Sama Al Wasil Desert Camp

We were pleasantly surprised and enjoyed our stay very much. The reception area is nice, open and modern . It leads into a wonderful area with relaxing swing chairs and other seating near the large dining area . The staff was kind and helpful. We had a room around the circle of cabins …… the room was basic but all we needed for a one night stay . We only slept in there anyways and spent the evening stargazing from the comfortable sofas in the outdoor movie theater area…..they were showing Aladdin which was appropriate to the setting with the endless sand dunes surrounding us. The food was good we even tried camel kabobs …. The outdoor dining area had seating at tables as well as areas where you could sit on the ground on a cushion at a table. Our guide drove us to a high hill on the dunes for sunset and it was exquisite! The camp is clean and well laid out, and it was magical to walk around the camp in the evening . We recommend this desert camp for a well priced desert excursion!

We spent one night in the desert camp. It’s in Bidiyah, close to the sand dunes. Our guide made sure we were up in the dunes at sunset so we could take nice photos. The camp itself consists of mud brick-like houses (although built with modern materials) to give a close feel for how the houses looked back then. The inside of the guest house was a bit spartan although it had nice lamps on the simple night tables and enough décor to make the room interesting. No cabinets but there were ropes and bars and from the ceiling so you could hang the clothes hangers. There were just enough power outlets for you not to get anxious. The T&B was small but serviceable although there were threshold barriers so you had to be mindful when stepping inside the room or the T&B. And as you’d expect, there was no wifi – ha ha ha. Dinner and breakfast was at the common dining pavilion off to one side of the camp. They had coffee and a limited variety of food but most were tasty. What made the dinner special was the camel and chicken barbecue being cooked on the spot. But you had to walk across about 20 feet of sand to get there from the cement footpath. We thought we might have issues in bringing our luggage to and from the car but the helpers made short work of the task. After dinner, they supposedly shared movies in a separate sand area close to the dining pavilion – but we didn’t hang around long enough to check if they actually did.

The rooms are small as is the bathroom, although acceptable taken in consideration that is in the desert. The shower has very weak power, but it is functional. The camp is nicely set up in the common areas and the dinner and breakfast are acceptable but nothing to write home about. We were not bothered by insects and the premises were clean.