Nick Walton journeys deep into Abu Dhabi’s Empty Quarter to Anantara Qasr Al Sarab, one of the most unique and luxurious desert retreats on earth.
It’s just before six in the evening and, as the light drains from the sky, a great silence washes over a landscape that stretches forever before me. There is a serene lull, as if the whole world is holding its breath and listening. And then, as if ebbing up from the ground itself, a loud groan startles the desert birds resting in the dunes as I slip from my toppling tree pose and sink ungracefully into the velvety sand.
As you might surmise, I’m not much of a yoga junkie; I don’t know my standing dog from my hair of the dog. But if I had to do yoga, it would be here, at Anantara’s Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort, in the echoing silence and aching beauty of the Empty Quarter.
There may be no more theatrical way to experience Arabia’s ancient desert culture than from inside a resort that rises from the dunes like something out of legend, and Qasr Al Sarab has spent more than a decade and a half cementing its reputation as one of the most luxurious hotels not just in the UAE, but anywhere in the world. This is what it’s actually like to stay there.
Into the Empty Quarter
The towering sand dunes of the desert dominate the landscape on the drive out from Abu Dhabi. You don’t have to go far from the city’s shimmering tower blocks to find the desolation of flat, barren desert, but the Rub’ al Khali, or Empty Quarter — at roughly 650,000 square kilometres, the world’s largest continuous sand desert — is something else. It’s a rolling sea in freeze frame, a timeless wind across silk sheets, mesmerising, captivating and very, very beautiful.
It’s a fitting location for Qasr Al Sarab, one of the world’s most remarkable retreats. Located around two-and-a-half hours from the capital of the UAE, the resort sits only on the cusp of the sea-like Empty Quarter, in an area called the Liwa Desert, but it distils the desert experience to perfection.
Enjoyed by Gulf Arabs, foreign dignitaries and affluent travellers alike, the resort brings guests to the desert in all its majesty. The mountain-like dunes are a constant backdrop, the daylight threading its way across the valley floor a daily performance that beats the hell out of packaged day tours in grumbling 4x4s. It’s easy to imagine how much the construction site would have resembled an Indiana Jones film set, as roughly 5,000 workers toiled for three years, at a reported cost of around US$245 million, to build this unprecedented hideaway.
To reach the resort, guests navigate a road which charges into the desert, dancing and weaving its way between massive waves of talcum-fine sand until it reaches the fort-like property, wreathed by a sea of sand the colour of toffee. It’s a sight that knocks the breath out of you — that something so authentic-looking, so unique, so luxurious and so far from anywhere, exists at all.
By Day and By Night
By day, the hotel blends into the desert landscape seamlessly, the sun beating down on baked clay walls, shimmering fountains and sand-whipped minarets. Guests lounge by the pool, retreat to the spa, or dine al fresco under tented awnings. By night, Qasr Al Sarab is every bit an Arabian Nights wonderland, where rooms are lavishly decked out with authentic antiques, many belonging to the royal family; where the starry sky above is nothing short of entrancing; and where the narrow paths and trickling water features of the hotel are lit by burning lamps that dance in the desert breeze.
There are distinctly modern touches too. The resort’s car park is filled with marque models, especially on weekends when wealthy Emiratis escape the city and reconnect with their Bedouin traditions. Helicopter access is also available for VIP arrivals (there are a dozen helicopter pads), which comes in handy during visits by members of the ruling family, who stay in the exclusive Royal Pavilion, a hotel within a hotel a short drive from the main resort.
The Royal Pavilion is a private enclave in its own right, with ten one-bedroom pool villas clustered around a main dining area, courtyard, spacious terrace and traditional Majlis meeting room. Adults-only, and tended to by a dedicated Personal Villa Host, the Royal Pavilion comes with 24-hour butler service and the resort’s most complete privacy as standard.
Accommodation at Qasr Al Sarab: What’s on Offer Today
Accommodation in the main resort may be more humble by royal standards, but it still makes sleeping in the desert a refined, indulgent experience. Today, Qasr Al Sarab comprises 140 rooms, 14 suites and 53 pool villas, spread across a wide range of categories.
The entry-level Deluxe Garden Room and Deluxe Balcony Room (45–48 square metres) open onto private terraces or upper-floor balconies with uninterrupted desert-valley views, while the Deluxe Terrace Room adds a larger 50-square-metre outdoor terrace built for lounging and al fresco dining. The 106-square-metre Anantara Suite (below) steps things up with a separate living room, while a newer Two Bedroom Family Suite (178 square metres, sleeping up to five adults and a child) was recently added for families and groups who want suite-level space without booking a full villa.
The One Bedroom Anantara Pool Villa (around 130–195 square metres) remains the classic entry point into villa living, each with its own private plunge pool, sundeck and dedicated villa host. Two and Three Bedroom Anantara Family Pool Villas (up to 375 square metres) suit larger groups, and two newer, considerably grander categories have recently been added.
The Sahra Villa is a four-bedroom, 489-square-metre pool villa built for larger gatherings, while the flagship Al Sarab Villa (below) is heavenly two-bedroom retreat with its own private majlis, in-villa barbecue and butler service, making it among the most opulent single accommodations in the UAE.
Across every category, rooms and villas are punctuated by Arabic décor, including rich fabrics, chandeliers and hand-woven carpets, while bathrooms feature oversized, marble-lined bathtubs and rain showers. The resort’s standalone Majlis, a 338-square-metre indoor-outdoor entertaining space seating up to 20, is also available to hire separately for private events and celebrations, Emirati-style.
Dining at Qasr Al Sarab
Dining is also an important aspect of a stay here and, despite its remoteness, the resort doesn’t disappoint. Suhail (above), the rooftop lounge and grill, has evolved from its original French-leaning menu into an international steakhouse concept built around dry-aged cuts and Josper-oven cooking, with sweeping views over the wadi below.
Ghadeer serves global, Mediterranean-leaning flavours by the pool, with a swim-up bar for cooling off between courses, while the seasonal Al Falaj (below, open October to April) offers a Bedouin-style dining experience around a bonfire, complete with traditional Zarb-baked bread and shisha.
The all-day lobby lounge Al Liwan is where guests gather for mint tea and shisha before and after excursions into the dunes, and the breakfast buffet remains laced with fresh camel’s milk and succulent dates, alongside newer experiences like Spice Spoons cooking classes and private Desert Barbecue dinners staged out among the dunes.
Life in the Dunes
You take what you want from Qasr Al Sarab. For locals, it’s a chance to delve back into the desert lifestyle that dominated the landscape before Abu Dhabi’s glittering skyscrapers rose from the sand; they enjoy family time by the pool or head into the desert for dinners served in traditional Bedouin tents.
But for the desert newbie, there is plenty more on offer, from falconry to camel rides, archery, sandboarding and dune trekking led by an experienced excursions team. Or you can soak up the atmosphere of this truly surreal landscape, as I did, with a spot of “seated” yoga at sunset, as another day comes to an end in the Rub’ al Khali.
