Hotel Dengan Bar di Balqa, Jordan

Overall, the stay was decent, but there were some disappointing aspects. The breakfast was very average, even somewhat poor, and definitely not worth the price. Another issue was the lack of guidance. I was assigned a room that was quite far from the lobby, and there was no clear direction or staff assistance on how to get there. I had to wander around for quite a while before finally finding my room. Parking was also confusing — there was no signage or staff at the entrance to guide me. I had to find the parking area on my own, park the car, and then go back to check in. I am currently staying at the Marriott in Petra, where the service has been excellent. As a Hilton member, this experience was a bit disappointing in comparison.

The Marriott's service and overall standards were up to par, the room was comfortable, and the balcony view was nice, making for a generally good stay. The hotel's restaurant also served quite good food. The only disappointment was that the Dead Sea beach required a bit of a walk, and the signage along the way wasn't very clear. The beach facilities were quite basic; there was a guy providing towels, but other than that, there was almost no service on the beach.

Take a taxi from downtown Amman. There will be a security staff at the door. He will ask for the reservation name. He has a list of people staying today. Only those on the list will be allowed in. The security work is in place. You also need to carry a small bag of luggage to go through security check when entering the lobby. There are welcome drinks, which feel like honey grapefruit tea. We are platinum members and upgraded to a sea view room. They are all small courtyard rooms on the second floor. The rooms are very good and you can see the Dead Sea. The environment is so good. The facilities and equipment are very complete. There is a balcony. It’s the first time I live in a connecting room. I’m so happy because my friend is next door. The staff will deliver the luggage to the room and don’t ask for tips (but we give a little bit because it’s not easy to move the luggage up and down). There is a private beach with complete facilities, many lounge chairs, and bath towels. There are also flushable shower heads everywhere, and even Dead Sea mud is ready. It’s very considerate and must be recommended with five stars. When I came back at night, I made the night bed and laid flower petals~

The Mövenpick resort is beautifully designed, we really felt like staying in an Arabic village. It’s big enough to not feel ‘stuck’ in an otherwise extremely dull and deserted area (dead sea area/ ‘Amman beach’). The staff is very kind. Check in and out went smooth. Some rooms could use an upgrade by the looks of it, but generally kept maintained. The sea beach area could’ve been done a bit nicer and ergonomical (Hilton made it more beach type and had less rocks, did they remove it or are they just lucky with a slightly different location?). This made the Dead Sea dips quite challenging for a lot of people. There lifeguards were helping them though, again good service. Foodwise we could get around as vegetarians, but don’t expect anything lavish. For vegans the choice is seriously very limited. We were excited about chopsticks, but they literally had just one vegetarian main, and we had to ask them to not put fishsauce in the Thai curry (while listed on the menu as plantbased). Luigi’s (Italian) had more options! The buffet restaurant will make you a dish too if you ask upfront: amazing service! We asked for a stir fry tofu, was nice. Cocktails were disappointing, perhaps because we are used to a different (Amsterdam) cocktail scene. Considering the price they charge, we feel like we could expect more of it. Loved the daily 4 pm complementary Mövenpick chocolate time!