We stayed 4 nights at the Fairmont, I had booked a Gold room with view of the Mosque after reading the comments here. Due to a lengthy flight delay from London we did not arrive until 6am. The staff were very welcoming and directed us to our room immediately. The room had a King Bed which was fantastic, particularly so after our lengthy trip. The room was lovely and the view was stunning, I particularly loved the rain shower and the layout of the bathroom. Having access to the Gold Lounge was a great benefit with complimentary food (including breakfast) and alcoholic drinks in the evenings. I have read in many previous reviews about the wonderful hotel staff and this was our experience as well. The staff were unfailingly helpful and friendly, but always absolutely professional. The pool was beautiful and the pool staff attentive, although the weather didn't always co-operate, it was sometimes cool and often windy during our stay. We ate in a number of the restaurants - Marco Pierre White Grill, Frankies and the Indian Buffet at CuiScene. The food and service was excellent and the prices comparable with good restaurants in Sydney, although you have to watch the alcohol costs. The hotel is located between the airport and downtown, we were originally concerned about the location, however it was not a problem at all. The hotel has a free shuttle bus and taxis are cheap and freely available, so we had no problem whatsoever in getting around. On our last day we were not flying out until 10 pm, we were able to extend our checkout time to 3pm and then use the Gold Lounge until we left for the airport, including access to the complimentary food and drinks. Free wi-fi is available in the Gold Lounge, and we were able to access it in our room - although the signal did sometimes fade. There is a hairdresser in the hotel and I made use of it for a wash/ blow dry, I was pleasantly surprised how good it was and much cheaper than I normally pay.
In summary, the hotel was wonderful, true 5 star luxury with excellent service and staff. I would definitely stay here again if I return to Abu Dhabi.

This hotel has a modern, sleek design with a beautiful lobby area. The design of the building is very different to the majority of 'faux arabian' hotels you'll find in the region and the shiny, minimalist European style might not be to everyone's taste. I loved it though. The rooms are thoughtfully laid out with big desk areas and wide, floor to ceiling windows. The bathrooms have wonderful rain showers, stand alone baths and lots of sink space There is a nicely equipped ladies-only gym that is open 24 hours a day, overlooking the huge olympic sized swimming pool. It really is the ultimate business hotel - particularly for a lone female business traveller like myself. The service was second to none and I was especially impressed with the front desk staff.
It's important to note that this hotel is located on the outskirts of town - for easy access to the airport, Yas Island and the main road to Dubai. I liked the quiet location and was happy to travel by car downtown every day, but it might not be suitable for people looking for more amenities/restaurants in the surrounding area.

We stayed 6 nights in the Fairmont and had a fabulous time. We upgraded to a Gold room on arrival and this was a great decision as it allowed us complimentary food and alcaholic drinks in the evenings which we estimated saved us a significant amount versus purchasing alcohol in the bars. We asked for a Mosque view room and I would recommend this - the only negative was that to get the Mosque view, a King Bed room was not available so we took a room with "2 Queens" but they were not - they were standard double beds - we measured them! There is also a smoking area on the Gold Floor which we did not like due to the smell that wafted along part of the corridor but this is a fact of life in the Emirates - most bars allow smoking. Apart from that everything was excellent - I love the shower/wet room style. The staff could not be faulted - everyone we met was friendly and welcoming and always helpful - we had daily taxis booked to the cricket and the hotel staff would remember our name and go and find our car. The pool is fantastic and even though the January weather was unseasonably cold the pool was really warm. Service by the pool is attentive and efficient too. I would recommend the new Nail Bar which has just opened - very reasonable prices. We ate in Frankies one night and this too was excellent and not too expensive (apart from the alcohol as always). If I return to Abu Dhabi I would definately stay here again.

Spent two nights at this wonderful hotel and it lives up to where Fairmont want to position their brand. The hotel itself is relatively new and positioned about halfway between Abu Dhabi airport and downtown and not too far from the Yas island complex where the F1 Grand Prix is staged. We drove from Dubai and while it was an easy 70 minute drive, the route to the hotel once off the main road was not particularly well sign posted ..... I hasten to add, that is not unusual in this part of the world, so just treat it as part of the adventure !!

Once at the hotel, the service was exceptional. The ‘meet and greet’ on arrival was warm (which given it was 1am was impressive) as was the contact with the concierge and at check-in. The check-in process itself was swift and we were given the room we’d requested, non-smoking/king.

Our room was squeaky clean and huge with a comfortable seating area, desk with a massive bathroom complete with an deep old-style bath tub. The rooms have floor to ceiling windows which run the length of one wall and offer (on a clear day) a good view of the local surrounds. Complementary tea and coffee, numerous complimentary bottles of water and the usual mini-bar with alcoholic beverages for a price. The air-con was very efficient which is important in the Middle East and it warms as well as it cools.

All, and I really mean ALL of the staff we met welcomed/greeted us as we wandered through the hotel or its grounds. The hotel building itself is huge with the conference and ballrooms at one end with most of the restaurants and pool/leisure facilities at the other end.

We had breakfast in the CuiScene restaurant every day and you had a choice of al carte or the buffet, as it was included we had the latter. Excellent selection of Asian, Arabic and traditional hot food (eggs cooked to order) as well as a huge selection of Danishes and other tasty things. For the healthy, a good selection of fruit, muesli, yoghurt and smoothies was also available. Of note was the fact that was no ‘real bacon’ on offer, again, not unusual for this part of the world, but surprised it wasn’t an option. We had dinner at Frankie’s, an Italian restaurant and the food was simply superb. They clearly use the freshest of ingredients and the portions were quite reasonable as was the price, which for two of us (shared starter, main each and a shared dessert) with no alcohol was approximately USD130 in total. A bottle of wine would no doubt double the bill fairly quickly, but that’s unavoidable in the Middle East. We also used the Poolside eatery, which as the name suggests is by the pool/beach and we had an afternoon tea at The Chocolate Gallery, a chocoholics dream come true. Staff in ALL of the restaurants were extremely helpful and more importantly they were willing to help and all venues appeared to be family friendly.

Outside, the pool complex was quite large with various different options for various ages/abilities and the obligatory sun chairs surrounding them. There was also a beach area, but it was a bit cold for anyone to be using that while we were there. There were lifeguards monitoring the pool area, but was no one was using the beach, we’re unsure if they monitor that when in use. Again, ALL of the staff by the pool area greeted you and asked if there was any way in which they could help you.

We will definitely be back, but next time we’ll ensure the weather is warmer so we can use the pool/beach facilities. All in all, a wonderful couple of days and, in my view, good value for money.