The pool at Rixos Marina Abu Dhabi was seriously that good.
I meant to post this right after my Rixos hotel stay review,
but somehow two whole months flew by before I got around to writing about the pool.
If it had been just okay, I probably would’ve tossed together a quick post,
but I loved this place so much that I wanted to do it properly.
Once I started thinking about organizing all the videos and GIFs,
I kept putting it off because it felt like a whole project ^_^
Lots of GIFs ahead, so consider this your data warning.
The pool area is behind the main Rixos Marina Abu Dhabi hotel building, on the northeast side,
facing the Arabian Sea side of the Persian Gulf.
That’s where you’ll find both the pool and the private beach.
Bring the towel card they give you at check-in
and head down to the LG level, one floor below the lobby.
On the LG floor, there’s also Bakery Club
and Turquoise Restaurant, though I didn’t try either one.
The moment the automatic doors slid open, the pool was right there in front of me…!
A quick note about the dress code:
when you’re walking from your room to the pool,
you can’t go down wearing only a swimsuit.
Men can’t walk through shirtless either,
so everyone needs to wear something
over their swimwear while moving through the hotel.
I’m guessing it’s part of the hotel’s dress policy to keep things polished.
I wore a quick-dry resort dress
over my swimsuit whenever I went back and forth.
I still can’t forget that first moment stepping out to the pool—
the air was warm, but with this soft, breezy coolness to it.
Centered around that domed roof in front of you,
the whole space had this beautiful sense of symmetry.
It was such a gorgeous resort-style pool.
This is what the hotel building looks like from the pool side.
It looked stunning from far away and even better up close.
Right after you walk out, there’s a towel desk,
and you can get one large towel per towel card.
That said, it seemed like they’d give you extra if you asked nicely.
There were so many different kinds of sunbeds, and the area was so spacious,
that I kept overthinking where to claim a spot every single time.
At first I tried sitting in little corners like this by myself,
then I moved to the deeper blue pool in the middle,
but in the end, I kept coming back to the sunbeds
by the lighter turquoise-colored pool.
After going back and forth a few times, you naturally find your favorite zone.
A lot of the parasols were folded down,
but if you asked a lifeguard or one of the staff nearby,
they’d open one for you right away.
The outdoor space itself was so beautiful
that I honestly spent ages just staring at everything.
Getting in the water almost wasn’t even the point…
it was just that pretty. Totally mesmerizing.
From the weather to the music drifting out from the pool bar,
to the fact that I could barely spot any East Asian travelers,
everything about the atmosphere felt wonderfully exotic and so, so good.
If I hadn’t experienced this place,
I don’t think I would have fallen this hard
for Abu Dhabi as a city.
Some parts of the pool were shallow, around 0.9 meters,
and there were deeper sections too, though I didn’t check the exact depth there.
This main pool area was definitely the deeper side.
I’m not someone who takes a ton of photos,
so instead, here’s my husband having fun.
Neither of us is an especially strong swimmer,
but he definitely floats a lot better than I do.
Me? I’m useless without an arm floatie ^_^
There are two pool bars, one on each side of the main pool,
but when we were there, one was still being set up,
so only Phoenix Bar was open.
And outside the pool area itself,
there’s also a separate spot called People’s Restaurant.
Funny thing though—even when I paid at Phoenix Bar,
the receipt showed up as a purchase from People’s.
Rixos also has something called Rixy Kids,
with a kids’ playroom and a children’s pool
set up in a completely separate, spacious area.
They were using a pretty big section just for kids.
It’s definitely a kid-friendly hotel,
and I saw lots of international families traveling with little ones.
And if you need a break while swimming, no worries—
there’s a separate restroom building outside, not just inside the hotel.
You’ll find one at each end of the pool area.
There are toilets, showers, and even hair dryers.
Next up: the private beach.
It’s protected by a breakwater in just the right place,
so you can enjoy sea swimming safely at Rixos.
There were lifeguards on duty too, which made it feel even more secure.
Before this trip, I honestly never even thought of the UAE
as a beach destination.
But once I looked at the map, I realized
it’s basically a country of either desert or sea—nothing in between.
The GIF files got way too big, so I added a video too.
Personally, I’m more into a resort-style pool,
but I can totally see why some people prefer the sandy beach.
You can even spot Corniche Beach off in the distance.
At night, once the buildings light up, it stands out even more.
The water was incredibly clear too.
It even gave me a tiny flashback to the ocean colors I saw in the Maldives.
The space was especially lovely around sunset.
As it got darker,
the whole place shifted into a completely different kind of vibe.
It was one of those beautiful places
that makes you feel like just seeing lovely things might turn you into a kinder person.
And once the sun was fully down,
the pool transformed again with the lighting and looked amazing in a whole new way.
My husband had to work during the day,
so he mostly ended up swimming in the evenings ^_^
We did manage to take one photo together.
Also… I think I was the only adult there wearing arm floaties. Slightly embarrassing.
This is what it looked like from our room at night, looking down.
So gorgeous.
Now, should we talk about the pool bar?
I had a drink voucher through my Accor membership.
At some Accor resorts, the drinks you can order
depend on your membership tier,
but here, every drink was available no matter your status.
It also seemed like the all-inclusive option
was only available if you booked through certain European travel agencies.
(See my room review post above for more on that.)
We could order two drinks with the voucher,
but my husband couldn’t use his because of work, so I ended up having both ^^;
I ordered a mojito, and it was so good.
I loved the colors in this photo so much.
The water, the float ring, the palm trees, the drink, my nails, my toes,
the blue towel, the clear sky… I loved every part of it.
On checkout day, they gave us a late checkout,
so I got to enjoy one last Rixos Marina Abu Dhabi pool session until lunchtime.
Just zoning out and watching the water.
I finished it off with one more mojito.
The taste did vary a little depending on who made it, though.
Aside from the voucher drinks, this was the receipt from Phoenix Bar
for a highball I paid for separately.
That included a 10 dirham tip plus tax. It came to about $28.
The end.