Ilios opened on Al Hudayriyat Island in September 2024 as the restaurant-and-beach-club anchor of Surf Abu Dhabi, and it has spent the time since building a reputation most capital venues would kill for: genuinely good Greek-Mediterranean food married to a pool scene worth dressing up for. If you’ve only read the breathless “Mykonos vibes” takes, here’s the version with the numbers, the hours and the bits nobody bothers to check before you drive out there.
What Is Ilios Beach Club?
Ilios is a two-level restaurant and beach club rather than a straightforward pay-and-sunbathe operation. Upstairs, Euphoria Lounge & Bar opens onto a balcony overlooking Surf Abu Dhabi’s wave basin, with a private dining room tucked alongside it. Downstairs, Meraki Dining & Terrace runs indoor-outdoor seating facing the club’s own pool, loungers and cabanas, with Apollo Pool Bar handling poolside service. It’s worth knowing upfront that Ilios’s pool is a separate, glassy infinity-style pool with sunken loungers and daybeds — not the wave pool itself. You can watch surfers from the terrace, but a day at Ilios doesn’t include a session in the surf basin; that’s booked separately through Surf Abu Dhabi.
Location and Getting There
The address is Surf Abu Dhabi, Al Hudayriyat Island — about a 20-minute drive from downtown Abu Dhabi and 30 minutes from Zayed International Airport. Parking is free and plentiful, though the roads on the island wind around the surf lagoon in a way that trips up first-timers; punch it into Waze rather than Google Maps for the final stretch.
Ilios Beach Club Abu Dhabi Pricing
This is the bit most write-ups skip. Ilios doesn’t sell a straightforward “day pass” the way a hotel beach club does — instead it operates on a minimum spend model:
- AED 100 minimum spend, all week — Monday to Sunday, no separate entry fee on top
- Children over 6 pay full price towards the minimum spend
- Children under 6 go free
That AED 100 gets redeemed against food and drink rather than functioning as a lounger fee, which in practice makes Ilios one of the more accessible beach clubs on the island — cheaper to walk into than Nation Riviera Beach Club at The St Regis (from around AED 160 on weekdays) or Saadiyat Beach Club (AED 299–399 depending on day and gender). [VERIFY: minimum spend figure and children’s policy sourced from a 2026 seasonal round-up — beach clubs revise these regularly, so confirm current terms when booking.] À la carte pricing runs from roughly Dh65–195 for starters, Dh55–155 for pasta and sushi, and Dh135–500 for mains, with whole fish typically sold by the kilo rather than at a fixed price. [VERIFY: brunch pricing and package inclusions — Ilios runs a Saturday and Sunday Greek brunch bookable via SevenRooms, but the exact AED price and beverage package tiers weren’t confirmed in research; check directly before booking.]
Opening Hours
- Monday to Thursday: 12pm – 12am
- Friday to Sunday: 11am – 12am
- Ramadan hours: 5pm – 3am
[VERIFY: hours can shift seasonally — worth a quick call before a summer weekday visit, since venues on the island sometimes trim hours during peak heat.]
The Menu: Greek-Mediterranean, With a Japanese Accent
Executive Chef Denis Placereani’s menu leans hard into Greek coastal cooking but doesn’t pretend the Japanese influence isn’t there — there’s a proper sushi and sashimi corner alongside the taramasalata.
To Start
- Horiatiki (Greek salad) with imported feta and Florina peppers
- Tyropita with feta and honey
- Grilled octopus and fritto misto
- Beef tartare with bone marrow
- Oysters, caviar and sashimi
Mains
- Charcoal-grilled sea bream and Dover sole
- Whole fish sold by the kilo
- Australian Wagyu, lamb chops and other charcoal-grilled meats
- Mushroom risotto and pasta
- Gratinated mashed potatoes, asparagus with lemon oil
Dessert
- Amygdalopita (almond cake) with Amarena ice cream and cherry coulis
- Orange cake with vanilla bavaroise and saffron-orange sauce
Drinks
The cocktail list plays up the Greek mythology theme — Medusa’s Gaze (a lively blue number) and Mida’s Touch (golden and citrusy) are the two everyone photographs before they photograph the food. Feta and Florina peppers are imported rather than sourced locally, and bread is baked on site — small details, but they’re the reason The National’s review singled Ilios out for skipping the gimmicky plate-smashing routine other Greek-themed spots lean on. One genuine gripe worth flagging: portions, especially whole fish, run generous enough to catch first-timers off guard, so order to share rather than one dish per person.
