Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche
Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche
Corniche Road East Capital Plaza Complex Abu Dhabi, AE 4966
Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche (0 Photo)
Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche
Booked a prestige and got upgraded to an opera suite. The suite was truly beautiful, large, with nice view, great, elegant and tasteful decor, wonderful bathroom, great amenities, the usual (nespresso machine, Hermes toiletries) but also excellent housekeeping etc.
Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche
Corniche Road East Capital Plaza Complex Abu Dhabi, AE 4966
Review Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche (38 Photos)
Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche
I am happy to do the 2nd review of this very nice hotel, after the one done by my friend from the FB/AFKL forum: Orbitmic :-). Weeks before my stay, I already received confirmation of my club Millesime access and other platinum benefits. I had a great stay. The property, the rooms, the club lounge and the staff are all great. I have sincerely not a single negative point to report. Specifically, I didn’t encounter any sleeping problem/noise coming from the rooftop bar unlike Orbitmic (I think they addressed the issue). LCAH status recognition was perfect too.
The hotel is conveniently located on Abu Dhabi corniche (in case you didn’t guess from its name ;-) ). Valet parking is free.
Check In
I checked-in in the middle of the night after coming from DXB with a rental car and an horrible drive all the way (150 km) due to very heavy fog. Check-in was rapid and pro. Was thanked for my loyalty, was told I was upgraded from « luxury king size bed, sea view » to Opera King suite on the 34th floor (club Millesime is on the 35th floor). Drink voucher was given.
Pictures of the main lobby:
Room
Suite was large and nice. The living room part included a separate toilet & sink, a large sofa, desk, minibar and Nespresso machine. Splendid view on the corniche road and the sea. Very comfy MyBed. Large bathroom in 3 parts (bathtub/shower, sink, toilets). Welcome gift was a plate of sliced fruits and madeleines with a welcome letter from the GM. Turndown service every evening. I have taken pictures at night when I arrived and during daytime the following day.
View from the room:
Swimming Pool
There is an outdoor pool on a terrace on the 2nd floor with a bar & restaurant.
Picture taken above my head, when lying on a pool bed.
Club Millesime
Club lounge is on the 35th floor and offer great view on the persian gulf. Unfortunately you cannot check-in/out from the lounge. But the service was superb. There is a small cold selection for the breakfast but you can order plenty of warm options from the menu.
Free evening cocktails time is from 6 to 8 pm. Here is part of what’s available for food in the evening.
Dining
Outside Club Millesime, there are several restaurants and bar :
- ground floor : main restaurant for BF and for buffet lunch/dinner (different kind of ethnic food every day)
- 2nd floor : an italian restaurant and the pool bar/restaurant. The latter is open until 9 pm and I had dinner there one evening : an excellent arabic mixed grill.
- 36/37th floor : rooftop bar. You can enjoy your drink voucher there (specific menu available, with plenty of choice). Great view of the city.
GF restaurant:
Rooftop bar:
Service
Service was great everywhere, from the housekeeping staff to management.
Overall
Overall, a highly recommended hotel. I would return without hesitation.
I'm due to return to Sofitel Corniche in early April. I haven't stayed there for a couple of years. Last time I stayed the lounge offered quite a nice light lunch buffet. This isn't mentioned as a lounge offering on my reservation confirmation from the hotel although breakfast, afternoon tea and evening canapés are. Are you able to comment on whether the lounge lunch offering is still available or has been deleted? Check in and check out was part of the lounge offering last time I stayed so that seems to be a disappointing loss of amenity.
I've had excellent experiences at this hotel previously so great to read you had a good experience during your recent stay. Also great value compared to the Sofitel options down the coast in Dubai.
I'm due to return to Sofitel Corniche in early April. I haven't stayed there for a couple of years. Last time I stayed the lounge offered quite a nice light lunch buffet. This isn't mentioned as a lounge offering on my reservation confirmation from the hotel although breakfast, afternoon tea and evening canapés are. Are you able to comment on whether the lounge lunch offering is still available or has been deleted? Check in and check out was part of the lounge offering last time I stayed so that seems to be a disappointing loss of amenity.
I've had excellent experiences at this hotel previously so great to read you had a good experience during your recent stay. Also great value compared to the Sofitel options down the coast in Dubai.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29652714-post87.html
Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche
Corniche Road East Capital Plaza Complex Abu Dhabi, AE 4966
Death by cakes (10 Photos)
Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche
I spend an extended week-end in Abu Dhabi for my birthday with the idea to relax, see a bit of culture and generally take some sun. I choose the Sofitel due to the nice reviews on Flyertalk, plus a fairly generous deal of 40% off on room and breakfast.
I liked the hotel although I would not be as positive as orbitmc. It was a good stay overall but not overwhelming. I found service to be the highlights while food was a let down.
The hotel itself is a bit dated and much smaller than it appears from the outside; only one of the four towers is actually the Sofitel, and there are 10 rooms per floor only. The result is that it is rather quiet, which is a clear advantage.
