This bright, airy and entirely contemporary hotel sits in pole position on Yas Island, literally straddling the Yas Marina Circuit. Its avant-garde, steel-and-glass roof with its corrugated mantle flung over the racetrack is dramatically studded with lights at night, while inside, starkly minimalist rooms in white and grey are a haven of cool in the Gulf heat.
Taken over by Marriott in mid-2018, the hotel was on the verge of undergoing a rebranding to become a W Hotel when we visited in late 2018, though no one could give us an exact date. Expect the hotel name to have changed by the time you blow into town. The hotel's key USP though will still be the same – during the F1 race the cars literally speed right under your balcony.