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Secrets of the sands: 10 of best hidden desert resorts in the UAE

The UAE is famed for its towering skyscrapers and sprawling beach resorts, but beyond the dunes a wholly different view awaits
The UAE is famed for its towering skyscrapers and sprawling beach resorts, but beyond the dunes a wholly different view awaits

There's more to the UAE than gleaming metropolises you know? Beyond Dubai’s towering horizon of look-at-me landmarks and hotels lie rustic retreats nestled between the dunes, eagerly awaiting adventurous guests who yearn to explore the sweeping desert landscapes that stretch away towards the heart of the Arabian Peninsula. Here, we present some of the finest hotels and safari camps where you will find the Emirates' hidden heart...

RAS AL KHAIMAH

The Ritz-Carlton Ras Al Khaimah, Al Wadi Desert

Just north of Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah’s Ritz-Carlton offers guests an elevated spa experience among the dunes. Beyond age-defying Espa facials and spiced oil massages, there’s “The Rainforest”. This hydrothermal suite has 13 stations, among them the “Igloo” with crushed ice body scrubs, a hammam, salted steam room, herbal sauna and pebble foot spa. The gym is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Horse, pony and camel riding lessons are also available, alongside archery, biking, stargazing, bird-spotting and nature tours of Al Wadi’s 1,235-acre protected reserve. After all that, sleeping is easy in luxury Bedouin-inspired villas with private pools and wraparound views of the desert.

Pool villas for two from AED1,997/£418 (00971 7 206 7777; ritzcarlton.com)

Read the full review: The Ritz-Carlton Ras Al Khaimah

The Ritz-Carlton Ras Al Khaimah, Al Wadi Desert - Credit: DON LORIEZO
The Ritz-Carlton Ras Al Khaimah offers 101 Bedouin-inspired villas in the Al Wadi Nature Reserve Credit: DON LORIEZO

An insider guide to Dubai

DUBAI

Bab Al Shams Desert Resort & Spa

The original Arabian desert retreat, Bab Al Shams opened in 2004, intended as luxury lodgings for Dubai’s equestrian set in Al Qudra, occupied only by stables and racetracks (and now with the addition of cycle paths and man-made lakes). Its name translates as Gateway to the Sun, which makes sense as I watch the sun rise from the comfort of the resort’s infinity pool. By night, stars help navigate the way to Al Hadheerah, one of four restaurants, best described as an experience. Part culinary bazaar, part cultural theatre, Arabian singers croon, drummers dance to a beat of their own and horse and camel riders re-enact historical tales. At weekends, there are even fireworks.

Double rooms from AED694/£145 (00971 4 809 6100; babalshams.com)

Bab Al Shams Desert Resort & Spa
Bab Al Shams started out as a desert retreat for the Emirates' horse racing set

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Al Maha

Al Maha means “The Oryx” and you are likely to spot several at this dreamy resort in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve. These majestic antelope with white coats and black horn crowns patrol the horizon, while Disney-like gazelles skip right up to the tented suites to sip from the private pools. This boutique retreat has one restaurant and one lounge, both equipped with verandas that capitalise on the views. Daily treats (covered in the room rates) include afternoon tea with strawberries and cream and camel milk smoothies and two activities; choose between archery, camel trekking and nature drives with passionate field guides.

Pool villas for two people (full board with two activities per day) from AED5,600/£1,170 (00971 4 832 9900; al-maha.com)

Read the full review: Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa

Al Maha
Al Maha is ideally situated for spotting local desert wildlife

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Platinum Heritage Overnight Safari

It can be hard to discern one desert safari from another. Most include dune-bashing with a trained driver in a Toyota Land Cruiser, a buffet in a Bedouin-style camp on Persian rugs, shisha, camel rides, henna tattoos, falconry and, perhaps, a belly dancer. Platinum Heritage has a different agenda. Guests are driven through Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve in vintage open-top Land Rovers, the preferred mode of transport in Fifties Dubai. After dinner, they sleep in traditional Arabian stone dwellings, albeit with comfier bedding, before being gently woken with a gourmet breakfast in time for a sunrise hot air balloon ride.

Overnight desert safari and hot air balloon flight AED2,100/£439 per person (00971 4 440 9827; platinum-heritage.com)

Platinum Heritage Overnight Safari - Credit: SHUGA PHOTOGRAPHY
With its vintage Land Rovers, Platinum Heritage stands out from other Emirati safari lodges Credit: SHUGA PHOTOGRAPHY

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ABU DHABI

Telal Resort Al Ain

This boutique hotel, ringed by trees and tucked within the peaks of Remah desert, hides two pools, a spa, zip line, sand zorb ball, quad bikes and a restaurant. Once a Bedouin stamping ground, it remains popular with rare antelopes, the Domani, Reem and Arabian oryx. Pretty Al Ain, “The Garden State” is close by and it’s just two hours from Dubai airport, less from Abu Dhabi. The largest villa has four bedrooms, plus a private pool and spa. Authentically Emirati standard rooms have wicker-covered ceilings, elaborately carved furniture and striped, red al sadu weave fabrics. Bring your own nightcaps, as Telal isn’t licensed.

