Banyan Tree AlUla

Great hotel! Probably the most beautiful hotel in alula. Excellent service and we got super good deal from here so i would recommend you guys to check it out. Nothing to complain except our villa was very crowded with pigeons (i think because it was nearby the mountain) so our outdoor area were full with lots of pigeons' poops and also in the swimming pool :( and another thing was we asked for bikes multiple times, if im not wrong, like 5 times, staff said will check it for you and we never get feedbacks but it happened with us in other hotel as well so it's fine. Still! Great experience great time. Definitely come back :)

The hotel is in a great location within a national park. The pool villas have a great view of the maraya. You can get a campfire going to relax outside at night. The rock pool is great as well, but very far from reception (5 min on a buggy). The hotel needs more buggies as they can take a long time. Breakfast was great. Dinner at harrat restaurant was good overall except for the porterhouse steak which was way overcooked.

I recently stayed at Banyan Tree, and unfortunately, my experience was far from what I expected. The main attraction—the rock pool—was closed during our stay, which was incredibly disappointing. It’s hard to justify such high prices when the facilities we were looking forward to were inaccessible. At the very least, a discount on our room night should have been offered. The alternatives provided were not acceptable. Each staff member gave us different information, leading to confusion about what options were available. We wanted to visit MyHabitas to use their pool, but they were fully booked. When we asked to check it out, we were told we had to pay a minimum spend, which should have been waived under the circumstances. We ended up having an overpriced mediocre lunch there. Service inconsistency was another major issue. Upon arrival, the concierge assured us we could book tickets to Hegra later that day. However, when we tried, we found out the tickets were sold out, and we ended up waiting four hours to get in. Interestingly, the ticketing office mentioned that Banyan Tree often provides incorrect information to guests about tours. While some staff members were great—like the friendly Philippine girl at breakfast and one attentive bellboy—the overall service lacked attention to detail. The resort itself had no proper program of experiences or activities. When we asked the concierge what to do on-site, he casually suggested we "relax and sleep," which felt dismissive. Our villa was visually stunning, but the wear and tear was disappointing. We noticed many scratches and signs of neglect. The bathroom amenities were not luxurious and felt poorly curated. For a high-end resort, thoughtful touches like a pool bag or sun hat should be standard. We were celebrating an anniversary, and while the team did a bed decoration, the effort felt lackluster. A small sweet plate from the lobby sweet corner and fruit basket were provided, but no one acknowledged our special occasion upon arrival, which was a missed opportunity for engagement. The arrival experience felt rushed and transactional, likely because staff were uncomfortable discussing the pool closure. It was disappointing that Banyan Tree couldn’t deliver a memorable experience. Additionally, we left our sunglasses in the room. Despite lingering in the lobby until 9 PM, no one thought to return them to us. We only realized they were missing at the airport, highlighting a lack of care and attention to service detail. You could have emailed or called us as the room was checked and cleaned as you claimed you were full house and couldn’t extend the late checkout not even for 30min. Overall, Banyan Tree offers stunning facilities and brilliant architecture, but the service is lacking. Without improvements, I fear they may lose guests to upcoming competitors like Aman. I cannot recommend this resort based on my experience.