Visit the Emirates Palace? Yes! A must if you plan to visit Abu Dhabi! We brought the folks there, but we recently went back there to experience a “Emirati Local experience“, part of the Local Experience benefits of being a member of the DISCOVERY Loyalty programme by the GHA.
Signing up to it is really worth it if you are like us and check-in a lot at Luxury Hotels. The Global Hotel Alliance has all these big guys like Kempinski, Anantara and many more. Totally worth it to get upgraded at future stays and win free perks! The best of it is that it’s not based on the amount you pay but the number of times you stay at these places. Make sure to check it out. One of the golden rules of travel is to seek for the right programs to sign up to and utilize – GHA’s DISCOVERY Loyalty is definitely one to consider.
So we were picked up in one of the Palace’s cars, a BMW 740, with wifi in the car! It cruised down the highway and got us to the Emirates Palace in just over an hour. A pretty dull ride from Dubai to Abu Dhabi in which you would usually fall asleep, but in this comfort you want to stay awake to enjoy the ride!
We were greeted by some refreshments by the welcoming staff, and were given the grand tour. This place is huuuuggeeeee. Most of the walls have some sort of gold in them which gives it is very cool feel. It used to have a gold machine where you could buy gold from it, but it is currently being repaired 🙁 and Mum really wanted to see it!
We were escorted to the front of the Palace where our rides were waiting for us. Golf buggy time. We hopped on and it took us to the private palace marina, where all the royal boats were moored. We went on the official palace boat – The Prince of Sea – and set out for the ocean. The boat cruise took us past downtown Abu Dhabi, but most impressively, past the Grand Mosque which was so picturesque with the water view. The highlight on the boat was the food, really can’t resist cheese, truffle honey, prosciutto and going on the wing across the water as the boat was still moving. They even dropped Mitch in the water…ok almost 😉
After our evening boat cruise we were dropped off at a tent of the Emirates Palace for some Arabic Tea. It was also a great opportunity for a camel ride. We both got on and had a ride, but most people were a little too shy.
After all that action, it was time for dinner at the Mezlai Restaurant at Emirates Palace, the first dedicated Emirati cuisine restaurant in the UAE. We were served, beautiful entrees, mains and barely squeezed in our dessert. Check out our Vlog for more sneak peaks.
After getting a huge food coma, our driver took us back into Dubai, as we slept in the most comfortable car! Hope you enjoyed to learn about DISCOVERY, we love using it and are now Ambassadors. Any questions, do not hesitate to ask us!
