Hotels in Dubai

Dubai is a city where the hotel you pick decides what your trip is. The coast is built around resorts with private beach access; the middle of the city is dense with high-rise hotels within walking distance of the malls, the fountain and the metro; and the older quarters either side of the creek hold smaller, far cheaper properties that put you next to the souks rather than the skyline.

Because supply is so deep, the same star rating can cost wildly different amounts depending on where it sits and when you go. Rates climb through the cooler months when the weather is at its best and the city fills with events, and fall sharply through the peak of summer, when almost everything worth doing is indoors. If you are flexible, shifting your dates by a fortnight moves the price more than trading down a star rating does.

Almost everything here is a purpose-built hotel rather than a converted historic building, which means large rooms, pools on the roof and a lot of properties opened in the last decade. It also means free-cancellation rates are widely available, so booking early costs you little if plans change.