The Four Seasons Abu Dhabi is very popular among business travelers but it is also a great hotel for tourists and families. It has great wellness facilities (a beautiful rooftop pool, a fully-fledged spa and gym), direct access to the Galleria mall for shopping, plenty of fine restaurants and even a kids club! The hotel offers children meals and a kids club packed with activities for the little ones and staff that is trained to entertain them while the grownups can have time for themselves. The service is immaculate, the culinary options are superb with two Michelin restaurants on site, and the location is within vicinity to the major attractions of Abu Dhabi. Surprisingly, the hotel is not as expensive as one would expect.

The Four Seasons Abu Dhabi

The rooms at the Four Seasons feature the utmost comfort with the Four Seasons comfy signature beds and pillows, spacious bathrooms and luxury toiletries. We stayed at the executive king suite, which has a beautiful view of the city and waterways. The suite of one bedroom, 1.5 bathroom, includes seating areas, spacious closet, desk, TV in each room, a mini bar full with complimentary treats, safe, ironing and fan, It’s practically everything one would need, even a power strip with a universal adapter. The elegant bathroom, which has a TV embedded in the mirror, included two sinks, shower, bathtub, and toilet with bidet.

The Four Seasons makes significant efforts towards sustainability; we noticed it everywhere, from the reusable bottles to the recycled dispensable toothbrush provided. The building architecture and transportation is aimed at saving energy and so is the maintenance, including reducing waste of food, using eco-certified detergents, etc. I was surprised to see that it can be achieved to this extent without compromising on quality. Well appreciated!

The Four Seasons Abu Dhabi

Wellness for the body and soul

When it comes to R&R the facilities at the Four Seasons includes a pool, gym and spa. The Rooftop pool is located on the 3^rd floor and has a stunning city and bay view. The service at the pool, like everything here, is outstanding. Petrus, the pool attendant prepared a cabana for us with towels, a cooler with ice water and provided us with complimentary sunscreen. While we were swimming, he brought us complimentary treats like a small fruit salad. What a wonderful surprise this was after the swim!

The Four Seasons Abu Dhabi

The hotel’s gym is spacious, full of light and with a city view. It features state of the art workout equipment with LCD monitors to track and feedback the exercise, full sets of free weights including dumbbells and kettle bells and everything one can will. There is also a separate well-equipped gym for ladies only. Whether on a business trip or a vacation like we had, a good workout is so good for the body and soul, and especially when there is a full spa nearby to relax the muscles after it.

The Pearl spa facilities are separated to men and women, each with a Jacuzzi pool, Hammam, dry sauna, ice fountain, jet shower and a heated rest area with a tea corner. The décor and facilities are highly luxurious and a full set of toiletries are available to the visitor disposal. All one needs is to change to the silky bath robe and surrender to the choice of massage. The therapist interviewed me to learn the full extent of my massage preferences, which resulted in an hour of indulgence and relaxation. Thereafter, we had a couple Jacuzzi in a private romantic room. Who needs more than that for a perfect day?

Culinary delights

The four seasons offers a variety of three restaurants and a lobby bar, two of which are recommended by the Michelin guide and others - Café Milano and Butcher & Still. Breakfast is served at the Crust restaurant; it is exquisite in terms of variety, food quality and service. The hotel’s pastry chef puts on a pastry buffet that would give a good fight to French patisseries. This is no doubt the best breakfast I have ever had!

French Patisserie buffet at breakfast

Al Meylas in the lobby serves light meals and sweet treats made by the hotels’ talented pastry chef. Its highlight is the Afternoon tea, served on a three story tray and contains meticulous bite size hand-crafted savory and sweet delicacies. Each one of the items served is no less than an artwork in terms of looks and taste. We indulged in each bite, observing each one, tasting, sharing impressions, and enjoying the unique flavors. The hotel also has a lounge bar called Zsa Zsa for light meals with fancy cocktails. The hotel can also cater for Kosher meals upon requests. Obviously, the main culinary attractions are the Michelin restaurants on the premises.

High tea at Meylas

Butcher & Still

Butcher & Still is a 1920 Chicago style steakhouse recommended by the Michelin guide as well as by Gault Millau. Chef Marshall Roth serves here exceptional food. We started with two soups, a fantastic French onion soup served with brioche topped with melted gruyere cheese and the soup of the day - a wonderful asparagus soup poured on the table in front of us. The soups were accompanied by aromatic truffle bread baked on the premises. We had the boneless beef filet, tender inside and crusty outside – perfectly done! The sides and dessert were wonderful as well. Everything in this meal was outstanding, pure pleasure in every bite! Well worth it if you can afford the price.

Café Milano

A quick hop to Italy on the premises of the Four Seasons, Café Milano is also a Michelin recommended restaurant. The ambience here is stylish. We ordered wine and nibbled the complimentary grissini and spiced olives while we deliberated what to eat. The menu is quite varied and the choice was hard. We started with Carpaccio with quail egg, Panzanella Toscana salad, and Parmigiana di Melanzane – hot eggplant with mozzarella. All beautifully served and tastes wonderfully. Then, we had a white mushroom truffle pizza, real Italian dough slightly scorched, thin in the middle and thick on the sides, and a heavenly Beetroot Ravioli. For dessert we had a fluffy Tiramisu and Pannacotta that the waiter recommended to us which was superb! A top notch restaurant it is!

Going out

The Four Seasons is situated on the edge of the Galleria mall, connected directly to it and accessible via an elevator. The Galleria is a gigantic mall, loaded with the luxury brands from Dior to Hermes, all within the reach of hand. It is also packed with casual international brands such as Zara, H&M, Sephora, and others, and many coffee shops and restaurants.

It is within a short distance from Abu Dhabi’s main attractions. Abu Dhabi is capital of the UAE and the home of some of the must-see attractions, including Sheikh Zayed Mosque, Qasr Al Watan, and the Louvre Abu Dhabi, where we visited. In addition, Yas Island is an entertainment hub with many attractions for the whole family, including SeaWorld and Ferrari World; there is also the mangrove national park, the Etihad Towers, desert safari and beautiful beaches.

Sheikh Zayed mosque is one of the largest in the world featuring 82 domes and over 1000 columns made of white marble and decorated with gems, and has gold and Swarovski chandeliers and the largest hand-knotted carpet in the world. The mosque can be seen from afar and is illuminated at night with changing colors. Visiting the mosque is breathtaking, but note that modest clothes must be worn when visiting it, and women need to cover their head with a scarf.

Sheikh Zayed Mosque

Qasr al Watan is the royal palace, it is the official government building where foreign visitors and formal events are being held (it is not a residence). The building is enormous and sumptuous. It is made of marble and much of it is gold plated, which makes it shiny. Inside, there are a number of venues including an events hall, the library and exhibitions such as the royal present collection. One highlight is the “Power of Words” sculpture shaped like a golden cage made of letters that is meant to emphasize that wealth is in the people and not in money or oil.

Qasr Al Watan

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is a must visit attraction for its unique architecture and artwork. The museum is like an island, surrounded by water, and is covered with a cooling Mashrabiya lattice dome. Overall, the museum is not too big, so it can be covered within a short visit. The art collection is quite nice and varied. It is worth taking more time to roam around the premises and take photos around it, the contrast between the green-blue water and the white-grey wall and dome with the reflection of the sun is beautiful.