Rixos Premium Saadiyat Island is a beautiful beach resort and the perfect place for a relaxing holiday. I also reviewed the connecting family room here. The hotel is all-inclusive and everything you really want is here. The same week we visited, we also visited Rixos Marina in Abu Dhabi.
The resort itself is low-rise and very beautifully decorated both inside and out. The photo below is the lobby area. There are plenty of plush chairs where you can relax with a drink or a book.
This staircase leads to the lower floor, and I think it's a Cinderella-worthy staircase and a great place to take family photos.
There are also great views from within the hotel grounds. This is a courtyard area with plenty of seating and evening entertainment.
bar lounge
There is a bar lounge just off the lobby. During the day it's a lovely place to sit and relax while enjoying an extensive menu of drinks. In addition to cocktails and mocktails, we also have a wide selection of hot drinks. Don't miss out on that stunning ceiling!
There are also various cakes here.
Various types of tea are on display.
My coffee was accompanied by freshly baked biscuits.
Whenever I wanted a seat at the bar I found a seat, but otherwise you could sit in one of the many places in the lobby and have something brought to you. In the evening we were served drinks in the courtyard from this bar.
turquoise buffet
We had breakfast and lunch every day at the turquoise buffet and I have to say it was amazing. You'll find everything you need there. Lots of different local dishes. There are many hot dishes. Lots of salads, the entire bakery area, and the desserts are to die for. There are too many photos to add in the middle of this review, so I'll just share a few here. If you want to know more, please scroll down to the end of this review.
Anyone in charge of a patisserie should be compensated for their artistry. Look how beautiful these cakes are.
When you enter the buffet, you give your room number and find a seat. There was plenty of seating and the buffet didn't feel crowded or rushed. There is also a seating area for adults if you don't want to be around small children. As soon as you are seated, a server will approach you and offer you water or drinks. You are then free to wander around the buffet and enjoy your meal to your heart's content.
The buffet hours are as follows (in fact, the restaurant hours are all different too):
Lolivio Restaurant
During my stay, I visited the Italian restaurant “L'Olivio”. This was beautifully decorated in a Mediterranean style and also had nice outdoor seating on cooler evenings.
At the a la carte restaurant, you can choose from five courses, and bread is also brought to you as an appetizer. The bread was served with dried tomato paste. It had a very strong garlic flavor, probably because it also had Parmesan cheese in it, so I'd definitely recommend giving it a try (but that's just a guess!). I didn't expect it to be this nice, so I wanted to take it home!
There wasn't room for 5 courses so we each ordered a main course. I could tell the server was a little concerned that we hadn't ordered enough and convinced us to order a pizza as well and share.
I ordered steak and my son ordered sea bass. Both were perfectly cooked and the pizza was also very tasty.
orient restaurant
I also went to Orient Restaurant during my stay. This was beautifully themed in a Turkish style, with beautiful lamps adorning every surface, giving it a very decadent feel. As a side note, if you visit at dusk, there is a beautiful view from the balcony, and you can take photos (I took one too).
Again, before the meal we were brought bread with butter and Turkish cheese which tasted a bit like feta.
We ordered melon and cheese mezze. This was served on a bed of ice with tzatziki, nuts, shrimp and a few other things (I have no idea what those are!).
I ordered the Beef Shaslik, which was delicious and served with an equally delicious potato side, which makes it sound less exotic than it really is, but I don't know how else to describe it . My son ordered a chicken kebab, which was also very tasty.
Finally I was able to eat pudding here. I chose the rice pudding with fresh fruit (it's quite a portion so if you're full, choose another dessert!). My son ordered the candied pumpkin and since he found the recipe and asked me to make it at home, he has been raving about it!
The lighting in the restaurant gets quite dim once the sun goes down, making the photos quite dark. Instead of candlelight, each table has cute touch lamps that you can touch to brighten it up.
entertainment
Every night after dinner there was a singer and band playing in the main courtyard area outside the lobby. All the bands I saw were great and I really enjoyed the evening's entertainment. There was plenty of comfortable seating around and it was the highlight of my day.
Musicians sometimes played during meals in the restaurant and in the lobby in the afternoon. I really enjoyed being able to sit and listen while drinking coffee.
