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The perfect summer staycation at Rosewood, Abu Dhabi

TravelPost Category - TravelTravel - Post Category - Short HaulShort Haul

A Great UAE Staycation For The Whole Fam

As much as I love living in Dubai, I do enjoy escaping the bubble of the city with my family every now and again at the weekend (who doesn’t love a staycation?) – and when we head south, Rosewood Abu Dhabi is one of our favourite haunts.

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It’s something to do with the child-friendly attitude of the hotel and staff (you even get a play tent set up in your room, along with kiddy goody and toiletries) but also partly to do with the fact it’s a great summer destination. The pool is chilled, the kids club is really good, and there’s a mall next door (attached to the hotel, so you don’t even need to brave the heat) so you can feed and entertain the kids with very little effort or expense required.

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Last weekend was my husband’s birthday – and to celebrate the fact we were spending the day with him for the first time in 4 years (myself and the boys are usually in the UK for the summer months, while he’s working in the desert), we packed up the car and drove to the hotel for the weekend.

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Apart from bagging probably the best upgrade of our life to a family suite (I might have mentioned it was the husband’s birthday!), we just felt so welcome from the moment we arrived. I had filled out a guest preference form before we arrived (emailed to me when I made the booking) and they had arranged the boy’s beds as asked, given us foam duvets and pillows (as we are all allergic to feathers) and even filled the lounge area with balloons for my husband’s birthday (cue two very overexcited little boys when we arrived at 9pm!) It’s little things like this that make travelling with children easy – and we really appreciated the thought they put in to settling us quickly after arrival, especially given we had arrived late on a Thursday evening.

The next morning, we woke up to beautiful views over Maryah Island, before making our way down to breakfast. It’s not the hugest spread like some sprawling 5* resorts – but I like it that way. It was calm, with a very tempting selection (while the boys tucked into pancakes with a side of blueberries, the adults enjoyed a healthy cooked breakfast – and we all thought it was delicious).

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After a quick pit-stop in the kid’s club for a play (we couldn’t leave the boys as Wilfred isn’t yet 3 years old, but it was fun to pop in), we headed out to the pool and had a lovely morning. Despite it being a balmy 41’C at 10am in the morning, we didn’t feel hot at all – the island seems to get a cooling breeze and the water is chilled enough to cool down as soon as you step into the pool.

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Our afternoon was spent relaxing in our room while Wilfred napped, before heading over to Galleria Mall. The boys were tired, so we decided not to visit Caboodle for a play (but the option is there if you want it) – but we enjoyed dinner at Carluccios as a family and a bit of a browse in the shops, before heading back to bath the boys (in a bath with probably the best view in the UAE!) and putting them down to bed.

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The next day, we repeated the morning routine, adding a quick trip back to the mall to enjoy coffee and cake at Magnolia Bakery – and then we were back on the road to Dubai, feeling surprising relaxed and rested.

I have such a fondness for this hotel, which really does make weekend breaking with kids an enjoyable experience – and I know we will be back again soon…

For more details or to make a booking, visit www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/abu-dhabi

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