Beyond luxury in the Liwa Desert
Have you ever stayed in the desert ?
Once you taste it, you’ll remember this experience for the rest of your life… The real luxury of being alone in the silence, walk on the wrinkled sand of the dunes, forget the time.
I invite you in the palace from the « Arabian Nights », appearing like a mirage after a 2 and a half hour journey by car from Abu Dhabi. An oriental dream nestled among the red sand dune of the Liwa desert, only a few miles away from the Saoudi border.
Welcome in your own private pool-villa, part of the Anantara Qasr Al Sarab Hotel.
You must deserve this hotel : you have to leave the shores and the skyscrapers of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, their giant artificial resorts, and go for a long road, discovering the true desert. With the hours, in the air-conditionned car with chauffeur, you see the rocky plain changing, the landscape shows reddish hills, some dunes appear, villages become scarce. When finally the car turns on the private road leading to the hotel, the lethargy surrenders to real excitation !
The crenelated palace appears only after a few more miles, its color almost the same as the desert’s, quietly set there for centuries. (in fact, the hotel opened only 3 years ago… but the work done to fit it perfectly in the lanscape is just amazing)
The car stops in a square courtyard, you emerge in the heat, a smiling employee in a traditionnal outfit opens the massive wooden door for you : Welcome home Shéhérazade…
The hotel : the cool atmosphere of the lobby is a blessing. The massive wooden niches, the marble and lanterns decoration, everything is very impressive, elegant & authentic. The mutted lapping of the fountain invites you to rest.
Have a drink at the bar, and enjoy the terrace at night when the heat goes down a bit… admire the moon in the telescope available or the guests, here, no parasite light will interfere with your observation…
The villa : Go for a pool villa ! You’ll not regret it. Even as a couple only, we’ve been upgraded to a 2 bedrooms villa, because of maintenance work on the villa we booked (they were installing a fence for more privacy).
The huge 2 bedrooms villas were located in the front line, facing the desert, what a spectacle !
The view is different every hour. You can observe it again and again, like mesmerized, from your private pool, or from one of the sunbeds.
Inside,everything is nicely decorated in a timeless, oriental and cosy style. A big dining room, multiple sofas and pillows facing a big flatTV, plus a corner with a desk and everything to allow you to work if needed.
A room on each side (one double bedded and a twin, the villa is ideal for families with children) each room has its own bathroom with double basin, toilet, shower and big thub.
The main pool : To prevent the small ones to burn under the sun, big veils are stretched out above the shallow part of the pool.
The bigger swimers can gather around the pool bar and have a cocktail in the shadow without bothering to go out of the refreshing water, or easily take a real swim in the larger part. To rest you can pick one of the many sunbeds or relax in the gentle warm breeze under the canopy of a four poster sunbed.
Dining : Here, obviously, you cannot go to have dinner outside the hotel. No worry ! You start the day with a buffet breakfast, with big choice, from fresh fruits to cooking stations where you get your eggs done as per your choice… You can even try a very local speciality : Camel milk (Hu… not really unforgettable experience for me… but you may give it a try…)During the day, you can get very good salades, burgers and pizzas from the pool restaurant, directly served near your sunbed, or go for some mezzés at the bar, in the evening go for the French restaurant upstairs from the lobby to eat on a star-lit terrace, or order (excellent) room-service to eat poolside in your villa…
Activities : Classics : Camel riding, 4×4 (with a seasoned driver) in the dunes, Sandwalking in the dunes in the evening… and also newer things like Arabic Calligraphy classes (not available, I would have loved to try!) and also desert biking (!)
I must admit, after my first impression (« Holy crap, biking in the desert ? in the SAND ? with this heat ? what an idea ! »), if your health condition allows you, you really have to try this biking experience ! It is scheduled after 5pm, to benefit from cooler temperatures, and you go with a guide packed with water bottles, you ride on a track where it is no sand, so you are not sinking in the sand…
The landscapes are amazing, and if you are lucky you will see small and shy desert gazelles unapproacheable with a motorized device, for your security, you’ll soon notice the hotel pick-up passing by you, in case you need more water or to go back, it is really well-organised.
The Spa : I tested the massage : divine, and also a pedicure : really professionnal. Here again, no bad point ! Book your massage at the end of the day, to stay in your villa in the evening and benefit from your relaxed state and floating feeling…
:-) Details that I love :
- the smile & friendliness of the employees, they are really doing their best to make your stay unforgettable.
- The electric buggies to drive you around the resort without being burned by the sun.
