Pure Luxury

We have stayed many times at the Ritz Carlton Bahrain, including a few years ago when it was managed by Le Meridien. Rooms have recently been renovated and are luxurious, complete with Espresso machine, lovely big fluffy pillows - a real treat for a special occasion. Staff are very friendly and helpful - a perfect place to recharge the batteries. Looking forward to the next visit.

You won't want to come home

We stayed in one of the Villas at the Ritz having just stayed a week at the Burj al Arab in Dubai. We were a little nervous thinking that nothing could top that but how wrong could we have been. The Villas at the Ritz are without doubt the best accommodation I have ever stayed in. Oodles and oodles of space, fantastic service, gourmet restaurants, idylic weather. I really can't fault the place from being driven round in a golf buggy if you don't want to walk, to the beautiful spa and even having your breakfst delivered to your Villa every morning and layed out on the exquisite marble dining table. The only thing that made me unhappy after our 10 day stay was having to go home. If you get a chance to go to Bahrain there really isn't any where better to stay.

Unadulterated Luxury

I needed to take my family on a last minute trip to the sun and got this trip by chance - booked on the Friday to leave on the Sunday - completely last minute. About the same price as the Carribbean, but I was hoping for an improvement in quality over the usual Barbados fare, and we were not disappointed.

We were collected by limousine from the airport and taken to our glorious three bedroom villa, where we were greeted by our lifestyle butler, Mahendra, who was to become a good friend over the two weeks we were there.

The villas are stunning, with acres of space and beautiful fixtures & fittings. The pictures on the website do not do them justice. Make sure you ask for one with its own beach access. There are only about 6 or so with beach access and they have the most picturesque locations.

Mahendra took us around the resort on our golf buggy, the kids always fighting over who sits in the front! Its a well manicured resort with the best beaches in Bahrain (the others didn't look up to much) and the sand is fine for building castles or letting it slip through your toes. The beaches are great for lounging and OK for swimming. They are not great for snorkelling and you can tell that there is a man made element to them, although this did not detract from our enjoyment. There is a main beach, a crescent some 500 metrs long, so plenty of space as well as the small island across the lahgoon which has two small beached for that added privacy. Towels and sunbeds are in ready supply and the staff are incredibly friendly and helpful.

There was not much in the way of watersports as the equipment was being overhauled, so we went to the Marina Club for a prebooked waterski session for our 11 year old. The skiing was £6 for a quarter of an hour - very cheap, and this shows that the area is generally very good value. The Marina Club was a bit of a dive and made us appreciate the Ritz Carlton even more.

We did a number of trips to the Souqs and Malls, taxis being arranged by Mahendra and again being relatively cheap (£10 round trip to the mall and he will come back and pick you up at a prearranged time). Even though the taxis pick you up from the villas and therefore know that you must be spending a few quid, they never try it on. Very friendly local people also.

We also went on a dolphin trip and saw about 10 dolphins very close up near the boat which the kids loved.

There are about 8 restaurants at the hotel and considering that this is a 5 star hotel, the prices are pretty good, but expensive compared to outside the resort. Main courses are about £15 and a bottle of wine £25. The sting in the tail is the added 15% service and 5% tax (on the total including the service), which tends to bump things up a bit. We were 2 adults and 3 kids (3, 6 and 11) and even just having a main course and a drink each, it rarely cost us less than £100. The food is excellent though and there is great variety available. The cost of food by the pool is reasonable (diet coke is only £1.40) and has a varied menu. The bonus is that there is a man in a red buggy who goes round the beach (including the island) taking orders and delivering food and drink whwnever you want, for no extra.

Kids club operates on Thursday and Friday and costs about £10 per child per day, including lunch. Although not that well attended, our kids enjoyed it and the staff were excellent - Eric especially made a real fuss of them. They went the first week and were keen to go again the next week. This is no Mark Warner, but they had fun and we got 4 days of peace.

