My Honest Review of the AUHotel (Abu Dhabi Airport Transit Hotel)
If you’ve got a layover long enough to actually do something with it, you’ve probably wondered whether an airport transit hotel is worth the money, or whether you should just find a lounge and call it a day.
I normally go with the lounge.
But on a flight from South Korea to Albania, with an 8-hour layover in Abu Dhabi and over 20 hours of travel in total, I decided to actually book the transit hotel this time and see what all the good reviews were about.
If you’re flying long-haul through Abu Dhabi from somewhere like New Zealand, Australia or Southeast Asia and want to land at your final destination feeling human, here’s exactly what I got for my money.
Here’s what actually happened when I swapped my usual lounge for a bed.
TL;DR: Is the Abu Dhabi Airport Transit Hotel Worth It?
Yes, if you’ve got a layover of a few hours or more and want to land feeling human instead of destroyed.
Book the AUHotel Abu Dhabi Airport here →
- ✈️ Best for: long-haul layovers of 4+ hours through Abu Dhabi
- 🛏️ What you get: a private room, a proper shower and an actual bed to sleep in
- 🍳 Breakfast: delivered straight to your door, and a generous serve
- ⏱️ How long you need: enough time for a shower, a sleep and breakfast without racing back to the gate
Why I Booked a Hotel Instead of a Lounge This Time
I don’t usually book transit hotels.
Normally I’d get a lounge or something similar, but I was arriving in Albania during the day and wanted to actually get there feeling fresh rather than running on a red-eye and adrenaline.
An 8-hour layover felt like exactly the kind of gap where a hotel room, an actual shower and a proper sleep would make more of a difference than another lounge buffet!
Checking In
Checking in took a couple of minutes.
The guy on the desk gave me free breakfast because (I think) I looked so tired, and honestly, I’m very grateful LOL!
Staff were properly friendly the whole way through, which after a long-haul flight makes a bigger difference than it probably should!
The Room
I wasn’t expecting much, but the room was actually quite spacious!
Big bed, a TV, wifi that worked properly, and a kettle with tea I could help myself to.
The bathroom was modern and clean, and the first thing I did was have a shower and freshen up.
It felt so good!
The Best Part, an Actual Sleep
I only had just under 4 hours before I needed to be up again, but it was so worth it!
I stretched, did a bit of relaxing meditation and actually slept, instead of trying to nap upright in a terminal chair.
That’s the difference an actual bed makes on a layover like this!
Breakfast, Delivered
All I had to do was call reception and say I was ready.
Breakfast arrived at the door in a takeaway container: spinach, two sausages, two hash browns, two pieces of bread and two croissants, plus a double espresso, because if you know me, you know me!
It was a genuinely big breakfast for one person, and a great way to end the stay before heading back out to the gate.
Would I Stay Here Again?
100%!
Flying into Abu Dhabi from this side of the world usually means a long, brutal transit no matter which airline you’re on, and a layover of a few hours or more is exactly when a hotel room earns its keep.
It’s also worth knowing that on an itinerary this long, if any leg ends up delayed or cancelled, you might be able to claim compensation for it.
I felt so much better getting off that final flight than I usually do, and I’ll be booking this again on my next long layover through Abu Dhabi!
That’s become a bit of a rule for me now: shower, sleep, stretch, then go, rather than just gritting my teeth through the terminal until boarding.
