Oyibopeppeh

When's the best time to go there, for sunrise, sunset or doesn't it matter?

Autonomy

Not sure on that - but I have to say I was pretty underwhelmed with the place. And the hotel is shit. Have a nice day....

Blue Cat

have to agree, food is shite as well, rooms were tiny but ok to drive up and visit but the last time we went only residents were allowed on the terrace for sunset

csdf

I didn't like the Mercure but my parents, to my surprise, loved it*. The only bit that I liked was the views, and sunset is definitely the best time to be there. If you're not staying at the hotel you could drive to the car park at the top of Jebel Hafeet and see sunrise/sunset but not worth going at other times as the heat haze will obscure everything. The only other "event" that you might like to experience is on national holidays, when I've heard that a gazillion people drive to the top and a bit of a (booze-free) party happens.

* One weird thing that happened to me when staying there was that I was checking out the wine fridge in the main restaurant, which had a lot of really good French wine in it. The sommelier saw me checking it out and came over and said that I could have a 50% discount on any bottle in the fridge as he hadn't sold any for months. I was mildly tempted but the thought of drinking a really nice bottle of wine was countered by the knowledge that I'd have to do it in the Mercure.

mentalist

We have stayed at the hotel three times and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, the pool being especially popular with my family.