Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

Review: Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi — My First Stay

fter reading this trip report and review from almost two years ago of the Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi by Elena of Muslim Travel Girl, I thought I would follow up with one of my own — starting with my first of several stays at this hotel property.

I drove from the airport in the rental car to the hotel after a long transatlantic flight from New York. It was evening; and I was tired. I was looking forward to a clean, comfortable bed on which to sleep — and I was not disappointed in the least.

Greeted by a blast of refreshingly cold air — courtesy of the climate control system upon entering the spacious lobby of the hotel — from the sultry and still night air in which the humidity felt like I was in a swimming pool filled with tepid water, I was cheerfully welcomed by the person behind the desk, who volunteered to me that I had been upgraded to a suite…

…and I did not even request a suite.

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

The elevator ascended to the uppermost floor of the hotel, where I navigated a curved hallway to reach my room…

Entering the Suite

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

…and when I opened the door, I first saw a living room of sorts: a long couch, a rug on hardwood flooring, a flat-screen television and other furnishings; as well as art hanging on the walls.

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

I then turned around to see what appeared to be a bar and dining area.

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

I opened the cabinets, which were built into the wall. There was plenty of storage.

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

A safe was towards the bottom of the left set of cabinets…

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

…and there was counter space and a mirror in the center between the cabinets…

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

…complete with a mini-bar.

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

Near the entrance to the suite was a chair and a desk — cluttered with all sorts of items…

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

…and amongst those items were two complimentary bottles of water; assorted teas and coffee with accompaniments such as sweeteners and creamers; an appliance for preparing the coffee or tea and a teapot to serve it; a notepad and pen; cups; silverware; a lamp; a router for Internet access; a menu; and other items.

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

Either a larger desk or a separate table was needed as a place for many of these items if the desk was to be functional — but that is a minor criticism at worst.

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

The telephone actually greeted me.

The Guest Washroom

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

Also near the entrance was the guest washroom and toilet, which was not equipped with a shower…

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

…unless you count the sprayer device next to the toilet.

The Bedroom

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

On my way to the bedroom portion of the suite, I could not help but notice the illuminated futuristic stylings of the thermostat and the light dimmer switch.

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

The bed looked quite inviting — and it was indeed comfortable.

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

Looking back towards the entrance to the bedroom portion of the suite, I noticed another flat-screen television above a storage area of drawers and mini-cabinets.

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

Mounted on the wall just below the flat-screen television are options of different types of connections for a device which you might have brought with you.

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

There was a doorway which led to the closet and the bathroom.

The Closet

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photographs ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

Storage was located on either side of the walk-in closet which is on the way to the bathroom, with plenty of places to hang and store clothes and luggage.

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

Included in the closet was an ironing board with an iron; plastic laundry bags; a box on which to shine shoes; a cloth for shining shoes; a mending kit containing needles and different colored threads; two pairs of slippers; an extra pillow; two mirrors; and even a place on which you can place items or sit.

The Main Bathroom

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

The entrance to the bathroom comprised of two wooden ersatz French doors with frosted glass.

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

The bathroom was equipped with two basins — each with two washcloths — as well as mirrors.

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photographs ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

The shower and toilet areas were separated by glass panels — stylish; but certainly not private if more than one person wants to use the bathroom. The shower was equipped with a rain shower head.

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

There was also a bathtub, complete with a sprayer…

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

…and a television embedded within a mirror, which you can watch while soaking in the bathtub. The remote control rests on the ledge of the tub near the amenities…

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

…which included bars of soap; liquid soap which had the pleasant scent of orange; a shaving kit containing a razor and shaving cream; a dental kit containing a toothbrush and toothpaste; a shower cap; body lotion, shampoo and conditioner.

The View

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

The views from the suite were not particularly attractive — although that is certainly not the fault of the hotel…

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

…unless you counted the view of the pool area below…

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

…and the views were not much better in the daylight hours.

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

Viewing in the direction northwest of the hotel property, the stark white building with no windows is a shopping mall of sorts, which contains a Carrefour supermarket and a place to exchange currency where you can even exchange coins — all at rather favorable exchange rates. In one transaction, I successfully had three different currencies converted simultaneously.

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

Part of the view included the Zayed Sports City Stadium, where you can partake in numerous sports activities — some of which are free of charge — and the complex is located southwest within walking distance of the hotel.

