Hotel Review: The Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain’s top hotel
Posted on 06 June 2010 with no comments from readers
This is easily the best hotel in Bahrain as my new Lebanese friend in the gym pointed out. Indeed, with the InterCon closed until the second quarter of next year the Ritz-Carlton is without a rival in the Gulf’s tiny island state that is home to many regional banks.
This is an exceptionally secure, private resort property with a balance between business and leisure guests as well as international and GCC occupancy. The 245 rooms and suites and 23 villas all have seaviews and access to extensive beach and other leisure facilities.
Club heaven
For the best rooms choose the Club floor with its spacious roof-top lounge featuring non-stop complementary light meals and drinks. Designed by the French architect Pierre-Yves Rochon the Club floor is a haven of modern minimalism.
There is a magnificent Turkish bath complex adjacent to the gymnasium and a full-sized indoor pool and jacuzzi. Outside there are several tennis courts and a huge swimming pool area.
The high-end beachfront villas are like something from the Maldives with a large open air dining complex nearby including a Trader Vic’s restaurant. Luxury and the superlative service of the Ritz-Carlton complete a sensational hospitality package just a few minutes from the main business district or the new twin towers of the Bahrain Financial Harbour.
The hotel also has a cavernous conference centre that can host the largest regional events as well as the smallest. Weddings are often held in these huge reception rooms.
Fine dining
Finally, you are never going to go hungry in this hotel. There is Nirvana its contender for the best Indian restaurant in Bahrain; Plums Steakhouse for meat in a modern art salon; La Mediterranee for all-day international buffets; and Primavera for Italian fine dining.
It is hard to fault this hotel though some of the standard guest bedrooms might be considered a tad small by Ritz-Carlton standards, so go for an upgrade. And it has to be said that this is more than compensated for by the very generous size of the other facilities of this property.
In short ArabianMoney can only agree with the our friend from the gym, you will not find better than this hotel in Bahrain and it stands up to comparison with the best in the Gulf.
