When traveling to Europe, our preferred airline is Emirates. We are a fan of the big beast, the A380. It’s about a 17 hour flight from Auckland to Dubai, with another seven hour flight to most European cities.
We love to take a break in Dubai and recharge our batteries. With the longest section of the journey out of the way, the next leg is easy. Within seven-hours of departing from Dubai, we can be in pretty much any European city, fresh and ready to explore.
Five highly recommended hotels in an around Dubai
Six Senses Resort in Zighy Bay, Oman
We’ve stayed at the Six Senses Resort in Zighy Bay, just an hour and a half out of Dubai. This exquisite Arabian resort is located in the breath taking mountains of Oman. Oman borders the UAE. Its land mass is split in two. The main part of Oman is situated in the south eastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, but there is also another much smaller part to Oman at the very tip of the Musandam Peninsula. The land in between these two parts of Oman is occupied by UAE. For all intents and purposesyou’d think you are in Dubai, but you’re actually in Oman.
This was our own private outdoor area and pool.
Our view out to the ocean from our room.
The resort is fabulous, set at the base of the towering mountains, home to many mountains goats, who literally cling to the vertical faces.
Each individual room or compound is very private with its own pool, with some opening onto the ocean. The food too, was excellent, with a strong Arabic influence.
If you want to make a dramatic entry on arrival to the resort, hang glide from the top of the canyon into the hotel..
Al Maha
We have also stayed at Al Maha, a conservation reserve in the middle of Dubai’s desert. Again, this is about an hour drive from Dubai’s international airport. This first class tented resort, embraces nature and here you will learn about falcons, ride camels in the desert, all the while enjoying the spectacular surroundings and sand dunes.
It was pretty special having the dunes to ourselves.
This was our room and pool, in the middle of the desert.
Both of these locations, are unique, providing an unforgettable experience, and lifelong memories.
However, if you’re just wanting a stopover in Dubai itself, close to the shopping malls and other attractions, here are three great hotels. I’ve stayed in them all and they are quite different; one very quirky and fun, one gracious and traditional and the last one, very Arabic.
W Dubai – The Palm
This was our first time at W Dubai – The Palm. What caught my eye was its quirky interiors and fabulous pool set up. This hotel challenges the traditional hotel layout, with a colourful and unusual reception area. The high auditorium style roof has hundreds of blue, glass squares, dangling from its ceiling. Multi-coloured rectangles and squares are cut out from the wall creating random wall art, all the while reminding me of Miro’s paintings.
The quirky reception at the W Dubai.
Our room was just as ‘out there’ as the reception area. A bathroom of blue and purple Perspex, morphed into our bedroom with no boundaries. The bath was at the end of our bed, and in between the chaos of bedroom and bathroom, a little bar stood alone. But, what anchored the room was a wavey wall of blue, red and purple mosaic tiles.
Not your normal hotel room, but it was fun.
We dined at Torno Subito, an Italian restaurant, supposedly Michelin Starred. The food was good, but it certainly did not deserve a Michelin Star in my view. I’m not quite sure how Michelin Star restaurants earn this prestigious badge, but this restaurant shouldn’t have one. But, worse, were the prices. By New Zealand standards, exorbitant. This little plate of pasta and scampi, yes, just two scampi, was 200 AED ($90 NZD). And, a beer, just a Heineken or Corona was $35 NZD. Prices were steep, but not enough to make me stop eating and drinking! These prices are not unique to The W, they are exorbitant everywhere in Dubai.
The pools at the W Dubai was amazing.
However, the pool and beach area made up for the overpriced food and beverages. My favourite place to rest were the recliners in the pool. They are much needed as it’s too hot to be out of the water. There were also multiple stunning cabanas, free of charge during the week, but they charge for them in the weekend, as this snazzy pool setting becomes a pool party venue.
The pool at the W Dubai.
The pools were adjacent to the beach. Clear, clean tepid water, no doubt affected by climate change was seriously warm.
The sea temperature would have been 36 degrees.
Waldorf Astoria – Dubai Palm Jumeirah
The glam, traditional Waldorf Astoria – Dubai Palm Jumeirah is calming. It’s everything you would expect from the Waldorf Astoria chain. Reception is where you expect it, the rooms have beautiful bathrooms, and the linen is divine.
Our room at the Waldolf Astoria was more traditional than the W Dubai.
Our room looked towards, ‘The Palm,’ so our spectacular view encompassed the pool, beach and Atlantis Hotel on ’The Palm’.
While the W Dubai was more of an adult hotel, this place had a friendly, family vibe. There is a kids club, dedicated kids pool, water slide and playground in the sea. The beach too was excellent, with a life guard.
We ate at Lao, a restaurant with South East Asian roots. Popular dishes from China, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia made the menus easy to choose from. My laska was delicious, as were Tim’s tuna tacos and papaya and prawn salad.
One and Only Royal Mirage Arabian Court
The One & Only Royal Mirage is very Arabic hotel. From the dress worn by the staff, to the interiors and architecture, it all reflects the Middle East. Long before the discovery of oil in the 1960s, Dubai was known as the “City of Merchants.” It was the gateway to the Gulf, long renowned for its Bedouin traditions of hospitality and welcoming seafarers and traders from other lands. This hotel reflects this era.
The hotel has a kilometre of private beachfront along Jumeirah Beach and is set amidst 65 acres oasis of lavishly landscaped gardens. We enjoyed this hotel as it never appears busy. Admittedly, the summer is the quiet period, but even compared to other hotels there’s never any pressure on the facilities.
The outdoor area has a temperature controlled pool, set at 28 degrees Celsius, contrasting to the ocean in the late 30 degrees Celsius.
It’s not hard to enjoy the exclusivity and space of this resort, before shopping in the malls nearby.
Shopping
The malls are vast and many, with designer stores commonplace. There’s also one other reason to stopover in Dubai, diamonds and all things beautiful. With the recommendation of a friend several years ago, we visited Cara Jewellers, in the Gold and Diamond Park. Their displays of exquisite jewellery is immense, but they also have 150 craftsmen in the workshop. They meticulously follow design instructions, produce CAD drawings and manufacture in record time. Prices are good, with 4 percent tax refund upon leaving the country.
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