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Mandarin Oriental to take over the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi

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Whilst it won’t be bookable on points, regular holidaymakers to the Middle East will be keen to know that Mandarin Oriental is taking over management of the iconic Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi from 1st January.

Emirates Palace opened in 2005 and was, at the time, revolutionary in terms of quality for the region.  It was given a prime position and huge sums of money were thrown at the construction.  Giving it to Kempinski to manage always seemed like an odd decision.

(Something similar has happened in Qatar recently.  When I was there this year, I stayed at Kempinski Marsa Malaz on The Pearl.  The Pearl is Qatar’s smaller version of Dubai’s The Palm, and Marsa Malaz is – by a long way – the best beach resort in Doha.  And yet, for some odd reason, Kempinski was brought in to manage it.)

Mandarin Oriental to manage Emirates Palace hotel from Kempinski

With Mandarin Oriental in charge, Emirates Palace will become a genuine top-end option again.  Don’t rush to book, however.  The hotel is embarking on a two year renovation in January – although it will remain open – which means it will be 2022 before it is fully reflecting Mandarin Oriental’s vision.

As usual, if you are looking to book a Mandarin Oriental property then you should get a quote for our luxury hotel booking partner Emyr Thomas.  Mandarin Oriental bookings via Emyr will come with:

  • Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
  • Complimentary Breakfast for two daily for duration of the stay
  • $100 USD equivalent Food & Beverage credit (a small number of hotels offer a different amenity instead of this)
  • Early check-in / late check-out, subject to availability 
  • Complimentary Wi-Fi

You can contact him via the form on this page of Head for Points.

Hotel offers update – April 2024:

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Category

General

Comments (134)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Andrew says:
    18 Dec18 December 08:55

    Can’t see – please help!

  • Tanya says:
    18 Dec18 December 09:24

    OT- Need URGENT help!!!! I tried calling US last night to get 2 club world flights 355 days out. I was on hold fr so long and missed them!

    Going to try again tonight….does anyone have a number that they have recently used and had success with? I did get through to one US office but they said they couldn’t deal with executive club queries!

  • Andrew says:
    18 Dec18 December 10:00

    Bits for Morrison’s fans.

    The usual NextJump offer has increased to 7p in the £1 until NYD, and will stack with an LBG offer if you have it. I’m on 5p in the £1 on BoS and 10p in the £1 on Halifax.

    • Shoestring says:
      18 Dec18 December 10:21

      did you see my comment yesterday about Airtime Rewards? another 10% on Morrisons at the mo (purchase over £30)

      I guess you could multi-dip

      • Andrew says:
        18 Dec18 December 11:31

        Missed that, but have now registered.

        It’s going to be a roulette game though. I don’t have the patience to register and deregister cards on a regular basis to capture the best rewards from the various instore providers. 7p in the £ is clearly not as good as 10p in the £1, but they shuffle up and down the leader board on the return rate every few weeks and it’s 24-48 hours to trigger.

        On the other hand, it wouldn’t be the first time that both Virgin & Nextjump have triggered funds return on the same Instore transaction.

        One thing to be sure of though, I’m not taking 1 Avios per £1 for using an Amex in Wilko when I’m going to get 4.5p off my phone bill per £1

    • VJ says:
      18 Dec18 December 17:39

      Too many abbreviations…

      • Shoestring says:
        18 Dec18 December 17:45

        New Year’s Day, Lloyds Banking Group, Bank of Scotland, Airtime Rewards

    • EwanG says:
      18 Dec18 December 19:31

      NextJump still 5% for me (over £60) at Morrisons – presumably as I did quite well when the 10% was on!

  • Chas says:
    18 Dec18 December 10:13

    OT – Lounges

    Am planning to try the Plaza Premium lounge at T5 for the first time when travelling between Xmas and NY, using my Amex Plat. Am I likely to get in, or are there capacity issues (and if so can I reserve)? Family of 4 using wife’s supp card too, and the ability to each bring in a guest.

    Will be returning from DBX T1 and would appreciate any views of which is the best lounge. I appear to have 3 options on Priority Pass; 1) Ahlan Business Class, 2) Marhaba and 3) Sky Team. Plaza Premium list the Ahlan as their lounge (operated by a 3rd party), so does that make it the best? Will be returning at breakfast time (on BA, no status and Y) if it makes any difference.

    TIA

    • marcw says:
      18 Dec18 December 11:06

      I’ve never had any problems getting into the Premium Plaza in T5, also 4 people.

      • Rob says:
        18 Dec18 December 11:08

        It had a spike in numbers after NatWest switched to DragonPass and wrote to all NatWest Black customers to specifically tell them that they could use the PP T5 lounge. Most people who got that letter have now forgotten about it though!

        • Leo says:
          18 Dec18 December 22:08

          Quite a few changes coming to the NatWest Black Account – I’ll be giving mine up.

