Hotel Review: St. Regis Saadiyat Island

St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort

The Resort from the beach

After a ski trip in Dubai we got a car using Blacklane from Grosvenor House Dubai to The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort in Abu Dhabi. The car ride was about an hour and both Thad and myself grabbed a little nap. We were greeted by the bellman and escorted to the check-in desk. Check-in was very quick and were then escorted up to our room and shown all of the amenities. Side note within 15 minutes, we locked ourselves out of the room and had to go to the front desk. Rookie moves.

Our Room: Saadiyat Island Superior Sea View

The room was similar to the room we had at the St. Regis San Francisco. Two queen beds and a lounging chaise.

Our Room

The Huge Shower

Bathtub with a view

Toilet room

Looking Back towards the door

The shower was huge and the bathtub was nice and right by the window looking out to the Persian Gulf. Like all bathrooms that I have been to in the Middle East, there is a toilet and also a bidet or rinsing hose. The best part of the room was definitely the view.

View from our balcony

From our balcony we could see much of the property including the beach, the adults only pool, and a green of the neighboring golf course. The beds and pillows were comfortable, and I had no trouble falling asleep.

Welcome snack

St. Regis Saadiyat Island Food

With all the traveling and our packed days in Dubai, our goals for Abu Dhabi were a little more relaxed. We wanted to spend some time at the pool and beach. We also wanted to try a couple of the food options at the resort. Our first night we tried the Asian inspired restaurant, Sontaya, that was located on floating pavilions near the beach. The service and food was excellent at Sontaya, and I wish I could say the same about the rest of our dining experiences at the St. Regis Saadiyat Island.

Entrance of Sontaya

We also had a lunch at Turquoiz, the resort’s seafood restaurant that was right near the large pool and the beach. The food was very good, but the service was atrocious. After we were seated it took about 15 minutes for someone to come over and get our food and drink orders. The food came out fairly quickly, but after that we didn’t see another waiter or waitress until I went inside and asked for our check more than an hour later. With the temperature being over 100⁰F, it was not relaxing sitting outside without being offered more water or anything. I was very disappointed since this is supposed to be a 5-star resort.

Sontaya Restaurant during the day

Our last night at St. Regis Saadiyat Island the main restaurant, Olea, was having a Middle Eastern buffet, so we had to try it since we had been in the middle east for 5 days and hadn’t yet tried any middle eastern food except for the dates and Arabic coffee. The food was pretty good. My favorite dish was lamb kabobs. The service at Olea was better than Turquoiz, but still not what I would expect at a 5-star resort.

The lounge(bar) area was cool and they had great cocktail and featured a happy hour where the drinks were half priced.

Red Snapper the St. Regis Saadiyat Island’s signature Bloody Mary – extra spicy!

The coolest part of the lounge is the champagne celebration every evening at sunset where they open the bottle with a saber.

St. Regis Saadiyat Island Amenities

The St. Regis Saadiyat Island has three pools, a private beach, tennis courts, Iridium Spa, gym, and kids club called “The Sandcastle Club”. The beach was large with fine white sand. I was kind of surprised at how warm the Persian Gulf was.

Lounging

It was almost to the point where it wasn’t refreshing going from the sun into the water at the beach. The family pool was huge, but we didn’t spend any time there.

Family Pool

We did spend some time at the adults’ only pool where it was much quieter and easy to relax! To access the gym you would have to leave the hotel and go across the street near the shopping center and was similar to the gym at Grosvenor House. The gym was two stories and included a lap pool on the first floor.

We weren’t able to spend anytime at the spa even though I had $100 credit if I were to get any treatment

Next up: What we did in Abu Dhabi! Still to come Etihad Premium Lounge Abu Dhabi Review, Etihad First Class Review, Alitalia Business Class Review! I’m going to San Diego next week, so be on the look out for pics on twitter and instagram @Passports2Life! As always if you have any questions about the destinations I’ve been or anything else reach out to me on twitter or by email!