Bulgari Resort Dubai
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Italian design on a private seahorse-shaped island, with a marina and a skyline view.
Dubai is not short of grand hotels, but most shout. The Bulgari murmurs, in the cool Italian language of the jewellery house that created it. Set on a private, seahorse-shaped island linked to the mainland by a short bridge, it swaps gold leaf for stone, bronze and impeccable tailoring.
There's a superyacht marina, a serious Italian restaurant, and a beach club that has become one of the city's most fashionable addresses, all within minutes of downtown yet feeling a world apart.
The Verdict
The most tasteful luxury hotel in Dubai, and proof the city can do understated when it wants to. For style over spectacle, this is the pick.
An aperitivo at the marina as the yachts light up and the Burj Khalifa glitters across the water, feeling more Portofino than Persian Gulf.
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