Looking for a Luxurious Start to New Year 2018? Head to This Resort in Dubai

You are floating face up in a shallow lagoon, a pristine pool that winds its way through villas dotted with palms and bushes. There’s a little bit of sand along the edges to allow you to pretend you’re on an actual beach, albeit a very clean one. It is late at night, and you can quietly observe the sky with its blanket of stars.

The sounds of laughter float towards you from a distance; perhaps a family is on its way back after dinner. It is a dry, windless evening, the water is just right. A warm sense of security and the delight of ‘doing nothing’ lull you to a blissful daze. This is what you imagine heaven must look like.

The parameters of luxury change with time zones and the landmarks in one’s life, but one of its most enduring qualities is trust. You trust that attention will be given to every detail, that your needs will be met and exceeded, and that you will receive exceptional value for money.

In that context, Anantara The Palm definitely checks all the boxes. A luxury resort located on the eastern crescent of the iconic Palm Jumeirah, an incredible archipelago of man-made islands connected to mainland Dubai, the property is an interesting cross between Thai architecture with an Arabian character.

The idea is to offer visitors ‘an urban escape’, and with its unique location overlooking the iconic Burj Al Arab on one hand and the Palm Jumeirah on the other, this getaway is one of its kind.

It is rather unbelievable how the city of Dubai has metamorphosed from a quaint Middle Eastern village just a few decades earlier to becoming a synonym of new-age luxury replete with glass-enclosed skyscrapers, world-class highways and the most exorbitant creature comforts money can buy.

One of its unique aspects is its cosmopolitan and multi-cultural character, as there are more expats in residence than UAE nationals. This quality lends itself to a variety of influences in cuisine, interiors and lifestyle.

With a multitude of hotels vying for the attention of the world’s richest families, one of the traits in Dubai hospitality is its element of surprise. Unless you offer something completely unexpected, you’re just run-of-the-mill here in this land of gold and diamonds.

This is where Anantara The Palm scores. Though constructed on a patch of land that did not even exist a few years ago, it has an understated aura of old money and discreet luxury. With 260 rooms and 33 villas, it can boast of the only ‘over-water’ villas in the UAE, giving you a sense of being in a Far Eastern luxury resort even while you’re on the Persian Gulf.

Seven speciality restaurants – offering everything from Asian to Mediterranean cuisine – ensure you have enough to savour, and three swimming lagoons and an infinity pool give you reasons to stay longer.

The resort also has tennis courts, gyms, jacuzzis and the famous Anantara Spa for seekers of wellbeing. And if you’ve had your full of the water sports and Turkish hammam, you can head over to Spice Spoons for Thai cooking lessons.

For those looking to have a destination wedding, the resort also has a ballroom, six meeting rooms, and a poolside bar where you can create special memories.

A 45-minute drive from Dubai International Airport, the resort is within easy reach of Aquaventure Water Park, Mall of the Emirates, Ski Dubai and Dubai Marina, and has its own kids club and teens club, all of which make it a magnet for families with children.

The resort is now offering special New Year’s Eve rates so that you can begin 2018 on a luxurious note, starting from Rs 15,800 per person for a dinner at Lotus Lounge and going up to Rs 32,500 per person at Crescendo and the Beach House. Spectacular fireworks included!

First published in the December issue of eShe magazine. Read it for free here, or buy the print edition.