Unique Sleeps: Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel & Villas

One could be forgiven for looking out from the cabanas on the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi’s private beach and wondering if they’d suddenly found themselves on a deserted island. A strip of bright white sand and a turquoise sea that stretches out into the horizon as far as you can see. In a region as busy as the UAE, the Park Hyatt is literally an oasis in the desert. Gone are the cranes and construction sites, the towering skyscrapers and industrial parks. Instead, it’s just you and the ocean.

The sea breeze blowing warm on my face is what makes this fact really sink in. During our oceanfront stay in Dubai, the water was still and calm, our room looking straight out at our hotel’s private beach, but also on towards the dusty city skyline. Here, the ocean is whipped up into white horses. We spend our Abu Dhabi afternoon bobbing up and down in the water, letting the warm breeze dry the salt spray off our faces, lounging in cabanas with icy cold drinks and wet towels to cool us down.

The Park Hyatt sits on the edge of Saadiyat Island, just north of Abu Dhabi’s main CBD, but a world away from the city. It still has an element of the bigger is better mentality seen throughout the city, but when that means there is a huge pool that stretches almost from the lobby right down to the sea, and plenty of lounge chairs tucked into small raised pavilions alongside it, bigger is definitely better. Villas and rooms spread out alongside the beachfront, so the views are just as dramatic. The private plunge pools inside the villas are the cherry on top.

Guests spend their days around the pool, or in the ocean, popping out to dine on fresh pasta, meat off the grill, and healthy salads at the Beach House, with icy cocktails to quench their thirst.

If you’re after a beach holiday with a difference, put the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi on your bucket list.