Anjana Spa
I went to the spa during my stay. Now, I didn't use the spa when I stayed at Rixos The Palm in Dubai or Rixos Marina (also in Abu Dhabi), but I'm totally kicking myself now because it was absolutely amazing. It's a beautiful spa and a little hidden gem within the hotel. Looking back, I don't know why we didn't think this was better when everything else in the hotel was so great. I would also like to say that I have stayed in many hotels, mainly in the UK but also around the world, and this one was very impressive. It was very quiet. I only saw 4 other people using the spa while I was there and it had a very relaxing atmosphere.
Below is the entrance to the spa.
It is worth noting that the use of the spa is free of charge. You only pay if you receive treatment.
When I first arrived at the spa reception, I was greeted warmly by the staff and asked if I had visited before. When I told him it was my first time, he kindly showed me around the facility.
The spa is divided into men's and women's areas. I think most of the trial rooms are for women. Of course I couldn't talk in detail about the men's side, so I can't say much about it, but the women's side was amazing. It has all the usual spa amenities, including changing rooms, showers, and lockers. Next up is the Experience Room.
There is a large sauna and steam room, each with a large tropical shower.
There are also plunge pools with bubbles, but they are not really Jacuzzis as they only have bubbles in two places. It has a much more relaxed and sociable atmosphere than a Jacuzzi. This area is located in a courtyard and is open to the sky.
If you feel really brave and really hot after the sauna, you can also take a trip to the snow room. It's exactly the sound of a room full of snow! I spent a few minutes at the entrance to the room but didn't have the courage to roll around in the snow.
There is also a hammam, a large room with many stone (marble?) benches. The floor and benches are heated and quite hot. I was a little surprised at myself when I sat down and jumped up again.
The hammam also has a Turkish bath and a small plunge pool. Some treatments take place there, but you can close the hammam if you need privacy. It was never closed when I was there.
There is also a wonderful relaxation area on the walk to the hammam. A great place to sit and chat with friends.
Finally, the pool has its own outdoor swimming pool and Jacuzzi, with plenty of sun loungers around it. There were so many people that I couldn't take many photos. You don't have to visit a spa to visit the spa pool. The spa pool is for adults only, and of course there is no pool bar, but flavored water is available. However, it was a beautiful and quiet shrine.
When you think of going abroad for a spa holiday, Abu Dhabi probably isn't the place that immediately comes to mind. But after my experience at their spa, it's definitely something I want to do in the future.
pool
The hotel has many pools. There's a large main pool with a pool bar, the spa I mentioned earlier, a wave pool, and a children's water park. (Scroll down for these photos). There are also many swim-up rooms with pools just outside the terrace.
I didn't take any photos because the main pool was crowded and I didn't want to invade your privacy. Instead, we use official photos so you can see how nice it is.
I took some photos of the pool bar menu. (Included in all-inclusive package).
Rixos Saadiyat Private Beach
Rixos Premium on Saadiyat Island has its own (huge) private beach with plenty of comfortable sunbeds, showers and towels. The sand is so white and soft that you can walk quite far into the Arabian Sea before it gets too deep. Moreover, the water is as warm as a bath! For those of us who are used to the North Sea off Scarborough, this is quite a novelty.
The beach bar is beautifully decorated and relaxing.
lixy club
All the Rixos hotels I've visited have great services for children. The Rixy Club has a wide range of itineraries, a large indoor space and a large enclosed outdoor space.
Right next to the kids club there is a children's bar serving snacks and slushes.
As I mentioned earlier about the kids water park, it is a great facility for small and medium-sized children.
There's a teen club with arcade games, table football, big screen TVs, and (possibly) game consoles.
The buffet also has high chairs and items for children.
To sum up, before I move on to my million buffet photos, we had a great time at Rixos Premium Saadiyat Island and would thoroughly recommend our stay here. Ideal for couples and families and perfect for a spa holiday. Shall we go back? Oh yeah, right away!
You may also be interested in our reviews of Rixos Marina in Abu Dhabi and Rixos The Palm in Dubai.
See more photos of buffet food
We visited as part of a press trip. All opinions expressed are my own.