Double rooms from AED800/£167 (00971 3 702 0000; telalresort.ae)

Telal Resort Al Ain
Telal Resort Al Ain is an authentically Emirati boutique hotel in the Remah Desert

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Jumeirah Al Wathba

Neat and beige with brass bedside lanterns, the rooms are pristine at one of the newest desert resort in the United Arab Emirates – and its air-conditioned stables are almost as spotless. Daily pampering sessions, nutritious treats and adoring handlers account for the amiable nature of the horses. The guided rides, at sunrise and sunset, are a highlight of any stay here. Other activities include off-road fat-biking (the vehicles’ oversized tyres are especially suited to traversing dunes) and slacklining, a bit like tightrope walking across lines of webbing elevated above the sand. Home to a Talise Spa, a yoga pavilion, a 10,000 sq ft infinity pool and a children’s pool and multiple restaurants, the resort offers much to occupy body and mind.

Double rooms from AED725/£151 (00971 2 204 4444; jumeirah.com)

Read the full review: Jumeirah Al Wathba Resort & Spa

Jumeirah Al Wathba - Credit: KEN KOCHEY
From the infinity pool to the resplendent spa, there's plenty to occupy body and soul at Jumeirah Al Wathba Credit: KEN KOCHEY

The world's most amazing desert hotels

Anantara Sir Bani Yas Island

Arriving on Sir Bani Yas Island by private plane sets a decadent tone. Seaplanes and boats also service this designated conservation area, earmarked for preservation by the first president of the United Arab Emirates. The Arabian Wildlife Park is occupied by more than 10,000 animals and three Anantara-managed properties; inland, Al Sahel Villas on the sand offers the most authentic safari experience. Wildlife to spy through binoculars includes Arabian oryx, exotic wildcats, giraffes, gazelles and the lesser Egyptian jerboa, which looks like a mouse-sized kangaroo. Daily guided tours are the main draw.

Al Sahel Villas from AED1,500/£313 (00971 2 801 4300; anantara.com)

Anantara Sir Bani Yas Island - Credit: Paul Thuysbaert
There are three Anantara properties on Sir Bani Yas Island, a designated wildlife conservation area Credit: Paul Thuysbaert

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Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara

Proof that the trend for glamping rages on, this season, Qasr Al Sarab is suggesting guests camp out, leaving their charmingly rustic rooms and villas. The camp – Bedouin-style tents, tucked in the silky dunes of the luminous Liwa desert – is reached by camel. Entertainment takes the form of archery and falconry, and dinner is flame-grilled on the sand. Back at base, desert-inspired dining is also on the menu at alfresco Al Falaj, where smoky meats appear in clouds from the ground, cooked in an Arabian zarb oven buried in the earth.

• Double rooms from AED1,400/£293; (00971 2 886 2088; qasralsarab.anantara.com)

Read the full review: Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort

qasr al sarab
Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort has been built in the fashion of historic Bedouin forts

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Arabian Nights Village

The village approach is dramatic, with twin fortress watchtowers emerging from behind a gigantic dune, and then the smell of freshly-brewed cardamom-spiced coffee mingling with the woody perfume of bakhoor, the local incense made using hand-me-down recipes. Paths shaped like palms, ambiently lit like Christmas trees by night, weave through clusters of spacious tents and stone rooms, 36 in total, their walls lined with al sadu weave or palm frond latticework. At Al Maqam, guests feed their inner Bedu with meats and Arabian flatbreads after days of camel trekking, quad biking, dune bashing and sand boarding.

Double rooms from AED750/£157 (00971 2 207 8989; arabiannightsvillage.com)

arabian nights village - Credit: NICOLAS DUMONT
From stunning sights to evocative fragrances, Arabian Nights Village assails the senses Credit: NICOLAS DUMONT

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SHARJAH

Al Faya Lodge

In the Sixties, a grocery store, clinic and petrol station were built an hour’s drive east of Dubai on a lonely road snaking between mountain and desert deep within Sharjah. Typical of midcentury modern architecture in Britain at the time, the single-storey blocks with steel-framed windows were later abandoned and might have crumbled to dust. But the local authorities had another idea: design firm Anarchitect was commissioned to turn the plot into a five-room boutique retreat, incorporating the original buildings and adding a spa, a pool and a terrace restaurant with atmospheric firepits. The effect is compelling, with one lone rusting BP pump standing in what’s now the lodge’s forecourt as a sculpture and reminder of the region’s past.

Doubles from AED715/£149 (al-faya-lodge.hotels-sharjah-uae.com)

al faya lodge
A long-abandoned rest stop east of Dubai, Al Faya Lodge has been repurposed as a sleek boutique retreat