Royal Phoenicia Hotel

The pool was the most alarming part of my stay: glass from a broken window was scattered along the edge and in the water, and I was lucky not to get cut. Food was cold and dry, with the warmers off and dishes left uncovered, so I had to ask staff each day to microwave my meals. There was little variety, rice served in different ways every day, and fruit dried out from poor storage. Even a glass of milk or a basic sandwich seemed hard to get on full board. The room wasn’t ready for a comfortable stay either. It smelled strongly of stale air and food from the corridor, the sofa was very dirty, and the bathroom sink had stuck-on white ring stains. I left the housekeeping sign out, but no one came, so I had to ask reception for cleaning every day. At the gym, the air conditioning didn’t work during my whole stay, making morning workouts too hot, and several machines were broken. I can’t recommend Royal Phoenicia Hotel in Manama at this time. 1/5.

I stayed for just one day, and it was peaceful. They gave me better service than I expected for my budget, so I’d be comfortable choosing this place again. 🙂‍↔️

I was left searching my whole room in a panic because my passport was missing. After check-in, staff had taken it for identification, but nobody told me for over a day that they still had it. I only found out later that the receptionist had kept it without asking or notifying me. At checkout, a Bangladeshi staff member was very rude, blamed me for “forgetting” it, and said, “We keep passports like this.” The way he spoke and acted was completely unacceptable. The whole thing was stressful and unprofessional, and I’d never recommend this place. It felt like a nightmare, more like a jail than a hotel.

Our suite was on the 7th floor, which made for a quiet stay. The hotel itself is old, though some things in the rooms have been renewed. The Gym was disappointing.