Hotel: Mövenpick Resort Petra
If you were any closer to Jordan’s foremost UNESCO World Heritage Site, you’d be in it.
This hotel is all about location, location, location. If you want to be as close as possible to what you’re here to see, that this is just about it.
If you enjoy higher standards when travelling, this hotel is also your only real option in Petra as it is the only listed 5-star property.
The problem with hotels in locations like this is that they can feel very transactional. With many guests coming and going often for single night stays, there is little incentive for the warmth of service some guests may expect or be used to when seeking out a true luxury experience.
And, as the only property of this standard in Petra, there appears little incentive to improve its hard product, with a refresh and/or renovation of the property overdue (actually, long overdue).
That said, it is a perfectly adequate, if nothing special stay to serve a purpose. We weren’t in Petra for an incredible luxury hotel experience, so I’m more forgiving of the hotel for feeling quite impersonal.
Our room was fine – we booked a Superior Room and received a room overlooking the pool area (which we didn’t use) and surrounding mountains. The main issue I had with the room was the infuriating design of the bathroom doors – the space was quite tight and they would have been better off with sliding doors. The shower also flooded the entire bathroom which is never fun.
Breakfast was a good spread and nothing out of the ordinary at this standard of property, although we rushed through it as we wanted to enter Petra as early as we could. Breakfast was the only meal we had at the hotel.
Service generally met our needs given the limitations it had to exceed expectations. One area where they had an opportunity to excel but didn’t was when we asked for a dinner recommendation. The hotel’s beautiful courtyard was booked out for a group tour dinner (yes, it did have a package tour feel to it), so we asked where we could go offsite as buffets don’t appeal to me and this was the only other option at the hotel. The staff member at the front desk was borderline dismissive and gave a half-hearted recommendation to “walk up the road and see if we like the look of this place”. The restaurant turned out to be okay, but it would have been great to have some more enthusiasm.
We self-drove and parking was available at the hotel and was free of charge. We literally just left our car outside the entry for the time we were there and no one seemed to mind.
Sojourn Summary
A property which is there to serve a purpose and knows it. You’ll be satisfied expecting a reasonable level of comfort and not much more. After all, you’re not in Petra for a hotel stay.
Sojourn Essentials
My sojourn rating: ★★★½
Hotel’s own rating: ★★★★★
Hotel’s website: https://www.movenpick.com/en/middle-east/jordan/petra/resort-petra/overview/
My room type: Superior Room
My dates: 13 April 18 to 14 April 18 (one night)
How I reserved: Direct (https://www.movenpick.com/ ). Contact me to book your sojourn.