Towards the end of our trip to Bahrain, hubby asked me as he usually does after a trip, “So what title are you calling your post about Bahrain?” And I replied, “Sin City!” Mind you, that’s BEFORE I had done any kind of reading about Bahrain.

Would it come as a shock to you to find out that Bahrain was voted number eight among the world’s top ten Sin Cities in 2009? Well, it shocked me.

Bahrain at sunset

From Al-Arabiya:

Making the list of the Top Ten “Sin Cities” around the world may not be good news for Manama, Bahrain’s capital, as police launched a crackdown on prostitutes in the city following its listing by a western men’s magazine as the party hub of the Middle East for its vibrant sex and alcohol industry.

Police in Bahrain rounded up 300 prostitutes and pimps in Manama [...] as Bahraini religious authorities called for a crackdown campaign on debauchery after the capital made the cut as the eighth most sinful – and the only Arab – city in the world…

Even the New York Times reported that “prostitution is rampant in the hotels and nightclubs, and the streets are filled with massage parlours. Bahrain is a destination for sex tourism”. So you really have to be careful where you go in Bahrain, lest you ended up in the wrong place with the wrong people!!

When we were booking the trip, hubby was very careful about where we stayed and where we will spend our new year’s eve – to make sure we were not in the midst of the “wrong company” so to speak. Things can and do get rowdy. That’s why he booked the Ritz.

New year's eve at the Ritz

Our new year’s eve with Tosin and Andrew was fun – our meal at The Plums was “exotic” to say the least…haute cuisine you might say and then it was off to the Ballroom to count down to the new year. It was a long time since we’d been a “do” like this and certainly never in the Middle East.

New year's eve at the Ritz

There was nothing untoward, mind you, it just felt a little weird seeing Arab men in their dishdashas and women in their abayas and niqabs among the crowd. Not many, but there were.

It wasn’t rowdy at the Ritz, just your usual new year’s eve thing with balloons being released from the ceiling at midnight…auld lang syne…and lots of noise. Very typical.

On new year’s day we had dinner with a couple of friends from Kuwait at Mezzaluna. The restaurant is set in the open courtyard of an old Bahraini house in Adilya, the “bohemian” part of Bahrain where, in the last few years many of the old townhouses had been turned into art galleries, cafes and chic restaurants. It was quiet there and the food was good. Again, haute cuisine!

What hubby ordered at Mezzaluna

Then we thought we’d find a place to sit down and listen to some music and that was when it became difficult! To find a place which we would be comfortable in.

The “right” place, yet happening? Was there such a place in Bahrain?

We spent a bomb on taxis, going from one place to another. Yes – taxis cost an arm and a leg in Bahrain. Mind you it was triple that before the government made taxi meters mandatory. Taxi drivers could charge you whatever they wanted then!

The “Sky Bar” at the Radisson was not what they said in their web page. A local played live Arabic music. Everyone there was Arab. The place stank of stale cigarette-smoke and looked really dodgy, if you know what I mean. So we left. The “concierge” sent us to the Phoenicia Tower – which was well known for something else, but he assured us it was a decent “happening” place!

New Year Clamp

Hmmmm…it was an adventure! Two clubs on the same floor. One “sin-city” type. One for “normal” people. We go inside the latter, TaBu, which seemed to be pretty decent. It was decorated totally in white. We had our cokes, listened to the music for a bit and decided to leave soon after because our friend had a bad tummy.

We didn’t need an excuse but we felt it was time. We took separate taxis and 15 minutes later, I was glad to be back at the Ritz.

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.

Panoramic photo of the Ritz lobby

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.

Fresh poinsettia on all the coffee tables Christmas tree in Bahraini flag colours

The black marble lobby from the Atrium balcony

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.

Panoramic photo of our room

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?

The seating area and desk..but no internet! 

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.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from Bahrain! May the new year bring peace, love and better times for everyone, wherever you are.

After six years in Kuwait, I finally make it to Bahrain! Why did I want to go to Bahrain? Hubby goes there a lot on business, so I hear a lot about Bahrain and I’d never been there before, and now, we have friends there. I guess they are good enough reasons. Plus there was one more – they have a Hermès store there! *Chuckle*

Anyway, hubby kept saying to me – there’s nothing in Bahrain – a lot of Saudis go there to party and there are a lot of hookers! There. I said it. But well, I needed to add that tiny little country to my list didn’t I? So he agreed we’d make a trip there to visit our friends Tosin and Andrew over the new year weekend. So here we are…

View of Bahrain as we land

Bahraini flag      

The skyline as we enter the city

The ride in from the airport was impressive all the way. Especially the 7-series ride in the Hotel pickup car! Clean streets. Palm-lined expressway. I was ooohing and aaaahing.

The Citibank building

Bahrain as we land

The Bahrain Financial Harbour - Twin Towers

In the end I realised it was the same as driving into Kuwait from the airport. The landscape (or cityscape, more like) was also the same as in any middle-eastern city I’ve been in so far – modern buildings and skyscrapers scattered around…interspersed with “deserty” open spaces….next to it, a near delapidated building…rubble here and there, like it was still under construction. It seems to be a landmark feature of middle-eastern cities. Believe me its the same EVEN in Dubai.

Hello Bahrain!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Plugin from the creators of Brindes :: More at Plulz Wordpress Plugins

Protection Plugin made by Web Hosting