Bawadi Mall is currently the most recent mall to open in Al Ain, having opened in April 2009. It’s also the largest too. It is located 5 minutes south of the Hilton Hotel.
There are more than 400 outlets on 2 floors, with many stores familiar to Westerners: Marks and Spencer, Early Learning Centre, The Body Shop, Toys ‘R Us, Zara, Mango, MAX, New Look, H&M, ACE Hardware, Adidas, Guess, Nokia, British Home Stores, and more.
…and a great bookshop for English speakers in Magrudy’s….
On the ground floor is a large Carrefour supermarket.
There’s an extensive food court with 16 outlets including McDonalds and Pizza Hut – and there’s even excellent Indian food on offer at inexpensive prices.
Behind the food court is Fun City…
…with a wonderful rollercoaster…
…other small rides including dodgems…
…a 12-lane bowling alley and lots of interactive games to play.
On a third level above the food court is a Ski Village area with skating rink, ski slope…
and tubes…
…plus a circuit for electric powered quad bikes.
The mall, like all the Malls, is fairly quiet during the day, but positively buzzing in the evening.
There are even occasional shows on a stage as you walk into the Mall. The current one is called Around The World In 60 Days…
The mall is still packed out at 10.30pm. (It saw a footfall of 360,000 people during its opening month.) There are 3,500 car parking spaces, yet you’ll find it a challenge to find an empty space for your car after 8 o’clock at night!
One nice feature is a mobile car cleaning service: when you park your car you will most likely be approached and asked if you want your car cleaned. If you do, you pay your 24 AED approx, plus tip which they ask for, and you come back after your shopping trip to find a gleaming car.
The General Manager of Bawadi Mall is Mr Bashar Tamimi from Jordan. His eldest son, Saif, is in Toby’s year, so we got chatting when I bumped into Saif talking with what turned out to be his dad while visiting the mall.
I’m sure you’ll enjoy your trips to this mall. It’s my favourite in Al Ain.