Hotels we recommend
Where to stay in Dubai
Six hotels in Dubai we would book for a client, in Business Bay, Downtown, Desert Conservation Reserve, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Marina and beyond. One holds MICHELIN Keys. Every one books through a partner programme, which adds an upgrade where one is free, daily breakfast for two, a hotel credit and late checkout, at the hotel's own rate.
- Hotels
- 6
- With MICHELIN Keys
- 1
- With partner perks
- 6
- Newest
- 2021
The hotels
Business Bay
JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai
2013 · 1608 rooms
A JW Marriott in two 72-storey, 355-metre towers in Business Bay, near the Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa, which opened as the world's tallest hotel. A convention-scale hotel with more than a dozen restaurants and bars and a 17-room spa.
Marriott Luminous
Downtown
The Dubai EDITION
2021 · 275 rooms
The Dubai EDITION is a 275-room EDITION hotel in Downtown Dubai, close to the Burj Khalifa. It occupies a 100-metre tower of bronze screens, grey cladding, stone and timber, on a podium turned 45 degrees to face the Burj Khalifa.
Marriott STARS
Desert Conservation Reserve
Al Maha, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Dubai
1999 · 42 rooms
Al Maha is a resort of 42 private pool villas inside the 225-square-kilometre Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, looking towards the Hajar Mountains, where Arabian oryx and gazelles roam. Stays are full board, the design draws on Bedouin life, and children under eight are not admitted.
1 MICHELIN Key · Marriott STARS
Palm Jumeirah
W Dubai - The Palm
2019 · 349 rooms
A 349-room beach resort on the West Crescent of Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, opened in February 2019 as the first W Escape in the Middle East, with a private beach and a WET Deck of wave-shaped pools facing the Dubai skyline. Its design plays desert dunes and coastline against the geometry of the city's towers, from a five-storey atrium lobby to a 30-metre glass 'Soundwave' sculpture.
Marriott Luminous
Dubai Marina
Grosvenor House, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Dubai
2005 · 750 rooms · Renovated 2013
A 750-room hotel in two 45-storey towers at the northern mouth of Dubai Marina, the first opened in June 2005 as the first hotel in the Marina and the second added as a twin. Rooms and suites look over the Marina, the Gulf and Palm Jumeirah, and the towers hold some 15 restaurants and bars, from Buddha-Bar to the two-MICHELIN-star Row on 45.
Marriott STARS
DIFC
The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre
2011 · 341 rooms
A 14-storey hotel with a French limestone façade inside the Dubai International Financial Centre, off Sheikh Zayed Road, with executive residences alongside. Art Deco interiors with Arabic accents, a sunken garden and a ten-storey waterfall facing the lobby.
Marriott STARS
On our list
Hotels in Dubai we rate but have not yet stayed in, drawn hollow on the map. The hotels above are first-hand; these are where we are going next. We book them as we book the rest.
Palm Jumeirah
Three MICHELIN Keys and No. 4 on the World's 50 Best; on our list for the Skyblaze fountain of fire and water.
795 rooms on the Palm's Crescent Road, sky-high infinity pools, and the Skyblaze fountain throwing fire and water 28 metres up at its heart.
Jumeira Bay Island
Two MICHELIN Keys and Forbes Five-Star; on our list for Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel on Jumeira Bay Island.
Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel, who drew the original Bulgari in Milan, on Jumeira Bay Island.
Umm Suqeim
Two MICHELIN Keys and Forbes Five-Star; on our list for the sail-shaped tower off Umm Suqeim.
Twenty-eight storeys in the shape of a sail off Umm Suqeim, now in a phased restoration led by Tristan Auer.
Business Bay
The Lana - Dorchester Collection
Two MICHELIN Keys; on our list for Gilles & Boissier interiors and a Dior spa.
Two interlocking towers on Marasi Drive in Business Bay, with interiors by Gilles & Boissier and a Dior spa.
Palm Jumeirah
Two MICHELIN Keys; on our list for beachfront villas on Palm Jumeirah's West Crescent.
Beachfront villas on the West Crescent of Palm Jumeirah, with the UAE's only Guerlain spa and Yannick Alléno's two-star STAY.
Jumeirah Beach Residence
Forbes Five-Star; on our list for the infinity pool on the 77th floor at JBR.