Overall we had a tranquil and utterly spoilt time at this hotel. It was starting to get busy for the Formula 1 race next week as we were leaving and so I would steer well away from the week of the race as it is fully booked, very expensive and busy - unless you want to meet all the drivers of course (most of them stay here). There wasn't masses for the kids to do, but having your own villa meant that just chilling out watching TV or films on the 42" plasma (one of 5 TVs in the villa, including one in the main bathroom) or sitiing by your own infinity pool, or on your own bit of beach was enough.

Added to that a flight of only 6 hours and beautiful weather (I dont know if we just lucky), it was an inspired choice by our agent, ITC Classics.

If I wanted to have another chill out trip at this time of year (avoid July & August as they are ridiculously hot), I would go back and stay in our villa again.

Great service, luxurious accommodation and a great location.

Gorgeous hotel

Just a lovely stay - from being collected at the airport till we left felt like VIP clients. Staff so friendly and amazing lagoon area - resturants are divine. Would go back any day !

Fantastic location

Spent a week at the Ritz Carlton over New Year. Great location on the beach with private lagoon. Outside pool too cold to use but beautiful to sit around.Spa and hammam very relaxing very nice indoor pool.

Restaurants in the hotel were first class but oh sooo expensive.Beds were comfortable we all commented on this.

Seef shopping mall close to the hotel one of the best in the middle east.

Hotel staff excellent but concierge service unbeatable.

Amazing Spa

I spent all of my time in Manama within the Ritz Carlton Spa, and absolutely adored it. Their facilities are luxurious and discreet, clean and professional. I had the best facial of my life there.

I loved this hotel!

I was lucky enough to stay for 6 days in this hotel and I enjoyed every last minute. It was truly relaxing from the impeccable service to the excellent facilities to the air of calm and tranquility. I have never slept in such a comfortable bed and nothing was too much trouble for the staff. I stayed on the club level and our room (the whole hotel has just reopened after being refurbished) was state of the art with a beautiful bathroom which we came back one day to find a bubble bath run, scented oil burning and orchid flowers floating in the water and around the bath. It has several restaurants of different cuisines and you could never want for anything with the facilities on offer and the private beach in a cove is quiet and pretty. I had a massage at the luxurious spa, highly recommended. Its worth staying at club level because breakfast, tasty finger food and all drinks are available throughout the day included in the price. I can't wait to go back!

What a Hotel!

A great break from the business rush of the Gulf area. Only stayed one night, but, hotel staff----from the gate guard at the entrance to the property (the hotel is well protected) to the front desk personnel, and everyone else, customer service was immpeccable. A bit pricy, but, worth it. Truly relaxing. Very busy area of town (2 malls within walking distance----do not waste money on a cab). Stroll around the huge property---lots to see. Visit the $5,000/night waterfront cottages (all were empty when I visited), so, I took a look around. The hotel itself is NOT centrally located----so, if you are looking to "walk" to the souqs, pick another hotel.

Great hotel - top billing in Bahrain

The Ritz-Carlton in Bahrain delivers in every aspect of its service. From airport pick-up through to in room service, everything is done with the usual Ritz-Carlton silver service standard.

The hotel itself is built on reclaimed land in the upcoming Seef district of Bahrain. A lush oasis has been reclaimed from the sea, creating a stunning setting for this hotel. Rooms are a good size - particularly recommend going for a sea view if you can.

No request is too much trouble for the incredibly friendly staff at the hotel - everything is dealt with in a prompt, friendly and efficient manner.

The private beach is just fantastic, complete with a very nice outdoor pool. Unfortunately I didn't get the time to check out the Hamman, but others who have stayed here rated it highly.

There's a fairly good choice of restaurants in the hotel - we most ate at Trader Vics.

In addition to the standard rooms, the hotel has approx 30 private villas (2-3 bedrooms), each with their own pool.

All in all, a great hotel which I'd have no qualms about returning to.

Great Hotel

We always stay at the Meridien (now Ritz Carlton) when in Bahrain. The check-in has been a trial on a few occasions with a wait of anywhere from 20mins to and hour and a half. But in recent weeks this has improved significantly and I now can't fault this hotel. The rooms are spacious with wonderful bathrooms, luxurious beds and anything you need is just a phonecall away. The Nirvana indian restaurant is a must, followed by a few drinks in the Plantation Bar. I love this hotel!