Review: W Hotel in Abu Dhabi, champion or rookie?

Is this a cool-couples hotel, a family hotel or an F1 aficionado’s dream?

The W in Abu Dhabi has an issue that can’t be fixed. It sits under the nightclub-cool W brand, but its location means it’s a favourite for families and fans of Formula 1. With each group wanting wildly different things in a hotel, can it be everything to all people?

A short history of the W Hotel

In its short life, this hotel has been known as the Yas Hotel (named after the area it’s located in), then the Yas Viceroy Hotel Abu Dhabi, and now the W Abu Dhabi. In many ways, it fits perfectly into the W brand. It is achingly cool to look at, and you can see the effort that’s going into the internal and external elements.

The hotel is surrounded by the Yas Marina Circuit, best known for hosting F1. The track wraps around the hotel, surrounding the secondary building and covering three sides of the main building. The motorsport theme is followed inside the hotel in a respectful way. The carpeting in the hallways has a track-like look, and the main restaurant is called the Garage.

Thankfully, the hotel doesn’t go too far with its F1 theme. Even if you have no interest in motorsports, you won’t be put off.

This is a stunning building with its own Wikipedia page that talks about the construction and engineering process. Apparently, the design is inspired by Formula 1, but you wouldn’t know it to look at it. It’s a statement building, and if you watch the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix then it’s hard to miss. Having walked around the F1 track (more on that later) it looks even more beautiful from below.

The hotel does have a slight identity crisis that has followed it from launch. It’s a stunning building that lends itself far more to the W brand, and inside you feel like it was built for the typical W crowd. Young adults who are there to party. Yet the hotel is filled with families – Yas Island is very family-orientated, and the hotel sits just a few minute’s drive from Ferrari World, Yas Waterworld and SeaWorld.

Where the W is located

The hotel is an easy taxi ride from the airport. The W is located on Yas Island, and the tip of that is a stone’s throw from one of the runways. A taxi from Abu Dhabi airport to the W took ten minutes and cost us £12. We flew into Abu Dhabi from Manchester (via London), flying with BA to LHR, and then we flew in Etihad’s The Residence.

This is not a hotel to walk out of and explore the area. It’s possible to set out on foot, but it’s distant from anything of value and it can be too hot to walk. We were in Abu Dhabi in late September, and it was still 28 degrees in the evening.

Getting an Uber was easy, I doubt we waited more than five minutes for a taxi, often it was less. It’s also cheaper than in Europe.

Central Abu Dhabi is around 30 minutes by car. We were driven there twice – to a Mall and then to the Louvre. Both were easy journeys, and we got to see more of the city as we drove around.

We spent most of our trip near the hotel; the nearby Yas Mall is huge and has a tonne of places to shop and eat, plus there are lots of attractions nearby.

Check-in at the W Abu Dhabi

We arrived on a late flight and were eager to get checked in quickly. However, it was not a fast process. There was a lot of back-and-forth between staff members, furious typing on a computer, and then some unnecessary upgrade conversations.

Towards the end of the check-in, we were invited to upgrade to a better room – although one member of staff did whisper to the other, “Why are you trying to upgrade them? They’re in a suite”. We were asked to “name our price” to upgrade to a room that was slightly larger and had a wrap-around balcony. I asked what the price was and was told again that I needed to name a price. I gave a lowball offer and was told that it wasn’t high enough. I didn’t expect checking in at a luxury hotel to resemble Bargain Hunt.

I find the lobbies of W Hotels to be a bit intense. I stayed at the W in NYC, and it was interesting coming into the hotel after work to be met by a heavy bassline and lighting so dim that I could barely find the elevators. The W Abu Dhabi is at least well-lit, but you’ll still get EDM playing pretty loud in the evenings. Which is weird because almost every guest I saw was part of a family.

