Back home from a short getaway to the capital. We used the 2nd, and last of the staycation voucher in our Isme Elite app this time  – a “city getaway” – at Jumeirah Etihad Towers Hotel in Abu Dhabi 🙂 It was either that, or Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai (too close to home, the pool didn’t look very exciting (sorry guys) when we had a peek after brunch at La Cantine the other day), or Jumeirah Creekside Hotel (na…). As beautiful as the Burj Khalifa is, or the creek, we wanted something different. So Etihad Towers it was.

I emailed the Isme guys a week ago, and they booked it for me (thank goodness Saturday wasn’t a public holiday!). Was told that I would receive a confirmation from J.E.T straight away but it didn’t come on the day or the day after (insert annoyed face,), so I emailed the hotel myself (insert annoyed face) – and it came later on. My faith in the Isme team has slightly been restored. Not the best, but better 🙂

So, how was the stay? Was it good? Did I think it was worth what we paid for with the Isme Elite membership? Would I recommend it?

Hmm. Much better than I had anticipated. First time to the hotel, been ages since we’ve been to Abu Dhabi and we were absolutely sold with the view from our room. I hadn’t realise how much AD has grown since we last stayed there. Where did all these islands come from? When did they build it?! And what’s with the new Atlantis looking building next to the Marina Mall? What about the amazing presidential palace next to Emirates Palace? Swoon swoon swoon!

And the hotel : beautiful. I expected no less from Jumeirah. Service, up to par. I don’t know if they knew I was a blogger, got a feeling they would’ve written this down in my profile “Be extra nice to her, she is super critical and will write it all down in her blog if you so much as forget to change her napkins when they are dirty.” Hmm. So…. if they did, cheers for the awesome service, if they didn’t, cheers for the awesome service 🙂 I might have to book under my husband’s name next time if I wanted to do this review anonymously thing properly.

Here’s a run-through of what I loved :

a) Our upgraded Grand Club King Room – woohoo! Unfortunately I don’t have any photos of the room that didn’t have our baby or my husband or me in it, but you are welcome to go to their website here to have a peek. Spacious – all 60m2 of it, which means extra space for the little person to crawl all over.

b) Cute toiletries, bottled to resemble the 5-towers of J.E.T. Unique. (And yes I took it home hee hee hee)

c) The view, from our room.

c) Service.

The charming Ronald who served us at check-in (one of the most important people in hotels, as these guys gives you a good first impression, to kickstart your holiday. Note to all hotels!)

The lovely Odessa who was taking care of us after check-in and before check-out.

Shout out to Nazrul at the pool who was so sweet to our little girl, talking to her (as much conversation as you can have with a 6-month old), getting us the big float for her to use, etc.

Anjar at the Club Lounge, who got us the quiet meeting room so we could dine privately whilst our girl napped.

And another, who served us at the pool on Friday (I can’t remember your name!) – Nayaam does a great seafood pizza by the way, and the manager who got us our wine (yay) 🙂

All the little things they do, it makes your stay extra special.

d) Free access to 300, as guests of J.E.T. We came here twice, once around sun-set and again the next day before check-out. You could do afternoon tea here I believe but we just went for a walk around to admire the Abu Dhabi skyline 🙂

e) Access to Club Lounge (with the Isme Elite app) – convenience for food with the little person. Sadly no more fine dining for us for awhile, it’s just so much easier to use the club lounge these days. Note to all : Little people are allowed for breakfast but only allowed after that if there is a free meeting room to use. Also, adults need to be properly dressed after breakfast – so no shorts and jandals.

Slight setbacks, and things that could have been better :

a) Pool was a bit too chilly for us and the little girl. Yes it was heated but not enough – we mentioned these to the pool guys whilst we were there. Suggest to check the temperature and to maintain it at something a bit more comfortable (like the one at Jumeirah Zabeel Saray! 😉 ) Still so beautiful though.

b) Service, by the pool. Had to look around for someone to get towels when we first got to the pool. We had expected someone to attend to us when we first got there (similar to all Jumeirah hotels). Also, it was a bit difficult to get service for food initially, as they were busy attending to people dining by the poolside. I had to do a bit of waving around, and resorted to walking up (in my swimwear) to the counter, to order. Would have been perfect if there were more staff by the pool 🙂

c) Evening house-keeping. In some of the hotels that we have stayed in this region (its sister properties Al Qasr, Dar Al Masyaf, or St Regis Saadiyat, JW Marriott Marquis), when you return from dinner, the rooms would be slightly tidied up, curtains drawn. Call us spoilt but we kinda expected the same from J.E.T. They did come in and left a plate of fruits and wine (thanks..), but the bathroom and bedroom was not not slightly tidied up at all, and curtains not drawn. Little things to match the service given in the other Jumeirah hotels, which we would’ve appreciated 🙂

And now, the maths. How much would it have costed if I had booked off the website? Prices are based on a weekend rate in December, advance purchase, no cancellation

• A night in a Deluxe King (which is the most basic room, eligible with Isme Elite) – AED 770, however as we were upgraded to the Grand Club King :
• A night in a Grand Club King – AED 1650

How much did we pay for the membership? AED 3900 (which includes a whole lot of other perks, as you would have discovered in my blog – click here to have a read of other reviews). I think we have gotten our money’s worth back by now (yay) – and still have a lot of vouchers in there to use…. I think I might’ve convinced my husband that it was worth it? Maybe…. 🙂

All in all, we, as always, had a great time with the family. It seems like Abu Dhabi has grown so much, and we would love to return to explore a bit more. I haven’t even been to Emirates Palace (!). Shout out to all at Jumeirah Etihad Towers who made our stay extra special 🙂 We will return soon – within the next three months actually (Note to everyone: Spend 2000 AED in The Avenue and you get a 500AED F&B voucher to use by March 2017! You also end up being very broke, but will return with a nice Hugo Boss suit, he he he – 50% off!)

• Jumeirah at Etihad Towers
• Abu Dhabi

Disclaimer : We paid for our meal at Nayaam Pool Bar (using the Entertainer 241), and used the Isme Elite membership for the stay and access to the club lounge (which we paid for ourselves as well).  All thoughts are our own 🙂