3 Best Hotels in World Trade Centre Area and Burj Dubai, Dubai

Bab al Shams, translating as "doorway to the sun," is a five-star adobe brick oasis, a vision you'd expect to find on the edges of the Sahara desert, or perhaps as a set for a movie. The hotel is low-rise and melds with the dunes, scattering rooms and suites around courtyards with a continuous falaj system, ponds, desert gardens, and the spectacular pool area. Rooms are large, decorated in sandy tones with deep red Persian carpets, dark-wood furniture, and cool stone floors. The connecting bathrooms are cavernlike, with these sandy stone tones continued, and a bath large enough for three. On-site dining is very good, in particular, the all-out Middle-Eastern feasting venue at Al Hadheera, or the rooftop terrace and pizzeria (La Dune).

The only rival to the Burj al Arab, if you want to go all-out, Al Maha is Dubai's most prestigious desert resort. It is at the heart of the Dubai Conservation Reserve, an area of rolling red dunes that is populated with native fauna. The complex is a gathering of individual rooms built to resemble tents (the smallest room is 75 square meters), meaning you can get that glamping experience without sacrificing luxuries like windows, a minibar, and air-conditioning. Each suite has its own private outdoor space with plunge pool and sun deck, and all the rooms are decorated with handcrafted Arabian furniture and artifacts. The focus at the resort is on privacy; many guests spend days and days without meeting anyone except the multitude of service staff---and perhaps a lost gazelle or Arabian hedgehog.

Aptly named, the entrance to The Palace is Taj Mahal-like, with Moorish arches, domes, and Arabesque lace reflected over its dramatic pond. The lobby is marble-lined, centered on a rose-petal filled water feature, and framed with carved teak screens for a deliciously exotic effect. Rooms are similarly themed, with silks, velvet, and cottons in cool colors, woodwork, and plush carpets. The hotel is somewhere between a city hotel and a resort---the grounds are spacious, with pools, gardens, alfresco eateries, and a luxurious day spa, it sits in the shade of the world's tallest building, next to the Dubai Mall, and close to the DIFC and other business districts.