During our trip to the United Arab Emirates, we spent several days in Abu Dhabi and decided to stay at the Radisson Blu Corniche, a hotel well known for its seafront location and for its access to a beach club with a pool and private beach. The choice was not accidental. Before booking, we carried out an extensive search because there were two things that were important to us: finding a hotel that offered vegan options and, if possible, one that was also adults only.
The reality is that in the United Arab Emirates we could not find a hotel that met both conditions at the same time. After reviewing many options, this hotel seemed — on paper — to be the one that best fit what we were looking for. The hotel itself assured us by email that they had vegan options and that, in any case, the chefs would be happy to prepare any vegan dish we needed.
However, what we found when we arrived was different.
The hotel is located along the Abu Dhabi Corniche, and the beach can be accessed through the hotel’s beach club.
One of the first things that pleasantly surprised us was the beach itself. Although it is still an artificial beach — something very common in this part of the Gulf — the overall feeling was more pleasant than what we had experienced at the hotel in Dubai where we had stayed before. In Dubai we were surrounded by construction sites and the noise from building works was constant. Here, at least, the view was more open and the environment felt slightly more natural.
That does not mean the beach was perfect. When the tide came in, a lot of trash would also appear along the shore.
The hotel had a heated adults-only pool, which is always appreciated when you are looking for a quieter space inside a family-oriented hotel. The spa included a jacuzzi, sauna and Turkish bath, and the gym was spacious and well equipped.
In that sense, the hotel had several aspects that, at least at the beginning, seemed positive.
The check-in and a “room upgrade” with a surprise
We had booked our stay under the all-inclusive plan, which in the United Arab Emirates usually includes all meals and drinks at the hotel, including alcoholic beverages in certain areas such as the pool or the beach.
When we arrived at reception, the staff informed us that we were receiving a complimentary room upgrade as a courtesy. At first it sounded like great news. When we entered the room, the first impression was excellent. The space was huge: it had a separate living room, a guest bathroom, a very large bedroom with a sofa, and an enormous main bathroom. Everything looked impeccable and clearly superior to what we had originally booked.
But the surprise came very quickly.
The room was located on the second floor, right next to the hotel’s air-conditioning machines, and the noise was constant and extremely loud. It was practically impossible to stay in the room. From the very first moment I knew I would not be able to sleep there.
There was also another uncomfortable detail: the hotel used automatic air-freshener dispensers throughout different areas of the building. The chemical smell was intense and ended up entering the room as well, which meant we had to open the windows to ventilate.
In that room, opening the windows only made the noise from the machines even worse.
We eventually went down to reception and asked to change rooms. We were then moved to the room corresponding to the category we had originally booked. The noise problem was solved, but the new room was smaller, and we began to notice some maintenance and cleanliness details that had not been present in the first one.
An irregular level of cleanliness
The comparison was inevitable because just before arriving we had stayed at a hotel in Dubai where the cleanliness was impeccable. Here, the difference was noticeable. In our room it felt as though the cleaning was superficial. The carpets were dirty and it seemed like they were not vacuumed regularly.
In some common areas of the hotel there was also a sense of poor maintenance. Elevator buttons were often dirty, mirrors had visible marks, and there were areas that clearly were not cleaned as often as one would expect in a hotel of this category.
Interestingly, not all facilities were the same. The spa and the gym did appear well maintained and clean. But the overall impression of the hotel was not particularly positive in that regard.
The Wi-Fi
The Wi-Fi worked properly inside the hotel building, although not with the same quality we had experienced in the hotel in Dubai, where the connection was fast and stable.
Here, the main issue appeared at the beach. As soon as you went down to the beach club, the connection practically disappeared, which is surprising for a hotel of this type.
The biggest problem at the hotel: vegan food
Before the trip, we had sent an email specifically asking about vegan options. The hotel replied that there were vegan dishes available and that, in any case, the chefs could prepare vegan meals upon request. We even notified them months in advance about our arrival so the kitchen team could take it into account.
