Hotel Review: Andaz Abu Dhabi Capital Gate

The Andaz Abu Dhabi Capital Gate is a modern luxury hotel in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. In this extensive review, we’ll explain what you can expect of staying here!

If you are looking for a luxury hotel stay in Abu Dhabi, the choice of properties is nearly endless.

• Classification: Five Stars
• Room Category: Deluxe Room
• Month of Stay: October

Over the years, we tested a couple of properties already, including the Hilton Abu Dhabi Capital Gate (not a Hilton anymore) as well as the InterContinental Abu Dhabi. I was intrigued by the Andaz for a while already though as it looks pretty stunning from outside.

At the same time, the property is located quite a bit outside the city center, basically between the airport and the city, and doesn’t offer a beach, so it’s not exactly well located compared to other properties.

Deluxe Room at the Andaz Capital Gate Abu Dhabi

All rooms at the Andaz Capital Gate Abu Dhabi are located on higher floors and you have to take an elevator to even get to the lobby level, which is a couple of dozen meters above ground – there are some office floors below.

Thus, the rooms all offer quite a nice view and are also come with a pretty modern design as you would expect at an Andaz property.

The Deluxe Rooms are a bit more spacious than base level rooms and come with ever a King or a Twin Bed and decent furniture, in my opinion.

While I wasn’t totally blown away by the design, I thought it was fitting for the market. The room comes with a small foyer, which comes with a wardrobe, so storing things isn’t a problem here.

The room itself is mainly dominated by the bed or beds in case you chose a Twin Room (which I did for this particular stay). The beds are pretty comfortable and there’s enough storage on the bedside tables.

Right opposite of bed, you can find a relatively small flat-screen television as well as the minibar and coffee setup. I was quite a bit underwhelmed on how weekly stocked the minibar war and that there was no Nespresso machine either.

Tucked right between the bed and the window, there are also two armchairs alongside a small table.

From here and generally from the whole room, you can enjoy some nice views of the surrounding area – yet there is nothing really special around.

Closer to the entrance, there’s a large working desk alongside a chair.

I really enjoyed this spot for working as the table is really big and the chair is comfortable.

Upon my arrival, a really nice welcome gift was already waiting here as well.

One of the highlight of the Andaz Abu Dhabi Capital Gate definitely is the bathroom, which comes with plenty of daylight.

While there’s just a single sink with few storage, everything else really is great.

For example, there’s an amazing bathtub with views – it’s even free-standing.

Then there’s also a large walk-in shower with a nice shower head.

I also enjoyed the locally inspired toiletries.

The toilet is located in a closed-off room, which is great as well.

All in all, I thought that the room at the Andaz Capital Gate Abu Dhabi was nice enough without being particularly luxurious. Properties like the Conrad Dubai or the Raffles Dubai offer somewhat nicer rooms though.

Breakfast at the Andaz Capital Gate Abu Dhabi

As I had booked my room through Hyatt Privé, I was enjoying free breakfast in the hotel restaurant in the morning. There’s a large buffet spread with plenty of different options, including several hot choices.

I thought that the spread was alright without being totally amazing. For example, there is some muesli and yogurt on offer.

Then there is an alright choice of different freshly cut fruits.

Some local specialties can be found at the buffet as well.

Furthermore, plenty of different hot options from the Arabic as well as Western cuisine can be found.

Right on the buffet, you can also order freshly prepared egg dishes, including Eggs Benedict. Coffees are served at the table.

I’d consider the whole breakfast experience at the Andaz Abu Dhabi Capital Gate to be decent, but I also had much better breakfast at other luxury hotels like the Conrad Tokyo or Conrad Singapore already.

Lobby at the Andaz Capital Gate Abu Dhabi

It’s rate that I’m specifically speaking about a properties lobby in a hotel review, but Andaz is special in that regard. Not only offers the lobby plenty of different seating options, but it’s also considered to be a social space.

At check-in, there was already coffee and a small sweet snack on offer. Yet, you can enjoy free barista coffee in the lobby all day in general, which is a pretty nice touch.

Furthermore, in the evening, there are two hours of happy hour, where you can get free wine and small canapés.

This is pretty standard at Andaz properties, but still worth noting.

Dinner at the Andaz Abu Dhabi Capital Gate

As I had a credit to burn due to my Hyatt Privé booking, I also ended up having dinner at the hotel’s restaurant. There is not really a focus on a particular cuisine, but there is instead an international menu.

This might be an issue as the dishes just weren’t particularly great, especially if you take into account that the restaurant isn’t cheap. The noodle dishes for example were alright at best.

If you like Arabic cuisine, you may better go with a dish from this part of the menu as those were quite a bit better than the internatonal specialties.

Overall, I just didn’t really love the restaurant experience, from so-so food to just okay service. You can definitely eat here if you don’t feel like going out, but it’s not exactly a restaurant that I’d highly recommend.

Pool & Gym at the Andaz Capital Gate Abu Dhabi

As pretty much all better hotels on the Arabian Peninsula, the Andaz Abu Dhabi Capitel Gate offers some nice recreation facilities. The gym is particularly great as it’s bright, airy and very well-equipped.

You can find all kinds of cardio equipment and plenty of modern machines, which surely allow you to go for a full workout.

The options for strength training, including plenty of free weights, are very nice as well.

You can also get a couple of spa treatments and enjoy the sauna of the spa, if you feel like that despite the high temperatures.

Last but not least, there’s also a swimming pool worth talking about. It’s located outdoor and offers both, a really cool atmosphere and a nice view.

While not massive, you can still pretty nicely swim laps.

There are also a couple of loungers if you feel like hanging out in the sun for a while.

Generally speaking I thought that the recreation facilities at the Andaz Capital Gate Abu Dhabi are pretty nice, but they are also not on par with what properties like The Chedi Muscat offer.

Overall impressions of the Andaz Abu Dhabi Capital Gate

The Andaz Abu Dhabi Capital Gate offers a fantastic value for the money in a so-so location in Abu Dhabi. The rooms are fairly nice, without being luxurious, breakfast is good and the recreation facilities are on-spot as well. If you are not expecting a resort-kind of property, I’m sure that you will very much enjoy staying at the Andaz Capital Gate Abu Dhabi.

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