The Armed Forces Officers Club is a large hotel complex on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi near the convention center. Don't be fooled by the five star rating on its website. We subsequently discovered that star ratings in the UAE are given by the hotels themselves, so place no value on them. While the hotel is in nice shape overall and boasts a number of amenities, the horrible service level makes it two-star at best, and even that is generious.

My problems began from check-in. The hotel was completely full due to a conference at the convention center, and I was given a handicapped room with no real shower, only a tub with a spigot around waist high. Requests for a different room fell on deaf ears.

Rooms also feature no irons or ironing boards, so if you plan to go to a business meeting, make sure you either bring a streamer or check into the hotel a full day in advance so that you can avail yourself of the hotel's own pressing service. If you do request an iron... more