    • fivebobbill says:
      18 Dec18 December 16:59

      As Rob says, noticeably busier since Natwest got access, however never had an issue getting 2, sometimes 4 in.
      Getting all 4 a seat together now…
      Decent food though, although they cut back on the free booze a while back and a lot of it is now chargeable – still enough free stuff to get by, just be sure to ask before you order.

      • Chas says:
        18 Dec18 December 18:34

        Thanks all of you – appreciate your comments. I’ll be there mid-morning, so will keep the booze to a reasonable level…..

        If anyone has any thoughts on the lounges in DBX I’d love to hear your views.

  • C says:
    18 Dec18 December 10:14

    Is there any issue with referring my mum, who is recently retired, applying for an Amex card? I’m assuming she can just put occupation as retired and input her pension amount and income from a rental property as income, as well as my dad’s pension as household income? She wants in on the fun as she’s jealous of all the offers, plus referral points for me 🙂

    • Peter K says:
      18 Dec18 December 10:47

      I can’t see why you can’t refer. It’s just a normal referral and Amex would be interested in her income, not just a wage earned, so that’s no barrier.

    • Anna says:
      18 Dec18 December 11:00

      Yes plenty of retired Amex holders.

    • BigSi says:
      18 Dec18 December 12:16

      Yes, just referred my Mother-in-Law a few weeks ago. She was thrilled to be accepted, independent income but not working.

    • Charlieface says:
      18 Dec18 December 14:28

      Note for anyone who is younger but unemployed: most banks, especially Amex, prefer a job title of Househusband/wife or Homemaker rather than Unemployed.

  • James says:
    18 Dec18 December 10:17

    OT If I downgrade my BAPP card to the Blue Card, do I lose the Avios earned that month or will it transfer over to the new card?

  • Robman says:
    18 Dec18 December 10:57

    OT for the community. I have 10 hours to kill between arrival at Seoul airport in the morning and my departure flight late in the evening. I have a BA gold card, but not flying one world or business class on my ongoing flight. Does anyone know the best lounge options at Seoul airport Terminal. I have a Priority Pass I can use also. Otherwise are transport options easy to get into downtown Seoul for maybe 8 hours sightseeing?

    • John says:
      18 Dec18 December 11:37

      If you mean ICN, train or bus takes ages to get to downtown, so more like 5 hours sightseeing

    • Ant says:
      18 Dec18 December 12:38

      Just been there in Nov. The bus is definitely a no no as it does take forever cause of traffic and road works. The train was much less stressful as you can easily work out what time u leave and arrive. And it goes straight to the centre. Make sure you take the express one.
      I would definitely try and spend a couple of hours in Seoul.

      • Genghis says:
        18 Dec18 December 14:00

        “And it goes straight to the centre”. I wouldn’t describe Seoul Station as being in the centre of Seoul.

        • Sole Traveller says:
          18 Dec18 December 14:06

          Is Seoul not worthy of a visit for a few days…or more?

          • Robman says:
            18 Dec18 December 14:30

            Thanks for all comments.
            I’ll be having 3 full days on my way back through Seoul ICN.
            Any advice re lounges much appreciated as I could certainly benefit from spending some time somewhere comfortable.

          • Genghis says:
            18 Dec18 December 15:49

            Seoul is excellent. I’ve been a few times and have always had a good time.

    • Andy says:
      18 Dec18 December 17:41

      When I went to Incheon Airport a few years ago, the ticket machines let you buy a ticket to anywhere on the Seoul underground network, but when you arrive at Seoul Central on the airport train, the ticket barriers then swallow your ticket! Even if you have paid extra for the underground part of your journey…

      This may have changed by now. Also discovered that nearly all (or all?) cash machines charge you a fee for using them in Seoul. Even if you use a fee free card.

  • Peter K says:
    18 Dec18 December 11:02

    OT.
    I have had a gold business card (I do have my own business) for a few weeks and wanted to add some extra card members.
    I applied online and have since had a phone call and email asking me to contact a number to help validate a supplementary card holder (though it has not said which one). Is this normal practice as I’ve never had it adding supps on the personal cards.

    • Neil Donoghue says:
      18 Dec18 December 12:25

      Yes it is and it’s a massive pain in the ass! Often resulting in you uploading evidence such as a payslip for said employee. One agent asked for my employees bank statement which was insane. Make sure you have the evidence ready before you call otherwise it’s all a waste of time.

      • Peter K says:
        18 Dec18 December 14:28

        Right. Thank you 🙄

      • Rob says:
        18 Dec18 December 15:28

        Weird. I got one for Rhys and it just went through. Possibly helped that he was an existing Amex cardholder.

        • Peter K says:
          18 Dec18 December 20:49

          Two of the three supplementaries I tried addingbare Amex card holders in their own right, the other is a previous supplementary for me.

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