Dubai evokes numerous feelings among travelers. Whether you like its laid-back approach to summer or cringe at its extravagance, the emirate has some of the top luxury hotels in the Middle East, if not the globe. From coastal fantasy to elegant skyscrapers with rooftop pools and stunning vistas, Dubai’s 130,000 hotel rooms enhance a vacation. Sleep in a triple king-sized bed? No issue. Do you want to sleep in maritime history or a century-old trader’s home? Dubai offers this and more. We chose the finest.
Umm Suqeim, Burj Al Arab
Dubai’s ambition and one of its first projects, the Burj Al Arab, have made it a global icon since 1999. Located on an island in the Arabian Gulf, its architecture is immediately recognizable, and whether its bold interiors fit your style or not, it’s an outstanding hotel. The world’s highest atrium is startling when seen from below and brilliant when viewed from above. All rooms are double-height suites with gold, silk, and ceiling mirrors. It’s not subtle, but that’s the point—the Burj offers extravagance.
Mandarin Oriental In short, Jumeira
The Mandarin Oriental’s beach-side position in Jumeirah’s low-rise, high-end neighborhood offers two stunning views: one of the Arabian Gulf and the other of Dubai’s majestic cityscape, with the Burj Khalifa at its center. The hotel seems private despite sharing its oceanfront with the Jumeirah public beach and jogging track, and it has two big pools: one on the ground floor and one on the sixth floor with Portuguese restaurant Tasca. As expected from Mandarin Oriental, the spa and Mandarin Cake Shop, where locals eat Saint Honoré and mille-feuille, are great.
Palm Jumeirah Atlantis
Crowning the top of the Palm Jumeirah, the 1,500-room Atlantis sprawls over beach and palm-filled gardens, making it hard to comprehend. Walt Disney’s Arabian-aquatic theme park would have looked like this. From lobby Chihuly glass sculptures to complex ceiling paintings, rooftop marlin sculptures, and fish scale columns, almost every surface is decorated in marine patterns. At the nearby Aquaventure Waterpark, there are 105 slides and attractions, some mild, others scary, and an aquarium with 65,000 marine species. You can even reserve a sub-aquatic suite that overlooks it.
25hrs One Central Dubai, DIFC
A lobby filled of eccentric art, antiques, and a café that’s equal parts coffee shop and co-working space welcome locals and visitors to the 25hours brand idea of “come as you are” in Dubai. From the Analogue Station record bar and Sony Walkman wheel to the enormous swinging seats, it’s entertaining. Sip a beverage at Monkey Bar and see the Museum of the Future, a silver oval with a void in its center, gleaming in the sunset from the rooftop pool. In-room hammocks and side-by-side rain showers make rooms and suites pleasant for urban nomads. For those living big, the hotel’s largest Hakawati Suite has a dance floor and a triple king-sized bed and is linked to two other rooms through a hidden stairway.
Beach Resort, Jumeirah Beach Residence
Address Beach Resort has two Guinness World Records: largest skybridge with rooms and highest outdoor infinity pool. The hotel’s private pool offers views over Palm Jumeirah, Bluewaters Island, and Ain Dubai, the world’s tallest observation wheel, from 294m above. Light and elegant rooms, but most visitors come for the rooftop. Zeta Seventy Seven, with the same stunning vistas, is for adults only, and the sunken tables in the pool have a high minimum expenditure.
Rumiyah Al Naseem, Umm Suqeim
Al Naseem’s large rooms and suites provide modern tranquillity on Jumeirah beach’s two-kilometre length of white sand. There are lots of isolated locations and adult-only rooms with pools and palms. Rockfish serves contemporary Mediterranean and crudo, Kayto serves Nikkei, and Summersalt Beach Club serves coastal Peruvian appetizers and a well-curated wine list. See 1,950 rescued turtles returned into their native environment in the lagoons of the nearby turtle rehabilitation refuge since 2004.
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