HotelChatter

But all in all, the review is rather gushy on the bits that matter most. Rooms are “refreshingly understated” with “one of the strongest showers” the reviewer has ever had. A sliding partition in the bathroom wall allows guests to admire the Persian Gulf while steeping in the tub.

The food is apparently divine, from the “best and freshest” gigantic breakfast buffet to what the writer calls “the best Middle Eastern meal I’ve ever had” at Lebanese restaurant Levantine (one of 11 dining choices).

The part that smacks us as most revelatory, however, is the description of the “faultless” service — down to swan-folded towels, with necks arched together in the shape of a heart. The LA Times’ bottom line sums up the experience neatly: “Painfully expensive. But worth it, just this once.”