City hitlist
Dubai’s growing culture of cool brings with it a touch of nostalgia.
STAY
W Dubai Al Habtoor City Bolts of zigzag colour in the W’s look-at-me lobby and curvaceous white guestrooms, like pods in an elegant spaceship, neatly reflect the restless energy and futuristic ambitions of the city. This new precinct on 12-lane Sheikh Zayed Road has several hotels but the W has cornered the young, cool-conscious market with its bold design and “whatever, whenever” approach. Guests check in on the 30th floor, with views of the Gulf and Dubai’s new canal, and relax in an adjacent bar with resident DJs. There’s a fine-diner and a casual eatery, and a state-of-theart gym. Al Habtoor City, Sheikh Zayed Rd, wdubaialhabtoorcity.com
SEE
A city that has made its reputation looking up is starting to look back. Take a guided or DIY walking tour through the Bastakia quarter in Bur Dubai to glimpse pre-oil Dubai, when it was a humble fishing and pearling state. An atmospheric maze of cobbled lanes, courtyards and traditional wind towers, now houses museums and boutique hotels, including XVA Art Hotel and Café (Al Fahidi St) in which each room is a mini art show and the lobby a walk-through sculpture garden. For just one dirham (30 cents), join locals on a traditional wooden abra to traverse Dubai Creek, a wide, busy channel lined with painted wooden dhows. Not just the cheapest trip in town but a reminder this was, and remains, one of the world’s great trading centres. No matter how many times you visit Dubai, the view from the top of the Burj Khalifa
(1 Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Blvd), still the world’s tallest building, reveals something new. Swift elevators rise past panels charting stages of construction, past the Armani hotel, to the top deck at 555 metres. From here the story of Dubai is illustrated: a thrusting city of glass and steel sprung from an empty desert.
SHOP
The Dubai Mall is said to be the world’s largest by area – and who’d argue? Spanning the equivalent of 200 soccer pitches, it’s the city’s undisputed shopping mecca, with 1,200 stores. By contrast, to the east across the Creek is the old, pre-oil neighbourhood of Deira, with its spice market rich with the scent of cinnamon, frankincense and rosebuds. And the nearby gold souk is dazzling – gold being both the traditional sign of love and marker of wealth in the city. Check out the shop displaying the world’s largest gold ring, as certified by Guinness World Records: 63 kilograms of 21-carat gold. Eye-popping.