However, when we arrived at the buffet, we discovered that there was almost nothing we could eat. Most dishes contained animal products, and many salads were mixed with ingredients such as meat or sauces containing dairy.
From that moment on, a routine began that would repeat itself at every meal. We had to ask the waiters which dishes were vegan. Since they did not know, they had to call a chef. Then we had to wait for the chef to come out of the kitchen and explain again what exactly vegan food meant.
The situation was surreal because on several occasions they told us a dish was vegan, but when we asked whether it contained milk, eggs or butter, they said yes. In other words, even the kitchen staff themselves were not sure about the ingredients in the food. This meant we could not even trust the information they were giving us.
Eating at the hotel became exhausting
Every meal meant repeating the same process of questions and waiting. In the end we almost always had to ask them to prepare something separately.
The solution they usually offered was always the same: pasta with vegetables. That was the dish we ended up eating for several days in a row.
Besides being repetitive, it was not a balanced meal because it contained almost no plant protein. They were not even able to prepare something as simple as rice with lentils or rice with legumes, which would have been a very easy solution.
It was only during the last few days that one of the chefs decided to help a little more and ordered tofu. From then on, they prepared a stir-fried tofu with vegetables dish. The problem was that it was always the same plate, with no variation.
This becomes even stranger when you consider that regional cuisine uses a huge variety of spices and cooking techniques. With a bit of creativity, many different dishes could have been made, but there seemed to be no interest in doing so.
One evening the situation became particularly uncomfortable. When we called one of the chefs again to ask what they could prepare for us, he responded directly that he was not going to cook anything and that if we wanted something different, we had to paid extra. I had to go down to reception to explain what had happened. One of the managers came up with me to the restaurant, spoke to the kitchen staff and reprimanded them for the situation. Eventually another chef — the same one we had spoken to on the first day — appeared and apologized. However, beyond the apology, nothing changed and we kept encountering the same difficulties whenever we tried to eat something.
Our stay was extended due to flight cancellations
Originally, we were supposed to stay at the hotel until March 1st. However, due to the Middle East conflict and flight cancellations we ended up staying until March 6th.
That meant several more days experiencing the same situation with the food.
There came a point when we were simply eager to leave the hotel and return home so we could eat normally again without having to explain at every meal what a plant-based diet means.
Problems with the extension of the stay
Another aspect that left us with a bad impression was how the hotel handled the situation during the flight cancellations.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a statement indicating that hotels should extend the stay of travelers affected by cancellations and bill those costs directly to the ministry. However, the hotel did not inform us about this initially, and when our flight was first cancelled we had to pay for two additional nights out of pocket.
Later, when we discovered the existence of that statement, we requested a refund for those nights. The hotel responded that they would not return the money and that we should try to recover it ourselves.
In addition, the way the extensions were managed was confusing. On some occasions reception confirmed the extension by phone and shortly afterwards we received emails from the hotel saying the exact opposite. For a hotel of this category, the lack of coordination was surprising.
The best and worst of Radisson Blu Corniche Abu Dhabi
The best
- Good location along the Abu Dhabi Corniche, with beach access through the beach club.
- Heated adults-only pool.
- Spacious and well-equipped gym with enough machines to train even during busy hours.
- Spa with jacuzzi, sauna and Turkish bath.
The worst
- Complete lack of vegan options at the buffet despite prior confirmation from the hotel. Lack of understanding from kitchen staff about what vegan or plant-based food means. Very limited alternatives offered (only pasta with vegetables). The experience became exhausting because every meal required explanations and requests.
- Excessive air-freshener smell throughout the hotel that becomes overwhelming.
- Irregular level of cleanliness in rooms and some common areas.
- Wi-Fi does not work in the beach area.
- Unclear management of stay extensions during flight cancellations.
- The buffet is limited even when not considering the lack of vegan food.
Conclusion: Is Radisson Blu Corniche Abu Dhabi worth it?
If I could go back in time, I would not book this hotel again. It does have some positive aspects; however, when you spend several days in a hotel, food becomes a fundamental part of the experience. In our case, the problem with the vegan food was so significant and constant that it completely ruined the stay.
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