Check In
Check-in went well (at 2:15 AM !) I was upgraded from a King room with City View to a Luxury King Room with Sea View. I think the extra of the room are the higher floor and the view, plus slippers and bathrobe. Otherwise no difference I can see based on the description. An attendant went with me to the room to handle my small luggage and show me the room amenities and light control.
Room
The room was as good as expected: spacious, with all amenities you could expect from a Sofitel, the famous MyBed. The bathroom had a shower cubicle and a bath tube. The room was in good condition mostly but some wear and tear was visible, specially on the sliding doors between the bedroom and the bathroom.
The desk was not really good, there was no space to put your feet and honestly I had a hard time spending more than 30 minutes on it.
Two bottles of water were given every day by the housekeeping staff, plus one extra during the turndown service. There was enoug coffee capsule as well as tea bags.
Bathroom amenities were Hermes.
Service
Service was really good: all the staff were polite, helpful and really trying to solve the issues. I had no problem getting a late check-out at 5 PM or help about local bus services from the front desk. Breakfast staff was also very active bringing tea, refilling orange juices.
On Sunday, my birthday, they brought a cake:
Then on Monday, a welcome gift was brought as well as another cake (on purpose, this was not a mistake) !
Dining
The food was not as good as expected. I had dinner there once and it was a buffet, they do not do a La Carte in the hotel restaurant. There was various other restaurants in the building but externally managed, some of them with a cover charge !
The breakfast in particular was disapointing by the quality of the products, specially the bread. Cold cuts were ok, good egg station but lacking choices of topping for the omelette/scrambled eggs. Good choice of arabic specialties though which was well appreciated.
Gym
The gym is located near the swimming pool. Good choices of strengthening machines (there was even a Smith machine !), aerobic equipment and cardio equipment. The space is large enough that it does not appear crowded.
Location
Location is on the corniche, not exactly by the walk (one needs to cross the road via two underpass to get there). The bus station terminus for line A2 from/to the airport is just behind the hotel, which is very convenient. Bus stations for the Louvre, Grand Mosque, Marina Mall are all nearby.
I was planning to arrive early at the hotel as my flight was landing around 7 am. I informed the hotel a few days in advance of this, requesting an early check-in. They acknowledged quickly the demand saying that they will do their best (so it was not guaranteed). Early check-in was finally granted but at the price of no room upgrade (I booked a Luxury/King and got that). I didn’t argue as early check-in was more important for me than anything else, providing the granted room was decent. The hotel was very busy during my stay. They had several weddings and we can guess many rooms were booked, including suites. I want to mention how great our check-in employee has been : when the taxi dropped us at the hotel, we learned that our taxi did not accept credit card. I am always mad with this (Taxis complain that people are using Uber, but some still live in another world…). In a country as modern as UAE, it didn’t cross my mind even 10 seconds that not all taxi take CC). There was no ATM in the hotel and the employee who welcomed us at check-in gave me the money from his own wallet (it was clearly his own money) and told me that I could give him back anytime before I checkout). I was sincerely very touched by this gesture and trust. Imagine this in Europe or north America ??. Of course, I reimbursed him the next day.
Room was nice and relatively large, especially the bathroom. I was on one of the top floors with a nice sea view. Comfy Sofitel MyBed, very good soundproofing. The usual amenities were provided (bathrobe, slippers, Espresso machines).
Welcome amenity ( bit meager for a Sofitel, but some don’t give any…)
Pool : the main pool is in the shadow all day and it was a bit cold in january (18-21 degree) just wearing a swimsuit.
I discovered a 2nd pool that I was not aware of, on the other side of the building. I understood this pool was more for the residents of the building, but they allowed hotel guests to use it. This pool was more pleasant because sunny but it’s definitely on the small side.
Sunset view from the pool
Club Millésime : the decoration lacks of warmth in my opinion. Not really bad but a “could do better” feeling. Happy hour cocktail time was from 17:30 to 19:30. No breakfast anymore in the lounge (this is a tendency more and more with Accor). Breakfast is taken at the main buffet restaurant on the ground floor. Alcoholic drink offering at the lounge includes wines, prosecco, and several cocktails. Food offering during happy hour is a bit meager in my opinion (compared to what you get in Sofitel Dubai for instance), but what was proposed was of good quality.
Restaurants : we went to most of them, and I also did a room service during a Teams meeting that I did from my room. The main buffet restaurant on the ground floor proposes a huge buffet for breakfast and at dinner. For dinner, the theme changes every day (e.g. one evening is seafood buffet). Food for dinner buffet, but is somewhat on the expensive side. The pool restaurant proposes the typical dishes you can expect at a pool side : salads, arabic mezze, sandwiches, burgers, etc. There is also an excellent Thai restaurant that we tried once. Of course, you have plenty of choice outside the hotel and we had truly excellent meals in Lebanese and other local restaurants.
On the top floor you have a bar where you can redeem the drink voucher
Pictures of the Thai restaurant :
Overall, a very good stay. Great staff and good food all around the hotel.