I’ve never stayed in ANY Ritz Carlton before, so I just HAD to write about it. The hotel is everything they say it is. And I am sure, more, had we stayed longer to find out. But in a weekend, all I can say is – wish we had more time there.
The lobby was quite amazing. It was still very festive with fresh poinsettia on coffee tables and a gigantic Christmas tree in the colours of the Bahraini flag. Nice touch I thought. Bahrainis celebrated their national day on 17th December and a lot of the festive decor in the city had been done up in red and white.
The lobby was dark with its black marble floors and I loved the centrepiece with the white marble star. We took this from the atrium balcony outside our room. I wondered if the six Saudi gentlemen were discussing the evening’s plans or just waiting for their wives.
The bedroom…of course I ooohed and aaahed all the way. A door to the right of the bed leads you to the walk-in closet with a huge full length mirror, chest of drawers, hanging cupboards. Even had an ironing board and iron. Although I’m wondering, if you stayed at the Ritz, wouldn’t you rather send your stuff down for pressing instead?
Opposite the bed, a sitting area and a full-sized desk. No free internet though in this part of the world. Only in Europe and South America have I experienced free internet in the rooms.
There was a Nespresso machine in the room which hubby had told me about before. This was where he first discovered Nespresso many moons ago and he had told me it was quite a challenge to figure out how to get coffee out of it! LOL
The bathroom was large but I have to admit, I’ve been in better. This had only one sink and the wall mirror could have been larger. We discovered later that the hot water regulator in the shower cabinet did not work – thankfully there was a second shower in the bath! But they fixed it soon enough and that was good considering it was new year’s day.
This is NOT a review, people, but all said – even though it WAS the Ritz, my vote still goes to the Golden Well hotel in Prague for the best overall experience so far.
That’s the difference between a 5-star city hotel and a 5-star boutique hotel I guess. The overall experience.
