Banyan Tree AlUla

We chose Banyan Tree for our Honeymoon, and were happy to hear we got upgraded to a Villa with Pool. This should be a 5* experience and everything builds up to it. The landscape is breathtaking. The curation of the environment is done at the sand grain level. The food is worth a Michelin star, it is so fresh. The Spa is heavenly, its products of highest quality, taking you way back to Asian. The shisha salon is the perfect spot to enjoy sunset. The pool in our villa is with fresh water and slightly heated. The outdoor shower is cooling on the hot afternoon and the bed is soft and extremely comfortable. The 3 nights we spent there felt like a dream. We went to see Hegra in a private vintage land rover, went to Old Town and Somewhere and Pink Camel for dinning. We enjoyed a sunset at the Elephant Rock, another one horse-riding and spent a full morning doing a Via Ferrara with Diva. We ate so many dates and drank delicious juices and nojitos. The one thing that casted a shadow on this beautiful experience was that the Banyan Tree site is so wide, it requires a buggy to go back to reception. The team in charge of that is utterly incompetent and we often had to wait for 20mins to get a buggy. Other guests were literally waiting outside of their villa and hitchhiking a ride on other people’s buggy. Same thing with ordering a car to take us places, they were often late or sometimes forgotten. It took us an hour to go to Maraya Social when only 15mins by foot but they wouldn’t let you walk for security reasons. It is such a shame for a hotel of such standing to be failing such an important part of the experience, as every movement became a massive planning exercise, something we would have liked to avoid on our honeymoon. I would still recommend the Banyan Tree Al’Ula but would say, do make sure to book a villa that is near the South Reception so you can walk. And get your own car from the airport so you don’t rely on the hotel’s car. Having said that, Hassan, the driver was spectacular. Nanim, at the spa, had god’s hands and Niko, at the breakfast restaurant was the most gentle start of our days. We wish we could say we’ll be back but these sorts of places are truly once a lifetime experience, so very grateful we got to experience it!

Beautiful and quiet where you can relax and stay away from the hustle and bustle of life in the beautiful desert nature, especially when the weather is mild But the price is high