curio Collection exists for hotels that refuse a template, and Royal Rose is a strong argument for the category. This is a French inspired palace hotel set down in the middle of a Gulf business district, and it commits to the idea completely.
Gilt, marble, heavy drapery and a chandelier of considerable ambition. There is no irony in any of it and no hedging. Guests either take to it immediately or find it a great deal, and the hotel is entirely comfortable with that division. Curio took the property on and left the interiors alone, which was the correct decision.
Upstairs, where the theme continues
Categories run from rooms through to suites, with the French theme carried upstairs in ornate furniture, rich fabrics and detailed finishes. Rooms are well proportioned and comfortable, and the decoration is more restrained above the lobby than the lobby prepares you for.
Executive categories add lounge access, and the executive lounge does the usual work of breakfast, day refreshments and an evening service. Free WiFi runs in the rooms and the lobby, a concierge desk operates, room service is available and there is a boutique on site. Check in is from two in the afternoon and check out at midday.
For a guest who finds contemporary minimalism cold, this is the answer in Abu Dhabi, and there is a substantial market for exactly that. A great many five star hotels in the Gulf were finished in grey stone and pale timber within a few years of one another, and a traveller who has stayed in six of them will recognise how differently this building reads from the moment the doors open.
Printania, and a cafe that never closes
Printania Restaurant is the all day dining room, running buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner across international specialities prepared at live cooking stations.
Brasserie Cafe sits on the upper level overlooking the lobby and is open twenty four hours a day, moving from freshly brewed coffee and an assortment of teas through mocktails, savoury snacks and speciality gateaux. A room open at every hour, positioned above the most decorative space in the building, turns out to be the most used corner of the hotel.
Beyond the doors, the central position means a wide range of independent restaurants sits within a short walk, which is not the case at the resort properties.
> The dining here is straightforward and well executed rather than staged to compete with the lobby, which is the more sensible use of the budget.
The rooftop pool and the wellness floor
The pool sits on the roof with lounge chairs and a terrace looking across the downtown skyline, and a children’s pool is provided alongside. It is the best feature in the building after the lobby.
A spa and a fitness centre complete the wellness provision. There is no beach, which is the plain trade for a central address, and the Corniche is the answer to it.
Self parking and valet parking are both complimentary, secured and covered. Charging for electric vehicles is not available on site.
Al Ain Ballroom, and the wedding trade
The event provision runs to the Al Ain Ballroom with the Nakheel and Delma meeting rooms alongside, which covers corporate groups of moderate size and, more distinctively, weddings.
Weddings are where the interiors stop being a question of taste and become an asset. A couple who want gilt, marble and a chandelier as the backdrop to the photographs do not have to build any of it, because the building already supplies it, and the ballroom sits a lift ride from the lobby that supplies it best.
Families are accommodated on generous terms: children of five and under stay and dine complimentary, and those between six and eleven take half off their meals. Connecting rooms are available, though the general register of the property is adult and its guests skew towards business travellers and couples.
Against the inland group
Marriott Hotel Downtown offers more than 26,000 square feet of function space and four venues built around a working day. Grand Millennium Al Wahda offers 845 keys and apartments up to 156 square metres. Royal Rose offers neither scale nor a conference floor, and instead offers a single committed idea executed at five star level in the middle of the city.
Taking the room
The capital’s most decorative hotel and a central address at a rate the Corniche palaces do not approach. Take an executive room for the lounge, use the rooftop pool in the evening, and enjoy the lobby rather than resisting it.
Contact
HOTEL: Royal Rose Hotel Abu Dhabi, Curio Collection by Hilton
ADDRESS: 1025 Zayed The First Street, Al Danah, Al Markaziyah District, Abu Dhabi
TELEPHONE: +971 2 672 4000
EMAIL: info@royalrosehotel.com
WEBSITE: https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/auhrsqq-royal-rose-hotel-abu-dhabi/
AREA: Al Danah / Al Markaziyah