Hot Wheels
Dubai’s glitz and glamour might have thrilled the Love Island set during COVID, but the real adventure lies beyond the city walls. Clamber into a 4x4 and leave the skyscrapers in the dust
With its seven-star hotels and towering skyline, Dubai is a city of superlatives. This futuristic metropolis is home to the largest, most expensive and most lavish of everything and has set more than 220 Guinness World Records to prove it. Here, you can zoom through a shark-filled lagoon in a submerged clear-tube waterslide, carve up the slopes at an indoor ski resort, or skydive over the world’s largest artificial archipelago like a supervillain. It has been a favourite escape of Instagram’s glitterati during the UK lockdown (a fact that hasn’t gone uncriticised). But we suggest doing things a little differently. For a hormonal hit that isn’t man-made, trade the Emirate’s excesses for a desert safari.
First, you’ll need to check into your luxury digs at One&Only Royal Mirage (oneandonlyresorts.com), set on a kilometre of private beach overlooking the Palm. The resort’s three properties – the Palace, Arabian Court and Residence and Spa – are an oasis of Old Arabia in the desert city; all regal domes, ornate ceilings and mosaic-tiled floors. Drop off your suitcase and allow One&Only’s staff to take care of your off-road itinerary.
While you’re acclimatising to the local time, bag a lounger beside the infinity pool at Mediterranean-inspired beach club Drift (driftbeachdubai.com) and soak up some vitamin sea. Sunshine is pretty much guaranteed all year, and the still waters of Dubai Marina are ideal for kayaking, windsurfing and waterskiing. As night falls, settle into the majlis-style seating at Moroccan restaurant Tagine and refuel with some slow-cooked meat, spiced kebabs and fluffy couscous.
Wild Ride
The next morning, after aligning your chakras with sun salutations on the beach, strap into a private Range Rover (this is Dubai, after all), swerve the chaos of the city’s 16-lane Sheikh Zayed Road and go full throttle on the dunes for a different kind of rush hour. Dune