Dress Code
Smart casual across the board. By day, stylish swimwear with a cover-up is fine poolside; once you move into Meraki or Euphoria for dinner, it tips more resort-chic — think elevated resortwear rather than beach kaftans. [VERIFY: no published strict no-jeans-and-trainers style policy was found; if you’re planning an evening reservation, a quick call to confirm current dinner dress code is sensible.]
How to Book
Reservations run through SevenRooms via the Surf Abu Dhabi website (surfabudhabi.com/ilios), or directly:
- Phone: +971 2 419 8508
- Email: reservations@iliosbeachclubuae.com
- Instagram: @ilios.abudhabi
Book ahead for weekends and golden hour — tables and loungers with a wave-pool view go first, and Ilios doesn’t seem to hold much back for walk-ins on Friday and Saturday evenings. Privilee members get 25% off à la carte dining and business lunch, 25% off the weekend brunch, and 10% off at Apollo Pool Bar for the member plus one guest — worth checking if you already hold a membership before paying full price.
Best Times to Visit
Golden hour is the obvious answer and it’s obvious for a reason — the light off the wave lagoon does most of the atmosphere’s work for you. For a quieter, cheaper visit, weekday afternoons (Monday to Thursday, from 12pm) get you the pool and terrace without the DJ-set crowd that builds from Thursday evening through the weekend. If you want the scene rather than the calm, Friday and Saturday nights are when Ilios shifts from daytime beach club into what regulars describe as more Ibiza-meets-Mykonos lounge territory, DJ included. [VERIFY: specific DJ nights and event schedule change frequently — check Ilios’s Instagram for the current week’s line-up rather than assuming a fixed weekly schedule.]
Ilios vs Other Abu Dhabi Beach Clubs
- Ilios (Al Hudayriyat Island): AED 100 minimum spend, no separate entry fee — the most accessible of the bunch, with the strongest food-first reputation
- Nation Riviera Beach Club, The St Regis Abu Dhabi (Corniche): from around AED 160 (individual, weekday) up to AED 310 (couples, weekend), plus 20% off dining venues
- Saadiyat Beach Club (Saadiyat Island): AED 299–399 depending on day and gender, with AED 100 of it redeemable — the priciest of the group but with a proper natural beach attached
- Café del Mar Abu Dhabi (Hudayriyat Island): free for ladies Monday–Thursday, AED 100–200 for gents depending on day — cheaper on paper, but a very different, more party-forward crowd
[VERIFY: competitor pricing pulled from a 2026 seasonal round-up and subject to change — treat as a like-for-like snapshot rather than gospel, and check each venue directly before planning a beach-club crawl.] The honest comparison: Saadiyat and Nation Riviera are hotel beach clubs first, with the pool as the headline act. Ilios is a restaurant that happens to have an excellent pool attached — if food quality is the deciding factor, it’s the one to book.
Is Ilios Beach Club Worth It?
For the AED 100 minimum spend, yes — easily. You’re not paying a lounger fee to sit near a pool; you’re paying towards food that’s genuinely well executed, with imported ingredients, on-site baking and none of the theatrical Greek-taverna clichés. The wave-pool backdrop is a novelty other Abu Dhabi beach clubs simply can’t offer, even though it isn’t part of what you’re actually paying for. Where it loses points against the Saadiyat and St Regis crowd is scale — Ilios is a restaurant with a pool, not a sprawling beach-day operation, so don’t go expecting acres of sand and a full watersports menu. Go for the food and the golden-hour view, book ahead for weekends, and treat the surf pool as a separate day out entirely.
