This is NOT a Paid Advertisement though I would not be opposed to paid advertising. Hint hint. I just want to give a big shout out to this hotel we have been staying in here in Abu Dhabi: Staybridge Suites on Yas Island. If you are ever here, which 90% of you probably never ever will be, please stay here. You won’t regret it! It is in walking distance to the Yas Formula One Circuit (if you are into racing), a very pretty marina (which is home to some spectacular yachts), Ferrari world and Yas Water World (amusement parks for kids young & old).
Staybridge is a place where some people stay an awfully long time. Others vacation and go, but many stay for years on end. This baffled me in the beginning. How could any family—any person—spend years living in a hotel? I could easily spend a year or more in this place. Thanks to the staff, facilities and overall hotel culture.
We have been here now six weeks. Six weeks in a hotel with two kids! Can you imagine? The suites were almost large enough to make a short-term home, until the girls started school. Since then it has gotten tougher but, with help, we are making it work. The staff here does everything they can to make you feel at home. Breakfast, dinner and unlimited espresso drinks are included. They will alter your room into any configuration that makes your family more comfortable. They will bring you extra furniture or take some away, depending up on your needs. They will configure your closets to make them infinitely more useable. Just ask. They’ll do it. They will store things for you—even a piano!
Most of the residents are in some form of transit: transitioning with their families in or out of life in Abu Dhabi. Almost everyone comes to this hotel a stranger: new to the country, new to the hotel. The staff makes a concerted effort to know its residents’ names, place of origin, likes and dislikes. They facilitate friendships with evening activities, such as staff versus residents’ pool volleyball matches and themed entertainment nights. We came here knowing no one, and we are leaving here with a long list of new friends.
Today, I feel a bit like that college kid that is not quite ready to move out of the safety of her childhood home, preferring to live her parent’s basement. I fear a little this brave new world that each day holds for us here in Abu Dhabi. And, there’s room enough for us to live in the P1, right? No? Thought not. Oh well. It can’t hurt to ask. I’ll move out if you make me. Off we go!!
View from our new home
Here is a photo of the view from our new home. It’s an apartment. It is SO different from our life in the states. There was a fire alarm this evening while we were unpacking. It was a false one, but it scared the Bejeezus out of me! We are on the eighth floor. The girls and I have never booked it so fast down 4 flights of stairs. Fortunately, our new next-door neighbor from Miami performed a lightning-fast fake fire alarm intervention. She knowingly waited for the elevator during the drill—something I was informed NOT to do. Once she realized we were not clued into the nature of the alarm, she took to the stairs. She barreled after us down four flights of stairs trying to let us know that is was a false alarm. That’s how we met our neighbor. She is very friendly. So our new home, Al Muneera is not the Staybridge but I think we will be okay no longer livin’ the suite life. Sayonara long termers. We will miss you all.
Our view by night of the Yas Viceroy Hotel