We stayed for a week at the five star hotel The St. Regis in the Nation Towers on half board (breakfast and dinner included). It was the most relaxing week I’ve ever had on holiday.
We arrived early in the morning (about 6am) and were taken straight to one of the hidden desks to check in. The greeting was so friendly and our room was ready for us! We were so glad as we had a night flight and didn’t manage to sleep at all.
The Room
We booked the superior room with a view of the city. Although I was expecting the windows to be floor length (as I had seen them in photos), the view was still amazing to look at. You can pay more to get a view of the sea, however I really liked the city view because of all of the lights at night.
Our room was spacious with a hallway with wardrobes and dressing table, two doors that open into the bathroom and a gorgeous marble bathtub plus toilet and shower in seperate rooms. The bedroom has a desk, sofa and table.
The rooms start at around the 30th floor, so you are guaranteed a good view no matter which room you have! We were on the 43rd floor.
The Service
I am blown away at the service from this hotel. I literally felt like a princess for the whole of my stay. I didn’t want to leave!! You get a free 24 hour service butler with your stay. You can either call them from the hotel phone or even send a whatsapp!
Your butler can bring you tea or coffee, there is a shoe shining service and they can clean and press your clothes. On the first night I realised I had forgotten makeup wipes – a quick whatsapp was sent and 5 minutes later they were at the door with baby wipes.
Another highlight were the little presents that we occasionally found in our room. For our arrival there were chocolates left out on the bed. And throughout the week we had other presents with little notes checking how we were.
The Food
As I said before, we had breakfast and dinner included. We were also visiting the hotel during Ramadan – and I had read a couple of negative reviews saying that they only serve arabic food and you shouldn’t pick half board. I personally was very happy with our choice!
Breakfast was a buffet with everything possible. Muesli, yoghurts, smoothies, tea, coffee, juice, cake, waffles, pancakes, arabic food, eggs, and you could also order extra from the menu.
For dinner there are three restaurants that you can eat at. The buffet (where breakfast is also served), the Cabana ( a restaurant on the beach that serves burgers) and an Italian restaurant on the terrace. The buffet serves arabic specialities, salads, soups and desserts. They let us know that incase we did want anything else (also because I was vegetarian with a nut allergy) we could order anything we wanted and they would cook it for us.
The Cabana on the beach was a lovely setting and as it was ramadan the hotel itself was very quiet. We had the beach almost all to ourselves.
The third restaurant we didn’t eat at as we were happy eating arabic food everyday in the main restaurant.
Tip: Drinks aren’t included in half board for dinner however water is.
The Beach
As a guest of St. Regis you have free entry to the beach club opposite the hotel. The way to the beach is quite fun – it involves an underground tunnel leading from the hotel up to the beach so you don’t have to walk over the road!
Once you arrive at the beach club, one of the staff will get you towels and arrange them on the sun loungers where you want to sit. There is also a swimming pool (with a bar that is also open during Ramadan).
We spoke to a swiss couple who weren’t impressed with the beach at all. I actually really enjoyed it. Again, as the hotel was so quiet during Ramadan the beach was also very quiet. You can’t swim that far out into the sea and the water doesn’t get very deep – only right at the edge of the barrier is where you can’t stand anymore. This didn’t really bother me at all as I never swim right out into the sea anyway. The beach here is also manmade in Abu Dhabi.
The staff will also bring you bottled water in an ice bucket, and occasionally walk around giving out ice lollies.
You get a little button on your table to call if you want to order anything from the staff.
Tip: Ask when happy hour is! Happy hour is on everyday where cocktails are half price in all bars.
There is also a swimming pool on the third floor of the hotel. We never used it as you couldn’t eat or drink there because of Ramadan. The swimming pool and the lobby was the only place where you couldn’t eat or drink, otherwise everywhere else in the hotel was fine!
Iftar in the Sky
We booked an extra dinner to dine in the world’s highest suite at the St. Regis. The suite is suspended on the 48th floor.
The dinner was a buffet with a different room for each course – this way you get to explore the suite. They had live music and we had a table directly infront of the window overlooking the sea.
The food was great but a lot of it was similar to what we had for our dinner buffet downstairs. I personally feel like I wouldn’t pay extra again to have dinner up there if I was half board anyway. However if you are just visiting the St. Regis with no dinner included I would reccommend this!
The Champagne Sabering
The sabering is a St. Regis tradition that happens in all St. Regis hotels around the world. Our butler asked if we wanted to join one evening. Three couples are picked each evening and meet at the bar.
The bartender told us the history of the sabering and also how it works. They use a long saber to cut off the top of a champagne bottle.
Tip: If you get invited to the champagne sabering, the glass of champagne is free!
Conclusion
St. Regis really ticks all the boxes to make sure their guests are looked after. All of the staff are so lovely and are always willing to help. We had a very early check out and they even brought us coffee and breakfast in the morning before we left. I felt so relaxed and pampered after a week and I actually can’t think of anything to criticize. We will definitely be back!
Have a question? Leave me a comment below!
The Blonde Jetsetter 
After reading your thorough review on St. Regis, Abu Dhabi I will now go ahead and book for late 2023. I too had read disparaging comments about half board stays, that almost put me off, however, I feel more at ease now thanks to you. Also, the many tips are most appreciative.
Kindest Regards
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Hi Haydn, thanks for your comment! I’m so glad my blog post has helped you, it was also my first time going half board but I would definitely do it again. Enjoy your holiday!
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