We drove non-stop on the road that snaked its way among towering sand dunes and, just as we began to think that we’d made a mistake coming all the way here, we finally saw it: a series of towers, turrets and serrated roofs in the sandy vastness. It is colossal. It’s an entire city! I briefly wondered whether our arrival will be announced by a fanfare of trumpets.
We were ushered into this elegant reception hall – an enormous chandelier hung from the high ceiling, walls were adorned with lanterns and framed photographs of royalties, sofas were either carved in traditional design or dressed in exotic-patterned fabrics, traditional lamps and lanterns everywhere, a fountain right in the middle of the hall, and massive glass windows farther back that offered a glimpse of the rich desert behind it. Soft Arabian music played in the background.

As we sat there, transfixed, a man came and offered us wet towels and a glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice as they took care of our check-in formalities. The place is grand. Qasr al Sarab is not a resort. It’s a palace. It’s an enormous sand castle – a magical kingdom – sculpted into towers and turrets peppered with torches and lanterns straight from an Indiana Jones movie!
The picture of the lobby (second from the bottom) is from Google images.
This place is amazing.. and I loved the guided tour 🙂
Thank you, Specs!
Wow.
*Speechlessness in progress*
This place is so so beautiful.
😀
*Speechlessness in progress* LOL
But yeah, this place was incredible, Smiley! And none of my pictures did justice to the actual thing.
We could feel the elegance of Arabic culture in the whole vicinity. MashaAllah.
Yep, they certainly made sure tradition is mixed with modern elements.
Wow! What a place! I agree it’s a palace.So did it cost a bomb?
When you mention ‘sandy vastness’,I thought they were sand castles,not the real thing! 🙂
Lat, when you climb up a dune and look below, they do look like sand castles! 😀
It’s a five-star resort, so yeah it should cost a fortune, but we got the stay for free!
All your photos are very, very lively. I’m confused who to congratulate. You, or your camera (seriously, though)!
Thank you, Sajib. And of course, you should congratulate me for I have done all the hard work 😉
The camera is pretty clueless on what to do 😀
Still the camera has something to do with it. I doubt you wouldn’t be able to take such quality photo with a regular mobile phone’s camera (not talking about iPhone or Sony Ericcsson 😀 ).
Congratulations to you, too, though! 😉
Totally out of The Arabian Nights. Lovely! Is this just outside Abu Dhabi? Certainly wasn’t around when I lived in Dubai 🙂 X
goddessmoments, this place is approximately 200 kilometers from Abu Dhabi and just opened sometime last year.
Wow! what a place.!
Thank you so much for sharing details and wonderful photos.
You are most welcome, Raheel!
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