Review: Golden Tulip, Dammam, Saudi Arabia

The hotel is located on the busy King Khaled Street in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. It's a short, 15-minute cab ride from the main malls, seafront and places such as the Chamber of Commerce. A car ride from the sparse airport in the region takes about 45 minutes and the hotel will arrange to have a driver waiting for you on request.

On arrival, hotel staff were friendly and efficient, making check-in easy. The hotel (also known as Al Hamra locally) has 148 rooms and ours, while not spectacular, was big enough and included tea and coffee making facilities.

The bed was big with a firm mattress, leading to a solid night's sleep. Elsewhere, the bathroom had a decent enough shower and the satellite TV includes some of the Showtime channels, so there are a range of languages available.

Free wi-fi

A plus point for the Golden Tulip is that it offers free wireless internet access from all the rooms. There was no convoluted log-in and its strength was good enough to hold a phone conversation over Skype. Should you need it, there is also a business centre.

A buffet breakfast is included in the price. There were four restaurants in the hotel, including one that offers a nightly 99SR plus tax buffet. Frankly, it filled a hole but nothing else. The food was bland and we'd suggest eating elsewhere if you can. If not, well, while it may be bland, it is palatable.

The Golden Tulip would not be top of our list to stay in next time we are in Dammam. We found later that the superior Carlton hotel, which is close to the Chamber of Commerce, was not only much nicer, but rooms were similarly priced. But, if preferred hotels were full on our next trip, we would stay in it without again without complaint.

See also:
Review: Intercontinental, Jeddah