To celebrate my happy month we took a little getaway. This is not a review (it might sound like that) but just a memoir of a wonderful weekend spent at Fujairah.
It changes suddenly, the terrain, from a busy highway to miles and miles of lonely red dessert and on the horizon an outline of mountains at a distance growing closer and emerging right in front of you. You hold your breath and gasp ‘Wow’ when after thirty minutes of driving in the mountains you take a slight turn and for the first time you see the bluest sea spreading till eternity, calm and collected, reflecting the bright sun like a million stars. With the mountain on one side and the sea on the other, you don’t really breathe till you soak in the beauty you are mystically right in the middle of.
I had heard a lot about Fujairah but quite honestly didn’t expect much. We were pleasantly surprised that a city we considered to be just buildings and sand could have something so close to heaven just an hour and a half away.
We set off on a Friday morning. I don’t understand why hotels have to have a check in time of 3PM because it’s almost evening by the time you settle in. Therefore we decided to reach early, have lunch and just laze around till they finally give us our room.
The Jal Fujairah resort can be quite deceiving by its looks on the outside. But one should not judge a book by its cover they say. As you drive into the resort you wonder if it’s worth paying AED 650 a night (taxes and breakfast included) for something that looks like a sea side motel.
So before you wonder what kind of a place this is, I must tell you that as you walk into the lobby the first thing you see is the sea! Yes, it’s right at the beach. And this makes the resort totally worth the money you spend. The staff is efficient and sweet (they upgraded our room from a standard to a superior :- ) )
Each room is sea facing with a large balcony that’s perfect for sipping tea. The bathroom is huge with separate shower and bath units. The bathtub opens with a window in the room (very romantic if you are there with your better half) so even if you don’t get out to the beach or the pool the room is quite nice and spacious by itself.
Sadly it was very chilly and the water was freezing so we couldn’t swim much and do any water sports which we have scheduled for the next visit. The resort has three pools and one of them (not the one with the bar) is heated. The food is strictly OK. I strongly suggest the buffet barbeque and not the Indian dishes. The breakfast spread is wide and no one should miss the waffles. Make sure you get a table at the patio overlooking the sea, it just wakes you up!
Milan from Srilanka and Mohsin from Pakistan, sweet and chatty servers at the pool side were extremely helpful. They remembered our orders from the previous day which is quite impressive. How can you not have a good time when everyone around you is smiling!
You don’t do much in a resort but be lazy and that’s exactly what we did. Time moves so slow when you are doing nothing but staring into the horizon. We ate, drank, laughed and soaked in a lot of sun. I am sure everyone who goes to the resort goes through a depression when having to come back. So we checked out and stayed at the beach till evening before heading back completely rejuvenated and relaxed to Dubai.
For those wondering of my plight of beach wear. There is an amazing thing called swimming shorts (awesome ones available at Billabong) which is perfect for women like me.
I couldn’t have asked for more in my happy month. A perfect, short getaway I strongly recommend for anyone living in the UAE.
Here are some pictures from our visit.
It changes suddenly, the terrain, from a busy highway to miles and miles of lonely red dessert and on the horizon an outline of mountains at a distance growing closer and emerging right in front of you. You hold your breath and gasp ‘Wow’ when after thirty minutes of driving in the mountains you take a slight turn and for the first time you see the bluest sea spreading till eternity, calm and collected, reflecting the bright sun like a million stars. With the mountain on one side and the sea on the other, you don’t really breathe till you soak in the beauty you are mystically right in the middle of.
I had heard a lot about Fujairah but quite honestly didn’t expect much. We were pleasantly surprised that a city we considered to be just buildings and sand could have something so close to heaven just an hour and a half away.
We set off on a Friday morning. I don’t understand why hotels have to have a check in time of 3PM because it’s almost evening by the time you settle in. Therefore we decided to reach early, have lunch and just laze around till they finally give us our room.
The Jal Fujairah resort can be quite deceiving by its looks on the outside. But one should not judge a book by its cover they say. As you drive into the resort you wonder if it’s worth paying AED 650 a night (taxes and breakfast included) for something that looks like a sea side motel.
So before you wonder what kind of a place this is, I must tell you that as you walk into the lobby the first thing you see is the sea! Yes, it’s right at the beach. And this makes the resort totally worth the money you spend. The staff is efficient and sweet (they upgraded our room from a standard to a superior :- ) )
Each room is sea facing with a large balcony that’s perfect for sipping tea. The bathroom is huge with separate shower and bath units. The bathtub opens with a window in the room (very romantic if you are there with your better half) so even if you don’t get out to the beach or the pool the room is quite nice and spacious by itself.
Sadly it was very chilly and the water was freezing so we couldn’t swim much and do any water sports which we have scheduled for the next visit. The resort has three pools and one of them (not the one with the bar) is heated. The food is strictly OK. I strongly suggest the buffet barbeque and not the Indian dishes. The breakfast spread is wide and no one should miss the waffles. Make sure you get a table at the patio overlooking the sea, it just wakes you up!
Milan from Srilanka and Mohsin from Pakistan, sweet and chatty servers at the pool side were extremely helpful. They remembered our orders from the previous day which is quite impressive. How can you not have a good time when everyone around you is smiling!
You don’t do much in a resort but be lazy and that’s exactly what we did. Time moves so slow when you are doing nothing but staring into the horizon. We ate, drank, laughed and soaked in a lot of sun. I am sure everyone who goes to the resort goes through a depression when having to come back. So we checked out and stayed at the beach till evening before heading back completely rejuvenated and relaxed to Dubai.
For those wondering of my plight of beach wear. There is an amazing thing called swimming shorts (awesome ones available at Billabong) which is perfect for women like me.
I couldn’t have asked for more in my happy month. A perfect, short getaway I strongly recommend for anyone living in the UAE.
Here are some pictures from our visit.
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| The drive - When the mountains start |
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| Just staring into the sea.... calm and serene |
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| The view from the room - All rooms have a view like this |
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| Beach chair |
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| Sun and Shade :) |
1 comment:
1st things 1st.....
wats with the 'OUR' room and 'our' orders.....?????
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