Spotlight on Dubai
Every inch of this ambitious city is engineered to be glamorous and newsworthy. There are few places where you could be drinking tea in a desert tent, eating in gold-filled Michelin-starred restaurants and picking up trendsetting pieces at a futuristic shopping centre all in the same day.
While it might seem like authenticity is harder to come by in a city that is always moving forward, there are experiences that instantly give you a taste of Arabia as it’s always been. Brilliant mosques and spice-filled souks sit beside the glimmer of its iconic architecture. The list of things to do here is almost endless and here’s just a taster of the extraordinary range of places to stay.
Amwaj Rotana
A prime location on The Walk
Amwaj Rotana brings a contemporary aesthetic to The Walk, a popular shopping and dining promenade on Jumeirah Beach. It’s an excellent base for your holiday in Dubai with a pool lined with shady cabanas, easy access to a public beach, and a diverse choice of restaurants. And when you’re ready to explore further, the hotel offers complimentary shuttle buses to some of Dubai’s best malls and parks. Upgrade to a Club Room and you get access to the club lounge which includes à la carte breakfasts, complimentary snacks and happy hours.
Anantara Downtown Dubai
An oasis in the heart of downtown Dubai For those wanting to shop up a storm in the Dubai Mall or ascend the mighty Burj Khalifa, the Anantara Downtown Dubai is a great choice as they’re just a 10-minute drive away. The architecture here casts a striking silhouette on the city skyline. While it may be smaller than some of Dubai’s mega-resorts, you’ll still find signature restaurants, a pool and a spa.
It’s calm and tranquil with a sophisticated aesthetic that betrays how child-friendly it is –for kids there’s cupcake decorating classes, a special family brunch and kids menus.
Centara Mirage Beach Resort Dubai
Full-on family fun
Designed especially for families, Centara Mirage is brimming with things to keep children amused and happy. It may not be one of Dubai’s most striking buildings, but that hardly matters given the superb beachfront setting and the playful, colourful design. There’s age-specific kids’ clubs, child-friendly menus in all seven restaurants, sprawling gardens with watery play areas, waterslides, a lazy river and a child-only spa area. For the grown-ups there’s couples treatment rooms in the peaceful spa and lots of watersports. The all inclsuive option is excellent value.
JA Lake View Resort
Mastering family-friendly and adult-only
JA Lake View is where you might choose to stay if you have at least a week or so to spend in Dubai. It sits on an 800m-long private beach, overlooks a 9-hole championship golf course and has a sleek beach-style vibe, yet you’re still just 20 minutes from the city and all its attractions.
As part of the JA Resort, there’s access to all the experiences of the wider resort including horse-riding, watersports, the tennis academy and fabulous choice of dining – the all-inclusive option here is great for managing the budget. Rooms can connect if you’re travelling as a family.
Sofitel Dubai The Palm Resort & Spa
Super stylish with a wellness focus
Wide-open interiors adorned with cool marble lead the way to pretty gardens where swaying palms line the huge freeform pool and open up to peaceful views of the Indian Ocean. If you’re in town for a few days and fancy a balance between the sights and the sands, then this is great choice.
You’re about 20 minutes by car from Downtown Dubai but here you can relax on the private beach or by one of the six indoor and outdoor pools. The spa is one of Dubai’s largest with a menu of bespoke products, techniques and treatments to soothe the senses.
Atlantis the Palm
An extraordinary Dubai icon
Big, bold and standing proudly on the tip of the world-famous Palm Island, Atlantis the Palm is a playground for its guests, no matter their age. It’s home to the humungous Aquaventure waterpark, The Lost Chambers aquarium, award-winning restaurants (including Nobu, Ossiano and Hakkasan), the adults-only sunset beach club, kid-friendly wave rider and bucket list activities including the AquaTrek descent. Four days here is just about the minimum you’ll need to experience all there is to see and do, and that’s before you’ve had a chance to get out see the rest of Dubai.
Images left to right: Sand dunes, Dubai; Dubai beach and skyline
Dubai and beyond
Your holiday needn’t start and end in Dubai – it’s the gateway to so many wonderful adventures throughout the Indian Ocean, Africa, South-East Asia and Australasia.
Dubai and the Indian Ocean
A jaw dropping holiday combination with a flight of under five hours between the destinations. This is an invitation to experience Dubai’s 24-carat gold luxury and the sugar-white sands and blue lagoons of the Maldives. Make it an ever-so stylish stay where overwater villas and swimming with turtles are just the beginning.
Dubai and South-East Asia
It can begin with all-out luxury in Dubai followed by spa-filled days surrounded by Ubud’s palm trees, paddy fields, emerald jungle and wowfactor all-pool villas in Bali. Or on to Thailand, to soak up Bangkok’s bright lights, sleep within Chiang Mai’s ancient walls and go under canvas close to elephants in the wild before relaxing on an idyllic Thai island beach.
Dubai and Australia
With our independent Dubai and Australia itineraries, you choose what you want to do while we take care of the all the details so everything runs smoothly. Tick off Burj Khalifa, catch Uluru in all its majestic Golden Hour hues, snorkel and dive in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef and sip Champagne under Sydney Opera House to conclude a trip of a lifetime.
Dubai and South Africa
A city and safari dream team that stops over in Dubai for a slice of the gilded life before swapping mega malls and decadent dining for wine and wild things in South Africa. Tick off Cape Town’s Table Mountain and penguin encounters before a short hop by plane to the Eastern Cape for bucket-list Big Five viewing and evenings lit by fire pits.
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