The best period to visit the UAE is from October to April. I visited Dubai and Abu Dhabi in July, not enjoyable I can tell, especially with a temperature of 45-47 degrees and a crazy level of humidity.

Well, if you want to do a Desert resort and you are already in Dubai, I would suggest you go to the Bab Al Shams resort. Please refer to the link below: http://babalshams.com/

However, since I had already spotted this little gem of Desert Resort called the Qsar Al Sarab meaning “ The Mirage Palace” in Abu Dhabi, I opted for this one rather. The road was long from Dubai to reach there, about 2.5 – 3 hours by car considering Abu Dhabi is 87% of the UAE. Only sand dunes on both sides of the road, and this over kilometres and kilometres.

The entrance of the resort is magical, already giving you a glimpse of the architecture you are about to find inside; rich in textures and earth coloured palettes, a good representation of the Arabian charm.

A quick history of the Qsar Al Sarab Desert Resort.

The construction was completed in the year 2009, it took about 5000 workers 24/7 over two years and the resort is still perfectly well kept and preserved. This Desert Resort is like a monument, the architecture is mind-blowing. The corridors, the common spaces like the library, the lobby, the restaurants, the spa, and the pool, everything just perfect.

In other words, be ready to leave the stress and tensions behind once you are there. The only duty I had was to create a thousand timeless moments and stories that I will cherish for a lifetime.

Besides, the resort offers a wide range of activities and recreation like Arabian cooking class, horse riding, camel riding, sunrise and sunset watching over the dunes, desert walk, archery, desert yoga, fat biking and the most exciting and thrilling is the Dune bashing with an expert driving guide. For any activity, you choose to do think to wear closed shoes, a hat, sunscreens and loose comfy clothing.

Wide choice of gastronomic restaurants with the world’s favourite flavours for lunch and dinner. The breakfast buffet is huge, I have never seen something like this before. From French pastry to Arabic corner, Asian corner, European corner the choice is pure madness. You need 5 days to taste all the resort proposes as breakfast.

The Personnel were impeccable, I felt like home with the warmth and the generosity of the Emirati hospitality. Special thanks to Naveed who took us around to visit the whole resort and especially we got to visit the Royal Villa. Yes, the Royal Family goes there often, you can already tell the level of luxury expectation. I still recall when Naveed said “ Miss Katia, welcome to the Royal Villa there are ONLY 10 bedrooms, a private spa, a restaurant for the guests, a library, private pool, private access to the dunes…. “ Luxury at it’s best.

Pictures below – dress from https://www.instagram.com/whitemischiefboutiquemu/

I definitely made some memorable experiences in a Desert. I went for a walk later to watch the sunset. If you have sensitive feet, please wear closed shoes for the dunes, else sandals are just fine too. But be ready to have sand in your shoes, you might have to remove your shoes a couple of times and remove the sand out. Be aware of your surrounding also you might see falcons and gazelles, there is a man-made oasis as the refreshment point for the animals in the desert.

Once I found my perfect spot over the dunes, I sat down there and watch the sun going down. There are no words I could use to describe my feeling at this moment. Already a sunset lover in the soul and coming from an island, it was just a sunset ritual from another point of view. If you did not do it, definitely a one time experience to add to your travel bucket list.

In life it is not where you go, it is who you travel with!

All my travel bookings were done with my favourite travel agency “Itineris Travel” Flight and Hotel booking  https://www.facebook.com/itinerisyourtraveldesigner/

Comment below if you ever have any questions, I will get back to you.

Photo editing by Joel Capillaire

With love

xxKatiaxx