Petra: Movenpick Petra (February 2010)

We spent two nights at the Movenpick Petra in a junior suite, which wasn’t worth the extra money. The hotel can’t be beat for its location right next to Petra; for that alone, it deserves your consideration. The Petra ticket window is just steps from the hotel door. The outside of the hotel is attractive, although boxy. At one time, it appeared that you could enter the hotel from the main street or at either end of the building, but that’s not true anymore. Security measures have everyone passing through a metal detector and entering directly into the lobby. The public spaces like the lobby, indoor atrium, and pool are attractive, if small. There are a few shops off the lobby, including an ice cream shop/cafe. The main restaurant, Al Saraya, has a nice breakfast (included with most room rates) containing hot and cold selections and made-to-order omelets; this restaurant is also open for lunch and dinner, serving a buffet as well as a la carte. There is a more formal restaurant called Al Iwan that we did not use. The Al Maq’aad Bar has a lovely and lively atmosphere, and you can order snacks and light refreshments there (that’s where we found ourselves for “dinner” on both nights). Prices are fair, considering it’s a hotel bar. You can also eat/drink in the Al Multaqa Lobby Lounge and the Al Baraka Tea Room (in the winter during the afternoon). The Al Ghadeer Roof Garden, supposedly only open in the summer season, was undergoing renovations when we were there, so we couldn’t even sneak a peak. The swimming pool is somewhat small, but that didn’t seem to be a problem since it was deserted on the day we saw it. You reach it in an odd way, though; first descending to the basement fitness center and then rising again to the main floor. There was access through the buffet restaurant, but it didn’t seem encouraged. The fitness center looked adequate, but small. There are several restaurants right outside the hotel on the main street; sadly for us, none of them served alcohol. There are also a few shops and supermarkets right outside, but again, no beer or wine sold (you could purchase bottles of wine at the Movenpick ice cream shop/cafe). The Movenpick restaurants do serve alcoholic beverages, so things aren’t completely dry. As I said, we had a junior suite, the decor of which was a bit dated. Disappointingly, the room didn’t have a balcony, although I saw other rooms that did (I think those were just standard rooms whose guests got lucky). Our room was a decent size, and it had a nearly-complete kitchen in a room off to the side, which we did not need; we were more interested in the extra room than having kitchen facilities. Our room faced the main street, but we heard no noise whatsoever, and we even had to sleep with the windows open one night because the air-conditioning did not work. The hotel says the minibar is complimentary and refilled daily, but we found that not to be true. It was stocked when we arrived, but never restocked, despite the fact that we called room service twice (as directed by the front desk) and actually presented ourselves at the front desk another two times to make our request. That’s terrible service in my book--if you aren’t going to refill it, then don’t lie to me and tell me you will! I suffer from dehydration, and I counted on having those liquids available to me, so it’s not just that I was trying to get a freebie. With the junior suite, we had admission to a private lounge (I think it was called the Burkhardt Library), although the first night we tried to use it, it was closed, even though it was 1.5 hours before the scheduled closing time. We were able to use it on our second night, and it was nearly deserted while we had a few drinks and snacks (nuts, petit fours, canapes, and wine and beer). I do not feel that I got what I paid for with the upgraded room; therefore, I would recommend just going with the standard option. I can’t remember actually using the internet while I was there, although I believe it was free.