A Relaxing Resort

It had only been 2 days since I landed on the desert soils of Dubai, after more than a decade. Having lived in Dubai during my teens brought back tons of memories, school, friends, and growing up as teenagers with aloofness and lives filled with FUN and adventure as the only thing on the agenda 24/7. Nostalgia was one thing I was dealing with from the time I bought my ticket, but the transformation of Dubai was another. The roads and its names were still very familiar, locating places according to my old ancient compass in my head was another. But, no matter what, it was all in all a great retreat!.

Going around Dubai was as easy as ABC, since their new transport system with the train system was of a similar map as that of Singapore. Another place I lived, worked, enjoyed my life in, I knew Singapore and its transport system in no time. So reminiscing the times from Singyland, I would just hop on to any train even if it meant a long walk to the station.

Anyhow, I was meeting my best friend after a long time, and she was taking me around town. After a great lunch around the city, which you shall be reading later in another post, we headed out towards Ibn-e-Battuta Mall, the largest shopping mall in the world, also a mall the size of 10 football grounds. Seriously that mall is beyond huge, you certainly need more than a day to go around the place. The theme and interior of the mall is absolutely Magnificent. You will surely get to hear more about what all to enjoy during a short visit to Dubai later. But for now, we will talk about the lovely retreat off Abu Dhabi.

A mini get away vacation for most emirati and foreigners, the Danat Jebel Dhanna Resort is 300 km from Jebel Ali (Dubai) approximate driving time 3.5 hours, and 240 Km from Abu Dhabi International Airport, approximate driving time 150 minutes. The route to the resort is a mundane and dry road, across deserts and some factory sites. I being a road trip savvy person was utterly bored during my drive to the resort, primarily also because it was evening, and was waiting anxiously for the moon to rise from the dark skies above.

As soon as we saw the road signs leading towards the resort, I was hoping against hope for something exquisite.. excited nevertheless, I was just bored out of my wits from the long boring drive. I just wanted something exciting. As we got closer, and got a glimpse of the resort, the big smile turned into a confused look, I was expecting a resort, by the beach. Where were we? Which place was this? My image of a resort has always been banyan tree houses, or coconut shed rooftops. But, this was a huge five floored building, a mansion. Not, the best looking hotels from the exterior, the interior was much more attractive. To begin with the interior had a huge wooden carved map of the Middle East, from Oman to Qatar. This was the best thing to keep my niece and myself busy during the check in and check out time. I certainly ended up teaching a four year old, where exactly were we, which was somewhere a few kilometers off Qatar border. The rooms were spacious, roomy, comfortable and we had a beach facing room, so the world was a better place all of a sudden.

The beach and the Danat Resort pool side is absolutely fantastic. This was all that I needed who was craving for some sandy beaches, some lone time to get lost in my own thoughts. According to my sister, she felt as if I was going to conquer a new world with the amount of lonely walks and thinking I managed to do at the beach. All, I longed was to empty my head and press the "Refresh" button.

The coastline did not have a speck of unwanted dust on it, the sea bed, was so soft that lay like a carpet. Lovely, tempting turquoise water, white sand, thatched umbrellas, loungers across the beach, banana boats for the lazy lofters, and a snacking facility by the beach or by pool side.

The hotel pool, had a small children's pool area, with some other sporting activities for them, like the swings and slides, bicycling etc, tennis, basketball courts etc. The adults swimming pool had a pool side bar, for a perfect way to relax on a sunny November morning.

There was something for everyone, from the children's pool to games and sporting activities, to a gym and sauna, to a relaxing afternoon for a massage. The evenings meant to be more relaxing, with enjoying a karaoke evening at the hotel bar, or enjoy listening to a live musical band play. The only disappointing factor was the limited menu, considering they had a 24 hour room service, a lobby lounge restaurant, pool side buffet and an Italian restaurant. I was bored with the food, for someone who likes to try out exotic food of every place I visit, it didn't have much to offer being a five star hotel, besides it also being really pricey. Though, the breakfast was my favorite, a combination of English breakfast with continental was all that I needed to enjoy one full course meal of the day.

The biggest advantage for parents, wanting their own ME time, or to enjoy a quiet romantic evening, was making use of the baby sitting service. The hotel management would arrange for baby sitters to look after your kids while the parents can enjoy a lovely evening together.

The next day we were woken up with stormy winds and lightening. The view of a nasty angry sea and coconut trees lashing their leaves on the sand was a remarkable way for me to end my 2 day stay at the Danat Resort, Jebel Dhanna. At this point, I so did not want to leave, since I was engulfed in the storm, the change in atmosphere, and colors.

The way back from Danat Resort was far better, since I could at least see the sandy barren dessert, till we hit the city. I'm sure, you would enjoy the pictures of the place as much as I enjoyed staying there. I generally do not recommend people to splash their hard earned green bucks, but, certainly after a really long month or an assignment when you want to treat yourself and splurge, I do recommend anyone living in the UAE region to surely visit this resort. Do leave your feedback, and if you have visited this place, then surely do add on to the review. Would love to hear from others around the globe.