Aside from the music, it’s quite a beautiful entrance. There’s plenty of seating and a cute coffee shop called The Roastery. Behind that is an “influencer space” where you can take pictures and show your Instagram followers how tasteful you are (we did this). The lobby was so big that it never seemed busy, even around check-in or check-out times.

Dining options

Breakfast is served in the giant Garage restaurant. This is a big hotel and so they have an equally big space to serve food in.

Even with one of the largest hotel restaurants I’ve ever seen, it can still get very busy during peak times. That doesn’t just mean that finding a table is difficult; walking around becomes challenging as you’re swimming in a sea of small children. There’s a specific energy to breakfast at the W, and it’s not zen.

What you will find at breakfast is a vast array of options. Endless counters with more food types than you can sensibly handle in one sitting. It’s my favourite meal of the day, so I rate the options at the W highly. There’s enough variety to cater for everyone, including picky kids or even picky adults. There were a good number of healthy options too.

The trick, if you want to have a more peaceful breakfast, is to get in there early. On our final day I headed down early for a coffee and to take some pictures. It was quiet and relaxing. I returned with my wife two hours later and it was madness again. It’s not the hotels fault, nor the guests, it’s just a very busy hotel.

There was a second restaurant space that housed an Italian restaurant called Amici. This has closed and is being redeveloped into a new offering. Noisey building work was going on whilst we were at the hotel, which – thankfully – we couldn’t hear from our bedroom, but at breakfast it

The room service offering was extensive, covering local options and Western dishes. We love room service, but we just didn’t have the time to order anything during our stay. They even helpfully include some pictures of the dishes.

What are the bedrooms like?

We stayed in a fantastic suite in the second building. We booked via Avios Hotels and paid £1397 (including taxes) for a four-night stay from Friday through Tuesday.

The suite was impressive, with two bathrooms, a large living space and one of the thinnest balconies I’ve ever sat on. The room looked out towards the bay, so the track was not visible from the balcony, but the design of the building, whilst beautiful to look at from the outside, does obscure the view a little.

When we arrived there was a surprise waiting for you: a spare bed in the living room. You can see these in some of my photos. We rang reception and they came up to remove it – not sure why we ended up with it.

The living space was huge, with four seats facing the TV, plus a small round table with two dining chairs. The seating was comfortable, and the two-person sofa was built into a long surface that stretched the entire back wall. On the opposing wall, which housed the TV, a similar long surface went underneath the TV and then turned into a desk area with a single chair.

I love these type of features in a hotel as they set it apart and highlight how design has been prioritised. It’s easy to slot in some bog-standard furniture, whereas building something like this, and keeping it looking good for years after, takes effort.

The bedroom had similar furniture. The giant bed, with an oversized headboard, has two curved side tables built into the wall. Each side has UK plug sockets. Facing the bed is a large TV and a dressing area. A single surface goes from one side of the wall to another, sweeping in to make a larger surface area where the dressing area is.

What’s the sleep quality like?

The bed and pillows were really comfy. This is a contensious area – some people like the bed or pillows hard. A recent stay at a Hilton in Istanbul gave us some pillows that were made of concrete. However, for us, this bed was perfect, and we had some great nights sleep here.

It’s worth talking about the noise in this hotel. We found it to be very quiet, but we faced the water. The construction work that seemed to start very early was limited to the main building. One night I heard the constant roar of car engines, and after a wander on to the bridge that connects the two buildings I could see that there was a motor race taking place. We did not hear any noise from adjoining rooms, and only once heard some noise from a neighbouring balcony.

Anything else about the rooms?

There are no wardrobes in the main bedroom, they’re instead located in a small room located to the side of the bathroom. There’s a generous amount of space and a bench to put your case on, with six drawers underneath that. This meant we could keep our clothes and cases out of the main bedroom. Within the wardrobe was an ironing board and iron.

The balcony is a weird place to sit due to its size. It’s really thin and houses two single chairs and a small table. We did sit out some nights just to take in the view and watch boats come into the dock.

What are the bathrooms like?

