When Hotels and Formula 1 Tracks Collide

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This was the view from my hotel room in Abu Dhabi-- and yep, that's turn 19 of the Yas Marina Formula 1 circuit. By 9:00 the next morning, through the thick, double-paned glass, I could faintly hear the muted hum of a Radical race car running laps. Heaven.

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I was staying at the Yas Viceroy Hotel and Resort, part of a billion dollar complex that featured the world's first combination of a hotel and F1 track when it was built in 2009. Designed by Hani Rashid and Lise Ann Couture of NYC-based Asymptote Architecture, the 499 room structure outwardly resembles an amoeba, and its glass and steel shell incorporates 5,389 moving, color-shifting LED lights.

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There's a bit of magic to staying in a hotel that's so snugly integrated into racing. During my visit, I track-tested Ducati's new 1199 Panigale, saw a consumer drive event involving an assemblage of a certain exotic sports car, and sat ringside at a Ferrari club race. Oh, and the ultramodern rooftop pool's pretty nifty, too.

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Seriously-- with seven restaurants, a gym, and endless stream of race events at my fingertips, was there any reason to leave?

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/auto-blog/yas-marina-circuit-hotel?src=rss

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