Domestic Bliss

If you don’t fancy airport queues and electronic-less US flights, take up any of the sizzling staycation deals this summer.

- Dominic Ellis

A blast of cold air greets us as we enter Waldorf Astoria Ras Al Khaimah, voted Best Hotel in Sharjah & The Northern Emirates at this year’s Business Traveller Middle East Awards (see May-June issue). For the tail-end of a season, the hotel is very busy – and the fact I saw three familiar faces from Dubai shows how firmly established it is on the staycations map.

From the sweeping staircase grandeur and fountain on the right to the central Islamic-calendar clock, the hotel makes a bold first impression, and paintings on display in Peacock Alley were a pleasant local tie-in.

The wow factor continues as we stepped out of the lift on the sixth floor – where light shines through the dome-glass ceiling onto a spacious area with lounge seating and we walk along wide, opulent carpets to our end-of-corridor room. The only hotel where I’ve seen anything quite like it, design wise, would be Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Palace, albeit this is on a broader, more contemporary scale.

It’s a sweltering 40 degrees around the family pool but staff are bringing round flavoured lollies and once inside the ice-cold water it’s perfectly comfortable. The next morning we headed down to the beach, passing a linear adults-only pool.

There are nine F&B venues providing plenty of choice of which two, the Japanese Umi and lobby level Lexington Grill are the highlights, although I couldn’t fault Qasr Al Bahar’s broad buffet breakfast, nor the grilled salmon I ate at Azure by the poolside.

We had dinner outside on the Lexington terrace and my partner and I devoured the tender Australian steaks (rib eye and sirloin) – sourced from a small farm in Victoria, said chef Eric – while my baked potato topped with sour cream was a perfect accompaniment.