There are two Hilton Hotels in Abu Dhabi so make sure you are booking the correct one. This review is for the Hilton Abu Dhabi located on Corniche Road. The other Hilton is the Hilton Capital Grand in the Commercial District (near the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque). The Hilton Capital Grand is newer (and nicer) but I think the Hilton Abu Dhabi is located in a better location.
But before I continue, I should warn you. At the time this review was written in 2016 the hotel was under renovation. This hotel was a great stay but the construction noise was too much to handle. I stayed here for three days. Two of those days, I was woken up at 6:30 AM and one night I was woken up at 12:30 AM (yes AM, not PM) from the loud hammering above. It was kind of ridiculous. Once they are done with the renovation, I think this hotel will be a much better property to stay at.
The Hilton Abu Dhabi is located in the Cornish area, approximately 30 mins from Abu Dhabi International Airport. Other hotels in this area include the St. Regis, Emirates Palace and a Grand Hyatt. This area is great if you want to relax by the beach, visit the Heritage Village or have tea at the Emirates Palace (without actually staying there). The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is approximately 15 minutes away by car and a taxi ride there costs about 20 AED. The hotel does provide a shuttle to/from the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque for the same price and offers a complimentary shuttle to the nearby Marina Mall throughout the day.
The exterior of the Hilton Abu Dhabi is a little dated, but inside the hotel is adequately appointed in traditional Arabic and contemporary décor. The employees are friendly and attentive and the Concierge can assist you with local tours and attractions.
On this trip, I booked a king guestroom with a sea view and upon check-in, was upgraded to an Executive Room on the 9th floor with a sea view. The Hilton Abu Dhabi has 10 floors of guest rooms and the top two floors are Executive Floors. The Executive Lounge is located on the 10th floor. Unfortunately for me, it appears my room (936) was located right under the Executive Floor renovation where all the construction noise was coming from.
The room itself is spacious and decorated in typical Hilton decor. The king size bed was very comfortable and there were plenty of drawers and closet space for my two weeks’ worth of clothes and bags. The working desk was decent but nothing special and the sitting area was a nice little space to rest and relax. The room was also furnished with a 32 inch LCD TV (with many international channels), DVD player, MP3 player/radio and in-room safe.
The enclosed bathroom was a little cramped and was equipped with a toilet, bidet, single sink and a shower/tub combo. It was good for one person but would be tight for two people to use at the same time. I was not a fan of the shower as the water pressure was fairly weak and had water temperature issues (constantly fluctuating between hot and cold). As with all Hilton Hotels, Peter Thomas Roth bath and body products were provided for your convenience.
But my favorite part of the room was the view.
The actual hotel building is located on the street side but it is connected to the beach via an underground pass. On the beach side, Hilton owns the Hiltonia Beach Club and Spa. All hotel guests have access to a pretty nice fitness center, spa, pool complex and private beach club with lounge chairs and umbrellas. It was a really nice setup and I spent a couple of afternoons out here soaking up the Arabian sun.
Here are some pictures of the gym. It’s literally a full-size gym that people would pay a monthly fee for. It’s definitely one of the nicer hotel gyms I have visited.
Here are some pictures of the pool area. The pool is a decent size and there are plenty of lounge chairs and umbrellas for your use.
And just on the other side of the pool area is the hotel’s own private beach. Lounge chairs and umbrellas are also provided here complimentary for hotel guests.
Because the Executive Lounge was under renovation, Gold/Diamond benefits were moved to the hotel restaurants. For breakfast, there was a large buffet featuring hot and cold dishes and an omelet station. Other benefits included afternoon snacks between 12:30 PM and 3:00 PM, afternoon tea between 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM, evening snacks between 6:00 PM and 8:30 PM and evening drinks (including complimentary alcoholic drinks) between 7:30 PM and 9:00 PM.
Other hotel amenities include a business center, several on-site restaurants and numerous gift shops. WiFi was provided throughout the hotel and at the Hiltonia Beach Club and Spa. So yes, you can connect to the internet to post pictures of your feet by the pool.
For those worried about visiting during Ramadan, I visited here during Ramadan and services were not really affected. I was able to eat throughout the day and order alcoholic drinks at night.
Overall, besides the construction noise problem, I had a great stay here at the Hilton Abu Dhabi. The room was pretty nice but the Hitonia Beach Club and Spa really made this an enjoyable and relaxing stay for me. I loved the private beach space, full fitness facility and the all-day Executive Lounge benefits. I would definitely stay here again and would recommend it to everyone.
Other trip reports in this series include:
- Qantas oneworld Business Class Lounge
- American Airlines A321T Business Class, Los Angeles to New York
- Etihad Lounge at New York JFK
- Etihad A380 Business Class, New York to Abu Dhabi
- Etihad Arrivals Lounge at Abu Dhabi
- Hilton Abu Dhabi
- Etihad First Class Lounge and Spa
- Etihad A380 First Class Apartment, Abu Dhabi to Melbourne
- Qantas A330 Business Class, Melbourne to Perth to Sydney
- Qantas Business Class Lounge at Perth
- Qantas First Class Lounge and Spa at Sydney
- Qantas A380 First Class, Sydney to Los Angeles