We had a suite with a full bathroom and a guest bathroom. The smaller bathroom was located next to the front door. It had a sink and toilet, was a decent size, and came with amenities.

The main bathroom was really large, with two “cubicles” for the toilet itself, and the shower. Both had more than enough space. The shower was a rainfall shower, with great water pressure.

The main bathroom has two sinks, and a large round bath. There are amenities next to each sink and next to the bath. The room also comes with two robes and a generous selection of towels. There’s two soft bath mats, one in front of each sink.

There’s a lot to be said for having two sinks in a hotel room for a couple. It’s a luxury, but it makes getting ready or getting ready for bed slightly easier.

The rooftop terrace and pool

There are two places to go if you want to take a dip in a pool or catch some sun. The second building, where our room was located, has a rooftop pool and bar, but it was undergoing renovation during our stay. Instead, we headed to the primary pool in the main building.

Up on the top floor there’s a reasonably sized pool, surrounded by sun loungers and comfy couples seating. When we went up in the early afternoon it was pretty busy, with most seats around the pool taken. There’s a bar area that serves food and drink, with more seating on a terrace around it.

We went back to the deck one evening for drinks and it was a beautiful place to spend a couple of hours. The outside temperature was a lot more palatable, and it was much quieter. We had two (complimentary) drinks and watched the world go by. The service up here was pretty average – despite it being nearly empty I had to head to the bar to order, and then it took an age for our cocktails to arrive.

What’s the gym like at the W Abu Dhabi?

The gym is in the second building, on the same floor as the Spa. You enter using your room card, and an attendant in the reception area pointed me in the right direction. There’s a steam room and sauna on one side, where the changing rooms are, and the gym itself on the other side.

It’s a very long and thin space that’s a stunning place to work out. The views across the Yas Marina as the sun came up were beautiful. It’s well stocked with modern equipment, and a good selection of free weights.

At the end of the gym is a Yoga space, which has a one hundred and eighty degree wrap around window. I’ve been to some grim, understocked hotel gyms in my time, but this is up there with the best of them. A truly beautiful place to work out.

The gym is open 24hrs, and I headed there each morning around 7am. It was not busy, with just a few other guests in there. There were free water points and cups dotted around. If I lived close to this gym I would absolutely become a member.

Walking, running or cycling around the F1 track

I was really looking forward to this. Through the TrainYas programme, you can walk, run, or cycle around the F1 track in the evenings. This happens three times a week, from 6 pm to 10 pm, with the last entry half an hour before closing. Entry is about a five-minute taxi ride away that cost us £5.

If you want to cycle then you can hire a bike at the track. I don’t think there was any cost involved. You do have to pre-register for entry to the track, which is easy and free.

I figured that since the last entry for walkers and runners was half an hour before closing then it would take roughly thirty minutes to get around it. That was my first mistake. We got there about 8pm, and including a couple of short breaks to take on water, it took us over an hour to get around on foot.

The second mistake was assuming that the temperature would have dropped by 8 pm. It was 28 degrees. It was akin to walking in a sauna.

Despite the heat, it was an enjoyable experience. Walkers and runners go the opposite way around the track, with cyclists taking the same path as the F1 cars do. It was also pretty quiet when we went. If I was going to do it again, I would opt for a bike. It’s faster, and you will pick up some cool from the wind.

To stand at the starting line was an experience I’ll never forget.

The verdict: should you stay here?

I would stay here again. Firstly, we absolutely loved the room – it was everything we wanted in a suite: well-designed, with lots of space, comfy seating and a good bed. We had some great nights sleep here, adjusting to the timezone difference.

The location wasn’t a problem for us. It was easy to get an Uber when we wanted to venture out, and as we were here for just three nights, there was just about enough in the local area to keep us entertained, with some short trips to the city.

The rooftop bar gave us something to do one evening, and despite breakfast being ridiculously busy it was negated by the sheer quantity of great food options. I even managed to elbow some kids of the way to get to the Waffle truck one morning.