Brief encounters: Four of Dubai’s best luxury hotels

Family favourite: Atlantis, the palm

 

The pinnacle of the Palm has to be the vast Atlantis. There are 1,373 rooms and 166 suites to choose from, 17 restaurants, bars and lounges, a spa, fitness centre and tennis courts.

 

Kids will be in heaven with the 42-acre Aquaventure water park, the chance to swim with flippered friends in Dolphin Bay and spot marine life in the themed Lost Chambers aquarium.

 

There’s a kids club for four to 12-year-olds, an arcade full of games and a teens club with a state-of-the-art sound system serving mocktails. There are two pools, one designed for kids.

 

Rooms from £170 per night.

• Atlantis The Palm website

 

 

Classic option: Burj Al Arab

 

In the 10 years since this seven-star all-suite hotel opened, its swooping, sail-like profile has become a familiar sight on the Dubai skyline and in round-ups of the world’s best hotels.

 

There’s a Jacuzzi in every suite, round-the-clock butler service, six restaurants, a private beach and unlimited entrance to the Wild Wadi Water park.

 

Guests can charter a yacht or the helicopter for transfers and scenic tours, or get around in chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royces, or hire an Aston Martin, Ferrari or Lamborghini for the day.

 

Rooms from £885 including breakfast.

• Burj Al Arab on jumeirah.com

 

 

New contender: Armani Hotel Dubai

 

A haven of relative understatement in a city that tends to shout, Armani’s new hotel whispers its quality – albeit from that superlative of superlatives, the world’s tallest tower, The Burj Khalifa.

 

The 160 rooms are minimalist deluxe, showcasing hand-made leather from Florence, Japanese tatami matting, and Brazilian green bamboo marble, plus furnishings by Armani Casa.

 

Restaurants offer cuisines from Italy, the Med, India and Japan, and there’s an Armani branded sweet shop and florist, as well as a store selling Armani goods, so clients can pick up some of Giorgio’s limited-range haute couture items.

 

Rooms from £323 per night.

• Armani Hotel Dubai website

 

 

Boutique beauty: Desert Palm

 

For an alternative to the high-rise, high-occupancy of Dubai’s skyscraper hotels, try Desert Palm, a 26-suite boutique hotel set in lush private polo grounds, away from Dubai’s busy centre.

 

Thirteen Palm Suites overlook the polo grounds, and the remaining rooms are villas with private pools. The private home ambience belies its high standards of luxury.

 

There’s a high-class steak restaurant, a spa, cooking tutorials, and polo matches to watch. The hotel can arrange activities such as horse riding, sky-diving, four-wheel drives, hot-air ballooning and microflight tours over the desert.

 

Rooms from £278 per night.

• Desert Palm Dubai website