Review: W Abu Dhabi Yas Island

I stayed at the W Abu Dhabi Yas Island during a recent trip to the Middle East, as I popped over to Abu Dhabi for a few days in between attending the World Cup in Doha. 

The W Abu Dhabi Yas Island is a revamp of the former Yas Viceroy hotel. Upon its refresh, it became the second W hotel to open its doors in the UAE, following the W Dubai The Palm.

As an iconic landmark on Yas Island and the first hotel to span a Formula One racetrack, the W Abu Dhabi Yas Island was very much a property that I had been eyeing for a long time prior to this long-awaited visit.

W Abu Dhabi Yas Island – Booking

Cash rates at the W Abu Dhabi Yas Island typically fall between 600–800 AED ($220–300 CAD) per night for a standard room. During the summer months, you can expect cash rates at the lower end of this range, but otherwise, they’ll tend to lean toward the higher end.

An award booking at the W Abu Dhabi Yas Island typically hovers around 32,000–41,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, with the average falling somewhere in the middle.

This property is indeed quite reasonably priced on points. With our valuation of Bonvoy points at 0.9 cents per point (CAD), redeeming points can certainly be advantageous, especially when cash rates are higher.

Likewise, this property can be an excellent opportunity to take advantage of a topped-up Free Night Award worth 35,000 points, with rates consistently falling below 50,000 Bonvoy points per night.

This is precisely the route I took, burning a Free Night Award and topping it up with an additional 7,000 Bonvoy points.

Keep in mind that W Abu Dhabi Yas Island participates in Marriott Luminous, which is Marriott’s preferred partner program. By booking the W Abu Dhabi Yas Island through an authorized travel advisor, you’ll enjoy elite-level perks such as free breakfast, a $100 (USD) hotel credit, room upgrades, early check-in, and late check-out (subject to availability) at the same rate you’d find by booking directly with the hotel.