Hotel Review: Abu Dhabi’s Qasr Al Sarab could improve its F&B

Just over a year since we visited the monumental new Qasr Al Sarab desert resort it was interesting to go back and see the hotel now fully booked and operational. We loved the setting and the luxurious rooms and interior spaces. But the food and beverage side ought to be better for a five-star property of this standing.

This hotel scores highly on the wow factor. You drive 150 kilometres deep into the desert outside Abu Dhabi and then come upon what could be a large fortress among the dunes, and this particular place in the desert is stunningly beautiful too.

Holywood feel

The entire hotel is something of a Hollywood film set. Rooms are accessed along walkways like in a castle to one side. To the other is a compound of villas in the same rustic, mud-clad style.

ArabianMoney would class these among the best rooms available in Arabia. They are spacious, equisitely styled and feature every comfort and convenience. We just would have appreciated a DVD library for the player when a sandstorm interupted the satellite TV, strangely the hotel had none of these inexpensive discs.

Pick a room with a view from a massive balcony or go for a villa for the ultimate in privacy. The bathrooms are wonderful with huge circular tubs and rainfall showers.

F&B problems

The main complex of the hotel has a large lobby lounge and bar. This is where the problems start. The service is slow and orders get confused. You then have a choice of fine dining, a Mediterranean restaurant by the pool and an international buffet.

We tried the Mediterranean. The bolognese pasta came with no meat, and when replaced dripped with oil. The risotto featured undercooked rice. Both slices of the ‘tin apple pie’ were not baked properly.

We enquired whether the ‘tin’ was a play on ‘tarte tatin’ only to discover it was a misspelling of ‘thin’. Embarrassed the waiter at least knocked the apple pies off the bill.

Breakfast confusion

At breakfast a similar air of confusion prevailed. There were plenty of staff but the coffee took ages to arrive. Butter was not on the table or the buffet, and the first request for it was forgotten. It takes something for staff to mess up a buffet.

Perhaps this is just a desert version of the island affect that often afflicts isolated hotels. Staff and management relations can deteriorate, and to be fair the hotel was very busy and the whole place immaculately clean and well presented. Still the pool attendants could have been more helpful and less noisy cleaning the pool in the morning.

It is a shame really because the Qasr Al Sarab has all the makings of a world-class hotel and resort. You could not fault the location, hotel or its surroundings.