- The international press delivered everyday, it makes you feel a little bit connected to the world.
- The sublime architecture and decoration, nicely oriental without ever being « too much » !
:-( details that suck :
Even scratching my head… I don’t see any !
So ? Shall we go or not ?
Ho yes you should ! It is itself a unique experience to stay in the desert, but here, it is the crème de la crème ! Just imagine, one of the most beautiful dunes desert in the world, a wonderful hotel and perfect guest service ! Indulge yourself with this experience, I can assure you won’t regret !
To complete your stay in UAE with something radically different, combine (like a did) with a few days in Dubaï…
Liwa Desert, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Tél : +971 (0) 2 886 2088
Website : http://qasralsarab.anantara.com
Hotel group or label : Anantara a quality guaranty.
Type of guests : International
Rates : Rates drop while temperature rise in the desert, so you’ll have to find your own « supported temperature/price ratio » but check for the special offers and « Early Bird » promotion with 15% discount, if you book 30 days in advance.
You can find, with 15% discount, around 200 euros/night for a Deluxe Garden room(40 sqm) and around 550/night for a 1 bedroom pool-villa (100 sqm)…
Trendy skiing in the Alps: L’aigle des Neiges Hotel
- © picture : Aigle des Neiges
The white powdery slopes are calling you ? No way to rent a charmless appartment, or end-up in an unknown ski resort ! Here is an hotel to bookmark for your next ski vacations, one of my very favourites :
L’Aigle des Neiges**** in Val d’isère, French Alps.
Basically, this hotel has everything you seek :
- Ideal location in the heart of the resort, all the nice little shops at you doorstep, the start of the ski lifts only a few meters away.
- A Spa and an indoor swimming-pool. OK they are in the basement, as often in the mountain resorts, but believe me, the size and design is perfectly inviting (you will not face a micro-sized, freezing, poorly lit pool, believe me !)
- Contemporary yet warm overall decoration using a lot of wood and local stone, thanks to recent complete renovation – Yes, thanks God, there is no mandatory to find always the same old overseen « Chalet style »!
- Young and professionnal staff (look forward for the car valet upon arrival because the parking is just a narrow trap and might get you a bumpy reminder of your stay!)
- Two restaurant and a bar : Pier, Paul & Jack (!) Go for the half-board, almost everybody goes for it because the rate is really fair compared to the room+breakfast formula, and it is really good ! (every evening you have the choice between meat and fish/vegetarian dishes) The food was so good we didn’t even try the other restaurant, this is a sign !
- The room (Deluxe) : lovely, very good bed (important to me), quite big with a comfy sofa area and a nice bathroom.
- © Picture : Aigle des Neiges – Deluxe room
:-) I like :
- Half bottle of branded Champagne upon arrival ! (it was included in our package, I don’t know if it is really a habit!)
- The young and very professionnal Barman preparing your cocktails to sip in front of the fireplace.
- The very polite and efficient waitresses in the half-board restaurant.
- The evening « bed opening service »: sweets on your pillow and the waether forecast for the next day.
- The pianist and/or talented singer almost every evening in the Bar.
- The Skiset shop under the hotel, where you give away your skis and ski shoes in the evening when you’re done with the snow and where someone gives them back to you with a smile in the morning.
- The complete « Bogner » welcome products set in the bathroom.
- © Picture : Aigle des Neiges
:-( Details that suck :
- 18 euros / day for the Parking, high rate, even for a ski resort !
- The « Sportif » massage at the Spa: painful afterwards for my husband, remember you’re not in Asia… Being pampered in Spas all around the world makes you picky…
- The noizy Russian customer noisily plunging in the pool which is not intended for that, and thinking they are alone in the huge Sauna… Remember they like to come in the trendy ski resorts of the French Alps, especially during the Orthodox New Year beginning of January.
So ? Shall we go ?
Yes you should go, and even go back! If the service level maintains, and it is the case until now as I was there for the second time this year, it will be a must stay for your next ski holiday, set in a mythical ski resort, at the foot of the slopes…
Yes even if you don’t ski ! For its perfect location in the resort, which is offering plenty of activities, for its SPA & nice pool !
Place de l’Eglise 73150 Val d’Isère – France
Telephone : (+33) 04 79 06 18 88
Website : http://www.hotelaigledesneiges.com
Hotel chain or label : Temmos Group
Type of customers : International.
Rates : Double room from 180 euros, but keep an eye on the special offers and discount packages that can be found by some travel agencies.
