As this was our second visit to Dubai and we stayed on the coast first time round, we wanted to find something a little different for this trip and we certainly did with B.A.S!!
This was the 1st part of our honeymoon, with us moving on to Banyan Tree Maldives after.

We arrived at BAS around 10am, and although I had requested an early check in, I wasnt that hopeful and sure enough the room wasnt ready. This was not a problem and we made use of the pool for a few hours. (When we checked out though, we stayed on resort until late as we had a night flight, and one gripe is that the hotel does not offer courtesy rooms. For a 5 star resort this was pretty poor to be honest. There is a decent changing room by the pool, but inevitably you need to sort out a few last minute bits of luggage etc and we had to do that on the floor in the luggae store room).

However.... on the plus side, as we were there early we asked to have a look at a choice of rooms, and basically selected our room, which was nice.

Arriving in the resort is a little wierd really. It is about an hour transfer by car and most of which is spent driving through barren desert. You cant help wondering what you are going to arrive at !

The resort is styled as an old fort and really does feel that way. The grounds and architecture are really lovely. It definitely comes into its own at night time though. Hundreds of candles and lanterns light up the grounds and pool area and it is beautiful. My photos probably dont do it justice but a few are attached.
There are 4 restaurants on the resort. Al Forsan which is the main one which hosts the breakfast and lunch buffets and a buffet dinner most nights. The breakfast is probably the best selection I have ever seen. Delicous !
I know dinner buffets arent up everyones street, but I cant recommend this one enough, absolutely first rate.
(The lunch buffet is a little pricey as all you really need is a snack lunch, so we only ate in here for lunch once and had pool snacks the other days)
There is also a very nice pizza restaurant and an excellent Indian.
The "highlight restaurant" Al Hadeera, unfortunately we didnt get to go to as my wife wasnt well that night. But its supposed to be very good with Arabian entertainment etc.

We stayed 5 nights and loved it. The place is very tranquil and relaxing. Fridays and Saturdays are quite busy as a lot of Dubai residents seem to use it as a weekend retreat, so if you want to make the most of the peace and quiet, book in here Mon - Thurs. It wasnt too bad though even at the weekend.

The service was very good and friendly, as you would expect of a hotel of this standard, however maybe there was a lack of "going the extra mile" from the staff. Its hard to put my finger on, they didnt do much wrong but didnt really impress us either.
Our booking was on a Bed and breakfast basis and over and above this we spent about £100 per day on food and drink. (Bare in mind that my wife doesnt really drink, so we were not over doing it by any stretch, so certainly dont budget for any less than that !!)

Overall I would strongly recommend BAS. It is a perfect choice as part of a 2 centre holiday, either spending part in one of the Jumeirah hotels on the coast (I can strongly recommend Al Qasr) and then a few days here, or just as part of a Dubai stop over on the way somewhere else. I am delighted with our choice as a prelude to the Maldives. (If you want to visit the city centre though or other Dubai sights then this would not be the right choice of base hotel as it is pretty much in the middle of no where!)

A couple of reviews said one or 2 nights is enough. I wouldnt agree with that. I would say 4 or 5 nights is about right (we stayed 5). There are a few things to do such as Desert 4 x 4'ing, but if like us you dont really fancy that then bring plenty of books!! For us it was just peace, quiet, tranquility and relaxation all the way.

Any questions please dont hesitate to drop me a line and i will try and answer them.