The Luxury Hotel in Islamabad
Hand-picked in Islamabad: the 5-star hotel Islamabad Serena Hotel. Through suitespot you also get breakfast for two, a room upgrade subject to availability, hotel credit and VIP service – services worth more than €500.
Your guide to the best luxury hotel in Islamabad
Islamabad Serena Hotel · G-5For this guide we reviewed the best hotels in Islamabad and picked one: a single luxury hotel in sector G-5 – with a room ladder that has a hole in the middle. What that means for booking is explained below.At no extra cost: booking through suitespot costs the same as booking direct with the hotel – the benefits come on top, free of charge.
One luxury hotel in Islamabad – and who it suits
Our choice for Islamabad is the Islamabad Serena Hotel in sector G-5, opposite the Convention Centre. It sits at 4.4 out of 5 in our ranking, and a night starts at 252 euros. The hotel takes part in the Leaders Club loyalty programme.
Why we recommend it: Because in Islamabad it is the hotel the city itself uses – for state guests, conferences and weddings: 336 rooms and 52 suites, five restaurants – among them Al-Maghreb for Moroccan and Lebanese cooking and Dawat with its ghazal evenings –, a rooftop pool looking over city and hills, the Maisha Spa and gardens that, in this city, are the real argument. Our recommended category is the Executive Club.
Our travel advisors’ insider tip
This hotel's room ladder has a hole – and the hole is the booking decision.
Five categories, all with an area: 35 in the Deluxe room, 39 in the Executive, 54 in the Suite, 60 in the Executive Suite – and then 197 square metres in the Presidential Suite. Four rungs within 25 square metres, and the fifth more than three times the size of the fourth.
So there is no middle. Anyone wanting more than 60 square metres ends up in the Presidential Suite – or nowhere. And anyone not wanting it decides within a window where 25 square metres make the whole difference between room and suite.
Then there is the view: whether you look at the gardens or the hills is decided by the hotel at allocation, not by the name.
Our advice: within the lower window, book the floor, not the size – and ask for the view explicitly. Our recommended category, Executive Club, sits in the window at 39 square metres and brings club access; the upgrade on arrival then carries you at most to 60. Tell our travel advisors whether you want to face the gardens or the hills – that is the detail that matters most here.
Where to stay in Islamabad: in sector G-5, at the foot of the Margalla Hills
The Islamabad Serena Hotel lies in sector G-5, the government and diplomatic quarter in the east of the city – opposite the Convention Centre, a few minutes from the Diplomatic Enclave and the ministries.
Our recommendation is therefore for anyone with business in Islamabad or heading for the mountains from here: the city is the starting point for the Karakoram Highway, for Murree and for the hills outside the door.
What is within reach: the Faisal Mosque, one of the largest in the world, with its tent roof at the foot of the hills, a quarter of an hour; the Margalla Hills with the Daman-e-Koh viewpoint above the city and the trails from Trail 3 and 5; and Saidpur, the old village on the slope the city has turned into its restaurant quarter.
For orientation: Islamabad International airport is a good half hour to the west. Rawalpindi, the twin city with the bazaars, is twenty minutes away, Taxila with its Buddhist ruins an hour.
Five categories: the best hotel in Islamabad from the inside
The Islamabad Serena Hotel carries five categories, three suites among them – and all five state a floor area.
The ladder: 35 square metres in the Deluxe room, 39 in the Executive room, 54 in the Suite, 60 in the Executive Suite, 197 in the Presidential Suite. That nothing lies between the fourth and fifth rung stands above.
On the outlook: ask for the view you want explicitly. The gardens and the hills are there; which window faces them is a question for the hotel, not for the category.
What applies to every category alike: breakfast for two people, the upgrade on arrival subject to availability and regular points in the Leaders Club if you give your number at booking.
What a night at the luxury hotel in Islamabad costs
A night at the luxury hotel in Islamabad starts at 252 euros.
