Abu Dhabi: a pocket guide for travellers

5 REASONS TO GO

Abu Dhabi is Dubai without the bling, the coolly sensible desert kingdom that is rich enough to have bailed out its glitzier neighbour to the tune of $10 billion (￡6.3 billion) in 2009 . Owning nearly 10 per cent of the world’s oil and gas reserves, it has poured the money into exuberant architecture and is slowly becoming a world-class centre for the arts, culture and sport. Events include the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Volvo Ocean Race, Mubadala World Tennis Championship, HSBC Golf Championship and Gourmet Abu Dhabi . Next up is the Abu Dhabi Festival (March 11-April 6) , with Simon Russell Beale performing at the Royal Opera House. Beaches and sunshine beckon, as do wild experiences: reaching 150mph on the world’s fastest rollercoaster at Ferrari World; driving a Formula 1 car on Yas Marina Circuit ; ballooning at dawn over the desert; throwing a motorbike or 4x4 up 250ft dunes. Abu Dhabi is investing heavily in its cruise port this year, and the UAE airline, Etihad, has routes that make stopovers easy on the way to Africa, Australia, the Maldives or the Far East. When the cultural and tourism hub at Saadiyat Island is finished, it will be a major destination in its own right.

Abu Dhabi has much to entice travellers, from culture and arts, to sport, beaches and architecture Photo: ALAMY

4 HOTELS

The sumptuous St Regis (00 800 325 78734, stregissaadiyatisland.com) is the first of nine five-star hotels to open on the long white beach of Saadiyat Island – soon to be the site of Jean Nouvel’s Louvre (2015), Norman Foster’s National Museum (2016) and Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim (2017). When it opened in 2005, the world’s most expensive hotel, the ￡2-billion Emirates Palace, stunned us. But the new 66-floor Jumeirah at Etihad Towers (00 971 2 811 5888, jumeirah.com) will rack up even more superlatives. The world’s suavest hotelier recently launched Rocco Forte Abu Dhabi (00 800 7666 6667, roccofortehotels.com), while last summer saw the opening of Qasr Al Sarab (00 971 2 886 2088, anantara.com), a desert fortress with pool villas beside the Empty Quarter.

The Etihad Tower, home to a new Jumeirah hotel Photo: ALAMY

3 Restaurants

Gary Rhodes, the Michelin-starred chef, is shortly to open Rhodes 44 at the St Regis Abu Dhabi (00 800 325 78734, stregisabudhabi.com), the hotel on the glittering Corniche whose twin towers are bridged by a Presidential suite. Serving contemporary cuisine with an Arab twist, it is the first Rhodes venture in Abu Dhabi but his third in the UAE. “In a city of Abu Dhabi’s growing international importance, it’s an exciting adventure for me,” he says. The new 18o at the Hyatt Capital Gate (00 971 2 596 1234, hyatt.com) is in the Guinness Book of Records for leaning at an angle four times more acute than the Tower of Pisa. Along with heart-stopping views of the city’s skyscrapers, diners are treated to speciality dishes from Greece, Turkey, Syria and Lebanon, on a menu that changes with the season. Three show-kitchens add to the theatrical mise-en-scene. At the Beach House at the Park Hyatt , guests can enjoy Mediterranean cuisine, wine and cocktails overlooking Saadiyat beach, but it’s the waterfront BBQ al Qasr at Emirates Palace (00 971 2 690 9000, kempinski.com) that ticks the boxes on a romantic, balmy night.

2 SPAs

The new 19th-floor Rayana Sky Spa at the Hyatt Capital Gate (see Restaurants, above) floats above the city, its graceful, glass-walled suites filled with natural light. Make time for a swim in the high-altitude pool, suspended on a “shelf” of the leaning building. There is also a fitness centre which offers magnificent views through floor-to-ceiling windows. The new Talise Spa in the Jumeirah at Etihad Towers (see Hotels, left) has an exquisite hammam.

1 Essential READ

Time Out Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the UAE (￡12.99) informs and amuses, as does its website, Timeoutabudhabi.com. Advice includes: “Don’t be surprised to see hooded falcons coming through passport control.”

Ferrari World, home to the world's fastest rollercoaster Photo: ALAMY