My Boyfriend and I stayed here at the beginning of March this year. We had a fantastic holiday and the hotel was wonderful.

On arrival at 8am there were profuse apologie that my room wsnt ready even though i wasnt expecting it to be. I was offered Tea and had some breakfast. The lobby is huge and they seemed to be piping scent into it as it smelt amazing. By 9am i was in my room, with bags already there waiting for me.

The rooms are fantastic. We had a deluxe gulf view room and i would definately reccomend this as it means you get a balcony and a view to the sea and over the pool and terrace area. The front of the hotel is onto a highway so not as scenic.

The rooms as mentioned are huge!! I have never stayed anywhere with such a big room. The bathrooms are also gorgeous. Huge big double bath and large seperate shower. I felt that the bathrooms were up to date, modern and well maintained. Only blip was a small cigarette burn mark on side of bath. But that was it and it didnt bother me. Lots of gorgeous freebie toiletries and plenty of towels etc. Lots of hot water and good water pressure in the shower.

The bed was also huge!! Very comfortable, with feather duvet and lovely soft cotton sheets. The room had TV with sofa sitting area, desk and huge wardrobes with lots of hangers. 2 bathrobes, 2 pairs of slippers and flip flops.

There is a well stocked mini bar and a safe which is activated by pin code or credit card swipe.

Balcony opened out through double patio doors, with mosquito screen so you could pull it accross but still have breeze. Although had no bites whilst we were there. Large balcony with table and chairs so you can eat on the balcony.

The TV channel choice is not amazing, but to be honest you dont go here to stay in and watch TV. There are a few internatinal news channels, some arab channels and some american TV shows and movies on one channel. No choice of on demand films though. However there is a cinema in the mall next door.

Air conditioning in the room was great, and i didnt find it noisy at all. Lights are all controlled by touch screens which is very cool and have a mastre switch by the bed. You can also control the AC from the bed too. Ultimate in laziness :)

I slept really well the 4 nights here, and only one night was i aware of noise coming from above us. It didnt last long and was the only time i was aware off.

Room service was excellent and turn down service at night was fantastic, Small box of chocs and mini gift ranging from lip balm, to sleep spray to eye masks.

The hotel has WIFI although we didnt use it, as the business centre is available at any time and you can use the internet there, which we did do most days. Computers are a little slow at times, but do the jobs for emails etc,

Breakfast was huge and runs till 11.30. It is taken in the seveile restaurant and is buffet. It has a nice atmosphere in the morning and staff are attentive. you can eat inside or outside on the terrace. There is a lots of choice. Plenty of fresh fruit juice, fresh fruit, lots fof diferent cereals, cold meats, smoked salmon and different cheeses.

The bakery section was the best bits. Lots of diferent types of bread, cakes, danishes. The toaster was a bit tempermental but my boyfriend coped better with it then me. The cooked breakfast is good. Eggs and omlettes made to order. The veal bacon and sausages were not great substitues for the real deal, but with so much other choice they werent needed.

Only dissapointment was a muffin on the last morning that seemed very stale. Rest of the food was alwasy fresh and good.

We ate room service a fair few times, there is a good choice, Food was excellent and beautifully presented on a "roll in table" set with table cloth, flowers etc. Food arrived very prompty and was not expensive. Alwasy hot and tasty. I even ordered at 2am and it arrived swiftly and tasted great.

We ate in the AZURE restaurant which was fantastic. Great service, delicious foood, well presented, with lovely complimentary bread, dips. Not expensive by UK standards.

We didnt eat at seveilles in the evening so cant comment. We did eat a few times at piscine for lunch and the food is bar food style and good for lunch. Only once were we dissapointed when food hadnt arrived after 45 mins and we had to cancel it as we had a tour planned. it wasnt a problem though and it didnt appear on our room tab. We also had smoothies at the swim up bar in the spa pool, which were expensive by AD standards ( £5.50) but delicious.

We were only there for four nights and our last night we ate out at a dune safari. You may feel limited with lack of choice but there are plenty of hotels with lots of good restaurants not far away. Cabs are evry cheap in AD and you can alwasy get the free shuttle bus that runs to the AD mall and marina malll every few hours and hop ina taxi from there, which we did do once.

The pool area is clean and well maintained. Plenty of people about to set your towels onto your lounger and grab tables or parasols etc. There is also waiter service around the pool, and normally didnt have to wait to long to catch someone's eye. The childrens pool is closed, but this didnt bother me as we have no kids. Beach area is clean as is the sea, although very cold!

There is building work going on up the coast which you cna see but not really hear and it certainly wasnt an issue for us.

The spa pool up on the third floor was gorgeous. lovely and warm wih communal jacuzzi. There were also sex segregated steam room, sauna and jacuzzis. The treatments sounded wonderful although need to be booked in advance and we ran out of time.

