what a great hotel!!! Location was perfect, right at the gates to petra. food was great especially the roof top for a drink, dont miss it at sunset it brought me to tears!!! only complaint was the reception staff they were not helpful and very moody, would go back again and again though, trying crown plaza in april 2007!!

We stayed at the Moevenpick Petra for one night while visiting Petra on a two-day trip from Amman. The location of the hotel could not have been better, especially for a short trip such as ours. We dropped our luggage at the hotel around noon, and the bellman stored our bags as a room was not yet available. The ticket booth to Petra is a one-block walk, and we were starting down the long entranceway to the park in a matter of minutes. The hotel’s location was especially convenient to return to Petra at nighttime for their evening event called “Petra by Night,” where the path from the Siq (canyon) to the Treasury is lit by hundreds of candles. (As an aside, Petra was one of the most amazing places that we have visited in the world! Had we appreciated how extensive the park was, we would have allotted more than 1.5 days to visit.)

When the park closed around 5pm, we walked back to the hotel to check in. The front desk was very crowded with a tour group, and it was unclear how to form a line to check in. We ended up waiting ~20 minutes before the crowd thinned enough for us to make our way to the front. Good news! We were upgraded to a junior suite, which was a nice gesture.

Our room was quite large and comfortable, with a king size bed, desk, and small living room. Several pieces of fruit were left as a welcoming gift. The room also had a large patio overlooking the town behind the hotel. We could see the pool below, which appeared open despite the cold January temperature. The bathroom was roomy, with a dressing area, sink, toilet, and bathtub/shower combination. Slippers were provided.

The lobby and center indoor courtyard of the hotel are decorated with some nice touches, such as a small tiled courtyard fountain, paneled ceilings, and amazing lights. We ate dinner at the Mediterranean restaurant in the hotel. We immediately informed our waiter that we had tickets to the 8:30pm “Petra by Night” event, so we had only one hour for dinner. This seemed to cause some unexpected anxiety amongst the staff, as the restaurant had haughty pretensions e.g. serving sorbet between courses. Had we known that this would be the case, we probably would have visited another restaurant for simpler fare. We did manage to finish by 8:15pm, but the staff seemed unhappy that we were unable to enjoy their full service.

The hotel’s buffet breakfast was included in the rate, and was standard buffet fare – cereal, breads, fruit, cheeses, omelet station, etc. The breakfast room was busy but food was plentiful and service (refilling coffee, etc.) was quick.

We checked out after breakfast and stored our bags with the bellman again. This time, there was not much of a wait. When we returned to pick up our baggage at 5pm, the bellman was no where in sight, and a long line of people were waiting for their bags. Yet again, it appeared that a tour group was checking out. People got impatient and began searching for their luggage in the storage area, and hotel staff had to ask everyone to return to the line. Eventually a lone bellman returned to the desk and we were able to get our luggage.

Clearly the front desk / bellman area, while very friendly, is understaffed to cope with the influx of large tour groups. This was really the only frustrating point of our otherwise excellent stay at the Moevenpick Petra.

Note that the hotel does have security measures, including checking cars before opening the front gate, passing bags through an x-ray machine, and people through a metal detector. Security seemed to be taken very seriously, which is comforting.

Beautiful location and a really uniquely beautiful property. Probably better in summertime when the pool is full...was quite cold in February. Right at the trailhead for Petra....bring your walking shoes 'cause it is a long walk. Weird Eurpoean type breakfast but lots of variety.

Stayed here in Jan 2007. Definately wouldn't consider this to be 5 star hotel. Rooms are quite basic/lacking in personality. In fact reminded me of a travelodge/ travelinn. Especially so in the tiny bathroom, complete with shower curtain- yuk!

As for relaxation, the pool's not heated, which means it's effectively closed in the freezing Petra winter, while the steam rooms are the only cold steam rooms I've experienced in my life.

Breakfast, which is plentiful, is served at tables with the trucker cafe style containers of sachet sugars etc. It's the little things like this that disappoint with this place.

Don't get me wrong this isn't a bad hotel, but just not a 5 star luxury hotel. The staff are charming, and helpful, and it's perfectly clean. And it certainly can't be faulted on its location, right next to the Petra gate.