Certain brands offer the customer a kind of certainty, a feeling that they know they will be given the best – whatever the market that they are in. When it comes to hotels, the name seems to be very important. Some names you will associate with a kind of budget deal, with a bed on which to sleep, a bathroom in which to wash and little else. Some names will offer the highest of quality, with comfort and convenience a standard in addition to a touch of luxury. In the Middle East, Rotana are very much in the latter bracket. In the United Arab Emirates, luxury is an extra step up from luxury in other parts of the world. And in Abu Dhabi, the word takes on another level of quality.
International Rotana Inn Hotel is, however, not quite on the same level of luxury as Rotana’s other two major hotels in the region, Al Rawda Arjaan and Al Maha Arjaan Abu Dhabi. This is not to say that it is not a place worth staying in. The reasons for the lower level of luxury are quite obvious when you compare prices. While Rotana is a name that is synonymous with quality at an affordable price, there is a difference of around $100 in the room rates at the two latter locations and at the International Rotana Inn Hotel. While the saying “you get what you pay for” is rather inadequate when it comes to talking about hotels, you can expect a hotel that is so much cheaper to be a little more basic. It is still an excellent place to stay, one of the recommended {Abu Dhabi hotels}.
A few years ago, the International Rotana Inn Hotel had a reputation as very much the poor relation to Rotana’s other hotels in the city. While this reputation still stands to some extent, a recent refurbishment has made it less a poor relation and more a affordable alternative. Whether or not that sounds like a semantic difference, the fact is that since its refurbishment the International Rotana Inn Hotel has become a modern and comfortable hotel that is more than worth the room rate. As with other Rotana hotels in Abu Dhabi and beyond, the Rotana has a reputation for being staffed by some of the most genteel people you could possibly wish to meet. Although in some cases a hotel is purely a place to sleep, the International Rotana Inn Hotel does have a policy of staff members brightening the guest’s day.
Often the mark of a good hotel is how receptive the staff are to the customer’s needs. In the case of the International Rotana Inn Hotel, this gives it a particularly high score, as requests from visitors are met not with a passive nod and a cursory effort to fulfil the request as quickly as possible, but with a smile and an increased level of service. This makes all the difference for a tourist – business or pleasure – because feeling welcome and looked after can be a real boost when one is in a different country.