Two 77-storey towers on JBR beach, with an infinity pool on the 77th floor that Guinness lists as the world's highest outdoors.
Downtown Dubai
Forbes Five-Star; on our list for Giorgio Armani's rooms inside the Burj Khalifa.
The concourse up to the 39th floor of the Burj Khalifa, with all 160 rooms and suites designed by Giorgio Armani himself.
DIFC
Four Seasons Hotel Dubai International Financial Centre
Forbes Five-Star; on our list for Kigo's twelve-seat sushi omakase counter in Gate Village.
A small hotel in DIFC's Gate Village, with a Michael Mina brasserie and Kigo's twelve-seat sushi omakase counter.
Jumeirah 2
Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach
Forbes Five-Star; on our list for a 270-metre natural beach on Jumeirah.
A low-rise resort on 14 acres of Jumeirah beachfront, with a 270-metre natural beach and gardens between the pools.
Umm Suqeim
Forbes Five-Star; on our list for the turtle rehabilitation lagoon at Madinat Jumeirah.
The beach hotel of Madinat Jumeirah, home to a turtle rehabilitation lagoon, with rooms looking out to the Burj Al Arab.
Jumeirah 1
Mandarin Oriental Jumeira, Dubai
Forbes Five-Star; on our list for a Jumeira beach with the Burj Khalifa skyline beyond.
A beach hotel on Jumeira Beach Road, close to the city, looking along the Gulf to a skyline dominated by the Burj Khalifa.
The Residence, One&Only Royal Mirage
Forbes Five-Star; on our list for a kilometre of beach and 65 acres of gardens.
One of the Royal Mirage's three parts, with The Palace and Arabian Court, on a kilometre of private beach and 65 acres of gardens.
Jumeirah Beach Residence
Forbes Five-Star; on our list for a sea-facing balcony or terrace in all 294 rooms.
Low-rise and modelled on Mediterranean buildings, on a private beach at JBR; all 294 rooms have a balcony or terrace over the sea.
Palm Jumeirah
Forbes Five-Star; on our list for the St. Regis Gardens rooftop on Palm Jumeirah.
At the centre of Palm Jumeirah beside The View at The Palm, a 240-metre observation deck, with the St. Regis Gardens rooftop of restaurants.
DIFC
Waldorf Astoria Dubai International Financial Centre
Forbes Five-Star; on our list for floors 18 to 50 of the Burj Daman.
Floors 18 to 50 of the Burj Daman in DIFC, with a Bull & Bear steakhouse named for the one at the Waldorf Astoria New York.
Jumeirah Beach
No. 15 on the World's 50 Best; on our list for its own superyacht marina beside the Burj Al Arab.
The last of Jumeirah's nautical trilogy, between the Jumeirah Beach Hotel and the Burj Al Arab, with its own superyacht marina.
What to know
JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai; The Dubai EDITION; Al Maha, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Dubai; W Dubai - The Palm; Grosvenor House, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Dubai and The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre. Each has its own page with the rooms, the restaurants and what booking through us adds.
Al Maha, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Dubai (one MICHELIN Key).
Of the hotels we recommend, The Dubai EDITION, which opened in 2021. W Dubai - The Palm followed in 2019.
Al Maha, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Dubai: its rooms start at 75 square metres. W Dubai - The Palm from 50, JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai from 44 and The Dubai EDITION from 42.
JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai (Marriott Luminous); The Dubai EDITION (Marriott STARS); Al Maha, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Dubai (Marriott STARS); W Dubai - The Palm (Marriott Luminous); Grosvenor House, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Dubai (Marriott STARS) and The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre (Marriott STARS). Booked through us, each adds a room upgrade where one is free, breakfast for two each day, a hotel credit and early check-in or late checkout when the hotel can give it, at no extra cost to you.
The Dubai EDITION: Dubai International (DXB) is about 15.5 km away; Al Maktoum International (DWC) about 52 km. Al Maha, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Dubai: Dubai International (DXB) is about 65 km away; Sharjah International about 86 km. W Dubai - The Palm: Dubai International (DXB), 40 km; Al Maktoum International (DWC), 47 km. Grosvenor House, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Dubai: Dubai International (DXB), 33 km. The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre: Dubai International Airport is 15 km away; the hotel's limousine transfer costs AED 415 one way.
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