Al Raha Beach Resort Abu Dhabi

Night view of the resort

It was so nice to relax after battling jet lag

While in Abu Dhabi we stayed in Al Raha Beach Resort which was beautiful. The resort was 5 star with 5 star service, beautiful grounds and restaurants and conveniently a mall attached to the resort. It also boasts beautiful views from the beach which was uncrowded and a great place to relax.

Hotel Lobby

inside the resort

Back of resort

There are also nice restaurants overlooking the pool and the beach if you want to have a nice dinner outdoors.

View from the pool

View from the beach

We spent a lot of time at night in the hammocks

View from our balcony, it was great to have breakfast and dinner here 

Loved the floor to ceiling marble bathroom

These chocolates were so good! They were almond stuffed dates coated with chocolate.

I would definitely recommend this resort to anyone wanting to visit or planning a trip to Abu Dhabi.  If you book on Expedia before your trip you can get an excellent deal on resorts.

Abu Dhabi!!! Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and sight seeing tour

We started off our bus tour with an unusual breakfast. A chicken tikka sandwich and Al Ain apple juice made in Dubai which has now become my favorite apple juice ever!!!

We took a 3 day 2 night trip to Abu Dhabi and did the Big Bus sight seeing tour which took us throughout the city and connecting islands. It was a great tour and my favorite part by far was the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. The architecture was gorgeous.

This mosque can accommodate up to 30,000 people. It is the third largest mosque in the world and can be seen from space! The carpet in the mosque is the largest Persian carpet in the world and took 1,200 women 2 years to make. It has 82 marble domes.

Everyone who wants to enter the mosque has to adhere to the Islamic dress code

Here are some other sights we saw on the tour.

Yas Island Hotel

View from the mall tower

A Canadian staple in the Middle East! 

Mall of the Emirates Indoor Ski Hill

A couple of days ago we went to the mall of the Emirates in Dubai to do some shopping and to have a look at the indoor ski hill.

I didn't do any skiing but I did do some shopping.

Day 4 in Dubai, Beach Club and Beautiful Skyline

Today was hot and sunny with blue skies. We decided to Relax at a beach club today. Since our friend is an airline Pilot with Emirates Airlines they were able to get us Emirates Pilot club cards for access to Beach clubs and spa facilities in many of the hotels and resorts.

Today we went to the Habtoor Resort

Lounging by the pool

Lunch pool side

Tennis courts...way too hot to play

Camels hanging out on the beach

Beach with the beautiful backdrop

The water is so warm here! It isn't like Caribbean water where you get in and you have to adjust to the cold, it is lukewarm!

Resort restaurant

Peacock hanging out behind our beach chairs

Dubai: Day 3

Yesterday we went to the Burj Khalifa fountain show, The Dubai mall and the Gold Souk. I thought the deals at the Souk would be a bit better but they had a huge selection of jewels and handbags among other things. The market was a bit overwhelming, the sales men follow you around and they are very persistent and in your face with little respect for personal space but the experience was different.

We also went to a small Pakistani restaurant for dinner. They have a wide variety of restaurants here, pretty much any restaurant you can find in The United States and Canada, including Tim Hortons.

The malls also have a large variety of stores including all the stores you can find in North America plus stores from countries all over the world. I did see all of the stores I shop in, many Spehora's MAC and even an Illmasqua cosmetics store.

The weather has been hot and sunny with blue skies.

Condos by the Burj

fountain in the Dubai mall

Yummy Gelato!

Gold at the souk (Yes everything is REAL gold)

Largest diamond in the world (at the gold souk)

Handmade scarfs I bought at the Souk