Summer at the Liwa Hotel

Liwa is so very much more than sand. Perched on the very edge of the Rub Al Khali (the Empty Quarter) in places, it’s a sea of palm trees heavy with a ripening date harvest; it holds both old and renovated forts marking some of the old villages where the Bedu existed for centuries; and it’s a working oasis with many livestock farms here, mostly camel or goat but one or two fish farms too.  Yes, really!

In the winter it can be bitterly cold when camping overnight, with lows of 6-7C yet in the summer night time temps stay in the mid-high 30s; you can add an extra blanket if you are too cold but what can you do if you are too hot?  The answer is to stay at the lovely Liwa Hotel.

In May 2015 I organised a driving/relaxing/sightseeing trip for Oasis Offroad and my subsequent report was published in the August edition of OutdoorUAE magazine, which you can read by clicking the link below.

OutdoorUAE Summer in Liwa Article

I have a variety of intermediate offroad driving routes (participants should ideally have 6+ offroad trips under their belts) which I am happy to support groups of friends on (minimum 3 cars, maximum 6), for more details please email me using the links at the side of this page.  Note: summer driving in the Liwa is best done very early in the morning – ie I normally have my group at the deflation point 15 minutes before sunrise!

The Liwa Hotel has been completely renovated over the last four years and the rooms, always spacious, are now comfortable and beautifully furnished in shades of warm terracotta.  The food is good too and at weekends their main restaurant offers an appetising buffet as well as a comprehensive a la carte menu. The staff at the Liwa Hotel are very good, polite, friendly, very helpful, and this is the main reason I have returned so many times over the last five years!

The summer is traditionally low season for UAE hotels, so there’s never a better time to book yourself a mini break at the lovely Liwa Hotel – how about taking yourself there for a weekend?!   Tell them the Desert Diva sent you!!!