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

If I am not mistaken, the buildings in the background in the photograph shown above are also part of Zayed Sports City.

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

There was plenty of construction occurring at the time, as evidenced by the massive cranes. The twisted glass building to the right of the center of the photograph in the background is the Hyatt Capital Gate, Abu Dhabi hotel property.

Summary

Other than the minor comments posted in this review, it was difficult to give any negative reviews, as this stay was nearly flawless. The room was clean and comfortable; and service from the staff was attentive — but only when I wanted it to be attentive. Otherwise, I was left alone. I was even able to park the car in the small parking lot just outside of the hotel at no charge.

I had access to the executive lounge, which was on the same floor as the suite. Details of it will appear in a future article.

While not near central Abu Dhabi, this hotel is located conveniently only a few minutes from Highway E10 and Highway E11, which will take you approximately 20 minutes from Abu Dhabi International Airport — or you can continue on to Dubai in approximately two hours. The corniche in Abu Dhabi is fewer than 20 minutes away if you take Al Khaleej Al Arabi Street. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is only six minutes away by car; or you can walk to it door to door in less than one hour. I rarely encountered traffic; so access to virtually anywhere within the Abu Dhabi emirate via automobile is relatively easy.

I highly recommend this hotel property; and at a room rate of $84.65 for the night, this stay was a bargain — but I paid an even lower rate during my next stay…

Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi
Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum Street Road
United Arab Emirates
+971-2-617 0000
+971-2-617 0925 Fax

All photographs ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

  1. Stayed there couple months ago. It’s newish. Like everything there there the building is covered in a layer of sand.

    The pool party on the weekend is interesting and loud.

    1. Yes, the pool party can be loud, Ted; but for me, that was a minor issue at best.

      I slept well at this hotel…

  2. It is abundantly clear to me that the photographs are ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

    However, it is not clear to me, a reader of this BoardingArea blog, why you will visit this hotel property several times in the forseeable future. Are these trips mandated as part of your work responsibilities, or is this part of your travel for the purpose of leisure?

    1. With copyright infringement rampant on the Internet, there is little I can do to protect the images which I photographed, Greg. Posting that copyright line is one way I can do it. Another way is to embed a watermark in each image; but I feel that that can ruin the integrity of the image and be simultaneously distracting — so I avoid doing that.

      The reason I visited this hotel several times was due to the way I structured my trip. I went to the United Arab Emirates for a few days where the first night, I stayed at this hotel property. I then went to Dubai and Fujairah before returning to Abu Dhabi to catch a flight to Egypt; and I chose to stay there a second night because of its proximity to the airport. When I returned to the United Arab Emirates from Egypt, I stayed there another night; and prior to returning to the United States, I stayed there one more night.

      I broke up my flight itinerary to prevent an irregular operation from causing a “domino effect” along the rest of my itinerary — meaning that as an example, if there was a mechanical issue on the flights from Egypt to Abu Dhabi via Manama in Bahrain, the worst that would happen is that I would be late in arriving to Abu Dhabi and not cause me to miss my flight back to the United States.

      I hope all of that answers your questions, Greg. If you have any more questions, by all means please feel free to ask.

  3. Wow that hotel’s right near the airport. Any reason you decided to rent a car in Abu Dhabi and did you have business near the hotel? I enjoyed staying near the Corniche when I went but that was for leisure.

    1. I rented a car because I drove to Dubai and then to Fujairah before returning to Abu Dhabi, Johnson — and I drove around Abu Dhabi as well, as I stayed at a hotel near the Corniche also.

      Driving in the United Arab Emirates is quite similar to driving in the United States.

      I stayed at this hotel property for several reasons; but the main one was that it was on the way to Dubai and my flight from the United States landed in the evening, so it was a perfect place to catch some sleep before continuing to Dubai.

      I do have some articles and trip reports already posted of my trip here at The Gate; but admittedly, I have many more to post…

  4. WOW I just saw this. Thank you for the mention. I love the hotel and I love the room you received. This is a very nice suite. Definitely prefer this this Hilton than the one in the Corniche. I think i have to go back and check out few more rooms 🙂

    1. I do not know about that, Elena

      …while I believe that this hotel property is very good to excellent and do prefer it, the one by the Corniche has its benefits as well — such as the beach experience, for example.

      I intend to post a review of that hotel property as well…

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