There is a mall attached to the hotel with a cinema. It is small but has a Lulul mini market which was great for drinks and snacks and for the morning we missed breakfast so had fresh croissants from them. There is a pharmacy and few shops like BHS kids and la senza.

The free shuttle goes all day and last one back is10.30pm i think from AD mall. The mini bus could do with a clean, but the driver was good by AD standards and punctual. The Marina mall is bigger then the AD mall, but both have reasonable selection of shops. The shopping is deinately nt of the standard of dubai and if we had been there for longer we would have definately ventured into dubai.

We did a dune safari, which we booked through the hotel concierge with a company called phoenix. It was excellent! Friendly driver in clean comfortable 4x4 with 6 of us in it. Very scary on the dunes but felt safe. Dunes were amazing. Saw camels at camel farm who were very cute. Then taken to camp which was beautifully set out. Able to do sand boarding and ride a camel , good for photo opps. Food was excellent and belly dancer was fantastic. Also got chance to get dressed up in arab costumes so again good photo opps. They also had shiesha which we tried.

We were picked up at 4pm and dropped home by 10pm and cost 270 AED i think, which i felt was good value for money.

Check out was swift, with no wait, Our room tab was correct and here were no issues over payment or extra credit charges which some people ahd found. And i have checked my accounts on my return.

Overall the Hotel al Raha was excellent. I was anxious after reading the reviews and still dont really undestand why it has been rated low by so many people. I think I am fairly fussy but i found the hotel to be of a very high standard. The staff were friendly and attentive without being over the top. The hotel was well maintained. We had no upset stomachs after food, not even on the dune safari. The hotel is about 20 mins out of AD but this adds to the chilled out factor of the hotel, away from the hustle and bustle and the beach isnt overlooked by a highway like some of the hotels in AD. I would definately stay there again if i was to return to AD although next time I think we will head to dubai.

We stayed at Al Raha Beach early February; the temperatures were low, from 20 to 23 degrees, there was a breeze, but the sun was shining and the sky was clear blue, we were happy to have found a slice of paradise!

This is a wonderful place to go for a relaxing holiday.

We stayed in a deluxe room, the room was very very big, large bathroom and had good facilities: free internet connection , fruit and a newspaper were delivered each day (an inconvenient was noisy air conditioned).

Staff were very friendly and helpful (also a man speaking italian, rarity in the UAE!) lobby great and well decorated, with colored and big carpets.

The hotel is on the beach, there is a large leisure area with infinity pool overlooking the sea and beautiful - well maintained gardens. The gardens were very nice and we spent most of our time there relaxing and sunbathing. The beach was lovely and the sea was clear and blue. What a surprise!

There is nothing within walking distance, the hotel is about 20-30 minutes driving from AD, but taxis are cheap and the hotel has free scheduled shuttle service that runs to the Marina Mall and to the city center; there is a new shopping mall next door but when we were on holiday many shops were closed.

The buffet breakfast was excellent with lots of choice, with great staff and chef making omelettes each morning.

The only negative was the lack of dining options, there is only a restaurant, and if you don't like buffets, the a la carte choice is rather limited. We had dinner once at the hotel, there was a fish buffet, but the fish – BBQ lobsters and prawns - was not well cooked, on the inside it was raw, maybe because the cooks were in a hurry to put more in the oven to satisfy the other people waiting in line…what a pity!

Room quality good with large bathroom & good fittings. Main pool in poor condition, not clean enough & extreemly cold. Tiles missing in & around the pool, walkway all uneven a disaster waiting to happen! Childs pool clossed for another 6 weeks! Member & villa pool closed! Pool staff unqualified cannot take or deliver a drink order....food is always cold & i had an upset stomach after every meal!!!!! 5* try 2*
Try the new Shangri-la .... its 5***** EVERYTHING
Mrs Ali I live in Abu Dhabi!!!!!

We stayed at the Al Raha for a New Year break of 5 nights. The hotel is overall a delight. Massive spotless bedrooms with nice little gifts on the pillow each evening. Plenty of facilities, gym, squash court, water sports, spa plus the usual beach/pool.
The service was at times poor, however i've found no different than other hotels in the region. The staff are very friendly but not very efficient, they make all the right noises but often do not do anything, often resulting in having to make a request many times, which can get a little frustrating
The real jewel in the crown is the buffet at breakfast, lunch & evening meal. So much choice & excellently prepared & presented, and also reasonably priced.
There is building work going on next door which is visible but not audible so didn't spoil our stay.
The mall that has been built next door is not worth visiting yet, very few shops occupied.
I would recommend this hotel for a relaxing break. It is quiet & a good 20 mins out of Abu Dhabi, more by hotel shuttle.