There is expressly no minimum stay: a single night is bookable – for a city that is, for many, the night before the Karakoram Highway, the right rule. Included are: breakfast for two people, an upgrade on arrival subject to availability, regular Leaders Club points when you give your membership number, and early check-in and late check-out subject to availability.
When it is at its best: in March and April and in October and November. Mild then, the hills green or clear, and dinner in Saidpur is eaten outside.
What belongs to Islamabad: the monsoon from July to September, with heavy afternoon downpours, and before it the heat of May and June with days above 40 degrees. That is not a warning but the calendar – a hotel with a rooftop pool and gardens is built for both.
When it is coolest: in December and January, with morning fog and midday sun.
When to enquire early: around conference dates – the Convention Centre is opposite, and when it is full, so is the hotel.
How long to stay: two nights for city, mosque and hills – or three if Taxila is added.
And whatever the date: you get the suitespot benefits in the quietest week of the year just as you do in the busiest.
Gardens, rooftop pool and exclusive services in a 5-star hotel
With the Karakoram and the Hindu Kush, Pakistan has five of the fourteen eight-thousanders – and Islamabad is the city where the journey to them begins. It is younger than most of its visitors and tidier than any other city in the country; anyone looking for chaos goes to Rawalpindi next door.
Personal luxury travel adviceOur travel advisors personally accompany your booking – 365 days a year, from the first offer to late check-out. Reach the suitespot VIP service via email or WhatsApp.Phone: +49 30 81452346 · hotel@suitespot.comThree things belong to it. First the Faisal Mosque: completed in 1986, without a dome, with a roof like a Bedouin tent and room for a hundred thousand. Second Taxila: the ruins of one of the oldest university towns in the world, Gandhara art in the museum, an hour away and World Heritage. Third the Rawalpindi bazaar: Raja Bazaar, narrow and loud, the opposite of Islamabad and therefore the reason to go.
The package at this hotel is breakfast, upgrade and points.
What our travel advisors arrange most often: the driver for Taxila, because Pakistan is travelled with a driver, and the onward journey north – Hunza, Skardu, Gilgit – for which Islamabad is the base and this hotel the first and last night.
And for members of the Leaders Club: our benefits come on top of the programme's, they do not replace them. Give your membership number at booking and the points follow.
Earn points & use your status in Islamabad
The most widely represented is Leaders Club. Booking through suitespot costs you neither points nor an elite night: the rate settles as a direct rate and your status is still recognised. Here is what is available in Islamabad:
At no extra cost: you pay the same rate as booking direct with the hotel – the suitespot benefits come on top, free of charge.
| Program | Hotels | Examples in Islamabad |
|---|---|---|
| Leaders Club | 1 hotel | Islamabad Serena Hotel |
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Frequently asked questions about luxury hotels in Islamabad
How many luxury hotels in Islamabad does suitespot have?
We reviewed the best hotels in Islamabad and picked one: the Islamabad Serena Hotel in sector G-5.
What does a luxury hotel in Islamabad cost per night?
A night starts at 252 euros.
How large are the rooms at the luxury hotel in Islamabad?
35, 39, 54 and 60 square metres in the four lower categories – and 197 in the Presidential Suite. Nothing lies in between.
Which is the best hotel in Islamabad?
The Islamabad Serena Hotel. It sits at 4.4 out of 5 in our ranking, with 336 rooms and 52 suites, five restaurants, a rooftop pool and the Maisha Spa.
Which rooms in Islamabad look at the hills?
The hotel decides that at allocation. Ask explicitly for the view of the gardens or the Margalla Hills when you enquire.
Is there a minimum stay in Islamabad?
No, expressly not. A single night is bookable.
How far is the hotel in Islamabad from the airport?
Islamabad International airport is a good half hour to the west. Rawalpindi is twenty minutes away.
When is the best time to visit Islamabad?
In March and April and in October and November. From July to September the monsoon rains in the afternoon, in May and June the heat climbs above 40 degrees – and the rooftop pool is there for both.
