Qasr al Sarab - there is sand all around me

Sarah Pickford on 19 April 2015
So many people know that the Anantara brand represents good quality and exceptional service. This is certainly what we found at Anantara Qasr al Sarab, desert resort.

This is a resort that many of my clients aspire to visit and the feedback made me want to go. So when I found a free weekend in the diary, I was booked, packed and ready to go. I hadn't anticipated the long journey. It took around 3 hours from Dubai Marina. That's not so bad but there was not much to see on the way. So my advice is take snacks and drinks and if you are travelling with kids, plenty of games.

The approach into the hotel was something else. There is a gate through which we drove to find ourselves on a path through the dunes. Not a short path though. Several kilometres of sand dunes rolled out before. It was the kind of image that you see of postcards and photographs. On the way back we stopped the car for a photo. And our four wheel drive almost got stuck as the soft sand sunk, so bear that in mind if you fancy a picture too.

We arrived hungry and thirsty and just wanting to chill out. Not a problem. The staff at this resort were on hand to make sure that's exactly what we could do. We were welcomed and guided into the lavish reception where instead of going to a desk we were seated with refreshments and were introduced to our hostess. Once the formalities were taken care of we were taken on a buggy by our hostess to our beautiful room. It was of a high standard with everything we might consider. A large balcony with great views and in the bathroom, a party sized bath! And on the bed kissing swans made of towels and a scattering of rose petals. A lovely touch.

Down at the pool we received more efficient and friendly, unobtrusive service. Complimentary water, sunglasses cleaning, cold towels, ice lollies and fruit. We wanted for nothing. We enjoyed some food and some drinks and were treated like VIPs around the large, busy but relatively quiet (volume wise) pool. Out of the pool and on a lounger we couldn't help but smile at the view. The water with floral border was lovely with the backdrop of a typically Arabian style building and around us more of those impressive orange, rolling sand dunes.

Unfortunately for us because it wasn't windy enough we couldn't go sandsailing. But this was just one of the activities that was available to us when it wasn't just relaxing that we wanted. And no matter what we wanted, there was always someone on hand to help.

The restaurant choices are lovely. If you really want to go for Romance you could try Dining by Design, where a table for two will be served exclusively in the dunes. We preferred the Suhail rooftop steakhouse where we had a choice of beautiful dishes in a gorgeous setting and received attentive service. We loved that because it was dark we had illuminated menus. It made us giggle but made choosing from the extensive wine list much easier. Bearing in mind the location it wouldn't have surprised us if the drinks were overpriced and not great offerings. But in fact we found good quality red at a very reasonable price.

So in summary we had a lovely weekend. Next time, I'd like to go for a few more days to make the journey more worthwhile. And I think a nice 2-3 bedroom villa so we could share a bar-b-q on our terrace with friends is a definite must.