After two uneventful nights at Hilton Bahrain, I moved to the Westin hotel for a change and, Marriott’s great Q1 promotion of course. Out of all the hospitality groups Marriott does the best job – Ritz Carlton is one of, if not the best hotel of the country, and there are Le Meridien, Westin and Residence Inn too, which are good candidates for point redemptions.
Bahrain is a small city and it took me only 10 minutes to Uber to the Westin. The building’s architecture is very interesting: Westin, Le Meridien and the City Centre shopping mall are share the same complex.
You can navigate between the shopping mall and two hotels indoors very easily, and City Centre has quite a few fast food outlets if you don’t want to travel far. As you need to travel by car to virtually everywhere in Bahrain, the location doesn’t matter much.
Unlike the Hilton I didn’t receive a welcome email, but the check-in experience is nonetheless quite smooth. All hotel staff are very well trained, would stop what they are doing when they see a guest and greet.
My three-night stay is upgraded to a one-bedroom suite at the 8th floor and south facing. The living room is bright and cheerfully designed and it lights up my mood immediately:
Both suites have a very similar layout, but at Westin it is classier and more comfortable. In short it feels more like staying at hotel.
Welcome gift – baklavas:
The brick wall is cute and I like the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The bathroom is connected to both the bedroom and the living room, and it’s quite modern. The glass is switchable.
There is small walk-in wardrobe.
My suite overlooks the high road so there’s barely any view per se, and it goes a bit noisy at times. You might want to pick a north-facing room instead, although don’t have high hopes for the sea view, as you can see from the lounge pictures below.
Take the lift to floor 3 for the swimming pool, which is shared with Le Meridien.
Unfortunately Bahrain in February is way too cold to get into the water.
There is an indoor spa for sauna, steam room and jacuzzi.
Breakfast is served in restaurant Furn, which is located right beside the shopping mall.
The buffet is on a similar standard with what Hilton offers. I tried some fried rice but it’s not fully cooked!
The barista coffee is awesome though, which is not commonly seen at hotel breakfast.
The Westin has a reputable seafood restaurant but their price is really steep. I had a lunch at Furn instead.
Bahrain definitely isn’t cheap – my Spaghetti Bolognese costs £20. Both the spaghetti and local naan are very tasty though.
The Westin Club is located on the 10th floor and manned all day. It’s got a lot of natural light and has a nice layout.
The sea view on the other hand, isn’t very impressive.
Snacks and fruits are available throughout the day, but drinks are served by the waiters only. Happy Hour is 6pm – 8pm, and you expect hot food such as:
- Roast vegetables
- Fried noodles
- Fried fish
- Curry vegetables
- Curry chicken
- White rice
The food is not fancy, but sufficient for a light dinner.
In general I’m very happy about my stay, and it’s one level above the Hilton. Its neighbour, Le Meridien is usually a lot cheaper but shares the swimming pool and has their own club lounge, which is worth a shot too.
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