Dubai conjures up images of sail-shaped hotels and seven-star luxury, but in the past few years the Emirate has gone from a city where the streets are paved with Swarovski to embracing a more international, low-key sort of luxury.
Nowhere is this more obvious than in its restaurants and bars – A-list favourite Zuma led the foreign foodie charge a few years ago, but in just the past three months, there have been a host of new imports including The Ivy, Hakkasan at Jumeirah Emirates Towers, and Mahiki.
And although the hottest new places might not be gold-plated, opulence is still the operative word. Fitting then, that for Stylist’s latest long weekend there, we stayed at the Zabeel Saray – the Jumeirah group’s most luxurious hotel, sat on the outside curve of the Palm and themed around a Turkish palace at the height of the Ottoman empire. Opened this spring, it has already won a starring role in Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible 4 – with the Al Nafoorah restaurant transformed into a huge luxury bedroom for one scene.
The majority of its 405 rooms are deluxe kings, like the one we stayed in – spacious and plush with baths that are only one-third full after 15 minutes – but the grounds also boast 38 private villas, used mostly by visiting royalty and the odd celebrity (Maradonna lives there full time while he coaches the local pro team) but also ideal for a lavish break with a group of friends.
Why it’s hot
The hotel’s highlight is their Talise Ottoman Spa, with 42 treatment rooms, three saunas and a snow room (indeed). I tried a Turkish hammam – an invigorating 90-minute sauna, massage and skin-cleansing session that leaves your pores sparkling.
Outside of the hotel, the Dubai Mall in Downtown is a style-seeker’s paradise; Versace, D&G, and a vast air-conditioned esplanade of fashion stores in what they call Fashion Avenue. To top off the cosmopolitan air, they’ve even transplanted Bloomingdales from Manhattan and Galeries Lafayette from the centre of Paris. Drive on a little further to Al Karama to spend an entertaining and colourful hour watching tourists haggle over the fake handbags, watches and other “designer” goods.
Eating and drinking
What would you like to eat? French Vietnamese fusion? Authentic Lebanese dishes? Robust Turkish food? Sushi? The Zabeel Saray has 10 restaurants and bars on site. We ate at Amala, the hotel’s slick, Indian restaurant, where the chef has taken the staples of Southern Indian cuisine, stripped them down and reassembled them into smaller, delicious portions; a sort of Indian tapas. We sampled tandoori prawns and small lamb chops served on a scented brazier.
Dubai’s licensing laws mean the top restaurants are all situated within hotel complexes. Carnivores should head to the Meat Company, which specialises in Argentinian and American steaks.
For a unique pre-dinner experience, reserve a table by the floor-to-ceiling windows of Neo’s Bar on the 63rd floor of The Address, a Downtown hotel. You look out over the world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa, and watch the brilliant “dancing fountains” in the lake below. For dinner, go to superb Italian Bice Mare which also overlooks the Burj Khalifa. For an unforgettable drink to finish your night, head to the outdoor space at the bar on the 24th floor of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. Overlooking the whole of Dubai, at 1am there is nowhere better to be.
Photo opportunity
The Zabeel Saray’s swimming area is on a grand scale. To stop it getting as warm as the sea beyond, the hotel chills its pool. Take your waterproof camera and swim to the infinity-pool edge for a photo which will make your colleagues sick the moment it’s posted on Facebook.
Room rates for the Jumeirah Zabeel Saray start at £555 (jumeirah.com); Emirates economy-class fares start from £466*
*From Gatwick. Emirates operates 105 flights per day from six UK airports to Dubai
