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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.)

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.

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General

Comments (129)

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

  • Rob says:
    18 Dec18 December 15:25

    Meant to be launching tomorrow but the prices always go in early. We’ve not been sent any pricing info in advance.

    • Shoestring says:
      18 Dec18 December 16:01

      Just checking out some tier point runs for you guys and you can do (say) Catania for £235 return (Business, 160 TPs) eg June when it’s a pretty nice place to spend the weekend 🙂

      ie Business is in the Sale as well AFAICS

      • Secret Squirrel says:
        18 Dec18 December 18:49

        £196 LHR – HEL

        • Shoestring says:
          18 Dec18 December 19:04

          getting close to £1/ point 🙂

          if you took off some money with Avios (ie the first small one they offer which is best value), then you’d get even closer

        • Shoestring says:
          18 Dec18 December 19:10

          £30 off with 3,000 Avios! so that makes it something like a £6 saving (3000 Avios @0.8p)

          £190/ 160TPs = £1.1875 per TP

          AND you get to use the 4 lounges in T3!

          anybody not yet convinced? 🙂

        • Secret Squirrel says:
          18 Dec18 December 19:26

          Use 3000 AVIOS for £30 off (£166) & get back over 3K AVIOS 😛

        • Shoestring says:
          18 Dec18 December 19:36

          then I believe we have hit Nirvana – £1/ point 🙂

  • Anna says:
    18 Dec18 December 17:10

    I’m guessing this is from London airports where there’s lots of competition. Our MAN-AGP flights are pricing up at £331 pp! Fortunately I have 2 booked with avios and 2 on a BA holiday package, saving us a fair bit of cash.

  • Martha says:
    18 Dec18 December 18:36

    its been on mine for some time. Any sign it will stop soon?

  • Go says:
    18 Dec18 December 18:49

    Anyone got any expierence of students applying for any of the Amex cards? Has had modest employed income of about £4K per annum for 3 years whilst at university. Obviously part of household with other income

    • Anuj says:
      19 Dec19 December 21:47

      When I was a student I easily managed to get a Amex gold. I included my maintenance loan in the income section however (no idea if that’s correct or not). Probably put down around but can’t quite remember £9,000. Also cancelled and signed up for multiple cards in those three years.

  • Bagoly says:
    18 Dec18 December 19:02

    Why do you say it seemed odd for Kempinski to have been the appointed managers at those hotels?
    They position themselves at the top of the market, even if they don’t always succeed.
    And I expect they do well with German guests, despite the ownership now being definitely not German.
    I can see why their being smaller than the massive groups with multiple brands would have appealed to the owners of the Gulf hotels.

    • Rob says:
      18 Dec18 December 21:22

      You shouldn’t spend $1bn on a hotel and give it to Kempinski! I mean, look at the comments today about the hotel. You’ll note I didn’t review the Doha hotel either.

  • Ian M says:
    18 Dec18 December 19:13

    OT- Great to see Aeroflot are putting an A350 on the Moscow – London route from June! Their new business class cabin looks fantastic.

  • Secret Squirrel says:
    18 Dec18 December 19:27

    Good spot, shame I only have 50p left!

  • flyforfun says:
    18 Dec18 December 19:36

    Black Suit. White Shirt. Red Tie.

    Apparently, that’s what people find most trustworthy- according to a “style guide” course for men I went on earlier this year. Hence why Trump is wearing that combo always. And you think BoJo the clown wore that red tie when he went Sedgewick because it was Labor’s color, you’re wrong. He’s manipulating the country yet again with the stuff his psycho-analyst spin doctors are pushing.

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

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