Bahrain – Short but Sweet

I’m slightly delayed with sharing this post but in September we had a lovely long weekend stay in Manama, Bahrain. We’ve lived in Dubai for almost eight years and Bahrain is only the second Gulf country we have visited outside of the UAE. It’s only a short 50 minute flight from Dubai, and so when we knew we had family staying in Bahrain from the UK, we thought this would be the perfect time to visit.

Hire Car

Travelling with a baby means there is a lot more to think about and one of our concerns was access to a taxi with an infant car seat. We contacted our hotel and they quoted us for a return journey to and from the airport with a private taxi and car seat, but this worked out to be more expensive than hiring our own car with an infant seat.

As we are used to driving the roads of the UAE, we didn’t mind driving in Bahrain and found it to be very similar. Bahrain International Airport has several well known car hire companies on site and we opted with SIXT as they were the cheapest option. We were lucky enough to also get a free upgrade on collection!

Hotels

My cousin was staying on Reef Island and so I searched for accommodation close by – although we soon found out that most places in Manama are only a short drive away. We decided on the Wyndham Grand Manama. The hotel had a rather corporate feel about it as it comprised of both business offices and also hotel rooms. The hotel was situated only a 15 minute drive from the airport, a 4 minute drive from the Four Seasons, and 10 minute drive from Reef Island. I also managed to make a great saving on our booking by reserving the hotel through my travel business, saving us 50% compared to Booking.com!

Upon arrival, we were given a complimentary upgrade to the Himalayan Salt Room which had an entire wall made from 800 million year old Himalayan salt! The room also had a lovely bath and waterfall shower; a desk (which was good for Ryan who ended up having to work a little bit) and a good sized wardrobe.

The Wyndham has an amazing spa facility which includes a snow therapy room! It also has a family pool and an adults only pool located on the 11th floor which provide great views of the bay. 

Things to Do 

Bahrain also has a Brunch Culture like Dubai so on Friday we headed over to the Four Seasons for their family brunch. It had an amazing selection of food and drinks as well as a kids area with activities.

We hadn’t really researched many things to do in Bahrain before traveling as mainly just wanted to spend time with our family. So we visited a few of the malls for a browse then spent the rest of the time around the pools at our hotels.

We really loved spending time with our family and it was a great excuse to visit Bahrain and see another country.