Hotels we recommend
Where to stay in the United Arab Emirates
Eight hotels in the United Arab Emirates we would book for a client, in Dubai, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah. 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
- 8
- Cities
- 3
- With MICHELIN Keys
- 1
- With partner perks
- 8
- Newest
- 2021
By city
The hotels
Dubai · 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
Dubai · 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
Dubai · 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
Dubai · 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 · 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
Dubai · 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
Ajman · Corniche
Ajman Saray, a Luxury Collection Resort, Ajman
2014 · 205 rooms
A 205-room beach resort on Sheikh Humaid Bin Rashid Al Nuaimi Street in Ajman, opened in 2014 as Starwood's first hotel in the emirate and described by the hotel as the first beachside Luxury Collection resort in the Middle East. Rooms face either the Arabian Gulf or the creek, with a private white-sand beach, two pools and a spa.
Marriott STARS
Ras Al Khaimah · Wadi Khadeja
The Ritz-Carlton Ras Al Khaimah, Al Wadi Desert
2010 · 109 rooms · Renovated 2017
A resort of 109 private pool villas in Wadi Khadeja, inside a 1,235-acre gated nature reserve in the desert of Ras Al Khaimah, north of Dubai. Villas pair Bedouin-inspired design with modern interiors, and the reserve has an equestrian centre, falconry and free-roaming oryx and gazelle, with guest access to the sister resort's beach.
Marriott STARS
On our list
Hotels in the United Arab Emirates 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.
Ras Al Akhdar, West Corniche
Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental, Abu Dhabi
Two MICHELIN Keys and Forbes Five-Star; on our list for 1.3 kilometres of private beach on the Corniche.
A palace hotel on 1.3 kilometres of private beach at the western edge of the Corniche, next door to Qasr Al Watan.
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.
Etihad Towers
Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers
Forbes Five-Star; on our list for Etihad Towers, linked to the Observation Deck at 300.
Tower 1 of the Etihad Towers, a Jumeirah until 2020, linked through the podium to the Observation Deck at 300 on Tower 2's 75th floor.
Al Maryah Island
Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island
Forbes Five-Star; on our list for 2,000 works of art on Al Maryah Island.
A 34-storey glass tower on Al Maryah Island, linked indoors to The Galleria, with more than 2,000 works of art in its rooms and halls.
Corniche
Forbes Five-Star; on our list for the Nation Towers skybridge 202 metres up.
In the Nation Towers on the Corniche, joined by a skybridge 202 metres up that was the world's highest when the towers were finished in 2013.
Saadiyat Island
The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, Abu Dhabi
Forbes Five-Star and the 2026 Gold List; on our list for Saadiyat's beach and Gary Player's golf course.
On Saadiyat's beach, framed by Gary Player's Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, the first beachfront course on the Arabian Gulf.
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.
And 9 more in the United Arab Emirates on our list, on the guide’s map.
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; The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre; Ajman Saray, a Luxury Collection Resort, Ajman and The Ritz-Carlton Ras Al Khaimah, Al Wadi Desert. 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.
The Ritz-Carlton Ras Al Khaimah, Al Wadi Desert: its rooms start at 158 square metres. Al Maha, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Dubai from 75; W Dubai - The Palm from 50 and JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai from 44.
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); The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre (Marriott STARS); Ajman Saray, a Luxury Collection Resort, Ajman (Marriott STARS) and The Ritz-Carlton Ras Al Khaimah, Al Wadi Desert (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.
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