After our mid-evening arrival into Abu Dhabi with Etihad, as I reviewed earlier, we quickly found our way to our accommodation for the first three nights’ of our Middle Eastern jaunt – the very opulent Shangri-La Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi.

The property is midway between downtown Abu Dhabi and the airport, just a short 15-minute drive, and we arrived in no time.

The reception, as you’d expect, is very grand, with a whole table of fresh flowers and plants acting as a visually arresting centrepiece. We were quickly checked in and sent on our way to our Premier Room, 0314, with our luggage catching up with us shortly thereafter.

First impressions – what a spacious room! Upon entering and to our left, was the very impressively-sized bedroom, with the bed on one side, a TV and accessories cabinet on the other side, and floor-to-ceiling windows facing out onto our balcony stretching across the full length of the room.

The bathroom was by no means any less grand, as you can see, with a separate toilet, rainfall shower, and a bathtub; along, of course, with the classic Shangri-La washroom toiletries which I made sure to use excessively.

Then, as if that wasn’t all enough, further back we had not even a walk-in closer, but a walk-through closet, that could be accessed from either the bathroom, or the study area.

And then, lastly, just tucked in behind the bedroom (TV cabinet side, to be specific), we had a well laid-out study area in case we fancied catching up on some work – we didn’t, fyi.

After inaugurating the stay with a very delicious room service chicken shawarma burger out on the balcony, while enjoying the view out over the verdant gardens and towards the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, we decided to head out for a quick tour of the property on foot.

The whole hotel is gigantic and very carefully laid out such that you never really realise the true scale until you try and walk end-to-end deliberately. We acquainted ourselves with the main pool for the next day, along with the beaches facing the canal.

Next morning we headed straight to breakfast, which is served at Sofra Bld, one level below reception (also where the evening buffet is served, which we made good use of one evening and was also delicious).

While the breakfast definitely gets very busy later in the morning, we went early one of the mornings and it was incredibly peaceful. But no matter when you go, the choice is extremely wide and varied across many cuisines, and the quality is excellent throughout.

I often find many hotels have a ‘try’ at Western, or Asian, or whatever cuisine, and while a valiant effort, it’s often also very obviously just that – a ‘try’. The pastries, the chapatis, the chocolate fountain quality – everything just tasted like you’d expect it to taste where it’s actually from. Overall, a real treat.

In between tours and outings, we spent time either lounging at the pool (a nice plus is that pool staff also bring you a little cooler of cold waters too, so no scrounging about for water – especially important in the heat) or wandering the stretch of little beaches that make up the hotel.

If I had one piece of slightly critical feedback about the hotel’s location, it would be that there is currently (May 2025) a housing estate construction project taking place on the other side of the canal, which is bound to interrupt the beauty of the view in time, and is currently the source of some mild construction noise.

I’m always interested in service recovery efforts if/when things go wrong, and I must say this hotel did a fantastic job. We returned one evening to find, despite the ‘clean room’ sign being on most of the day, that the room still hadn’t been serviced. After a brief call to ask for it to be cleaned and let the staff know it hadn’t been, they came ready to clean it immediately, and even left us a fruit plate, bottle of wine and a handwritten card with an apology in the room. Far more than was expected, and a tremendous example of putting things right as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

One other nice feature of the property, shared with the neighbouring Souk, and Traders’ Hotel, is the complimentary ‘Abra’, a type of Arabian gondola, made available to guests. The Abra is available from a platform accessible from a lift near reception, and motors gently along a narrow channel to the neighbouring Souk, where you can go shopping or – in our case – grab dinner, before returning either the same way, or on foot.

We managed to catch the Abra one evening at sunset, and the view out over the canal was spectacular – while we meandered our way gently around the narrow waterways of the property.

By the third day, it was time to head to Dubai, and to leave our lovely room behind.

The Shangri-La Qaryat Al Beri is a wonderful hotel, perfect for relaxing and taking a few days out to destress while being only a short hop from all major tourist attractions and downtown Abu Dhabi itself. Our room was spacious, the food was excellent, and any service blips we had – like the room – was resolved at warp speed. We certainly intend to be back!