Jumeirah Zabeel Saray

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Jumeirah Zabeel Saray

Style: Contemporary Classic

Atmosphere: Lively

405 Rooms

It’s beyond our brief here at Tablet to speculate as to the sustainability (or otherwise) of Dubai’s stratospheric luxury scene. But it’s certainly a relevant thought, in so far as it contributes to the air of fantasy that shrouds the city. It’s as though you’re breathing something more rarefied, more luxurious than simple old oxygen while you’re there, and something like the Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, with its soaring lobby supported by massive golden columns — golden columns — suddenly seems like a perfectly reasonable approach for a luxury hotel.

The Zabeel Saray’s setting is extraordinary enough, on one of the perfectly geometric man-made islands of the Palm Jumeirah archipelago. This means not just front-row views of the impressive Dubai skyline, but a meticulously well-maintained beach as well. But as our mothers always said, it’s what’s inside that really counts. The look is Turkish, inspired by the Ottoman Empire, though it’s an open question whether the historical Ottomans ever managed to construct anything quite so ornate as this.

With over four hundred rooms it’s not small, but it’s impossible to feel neglected — even the humblest room isn’t all that humble, its forty rather lavish square meters serviced by an on-call butler around the clock. Still, if you need exponentially more space, why not plump for one of the Royal Residences, with their own private pools and direct access to the lagoon or the beach.

Add to that ten restaurants, ten tennis courts, a gym, spa, pool and hammam, and it’s clear there’s no physical need that could possibly go unmet here. And while a little voice inside our heads keeps asking where on Earth all this luxury is coming from, there’s a much louder voice urging us to let go and learn to love Dubai.