While dazzling Dubai is renowned for over-the-top luxury accommodations and mega-hotels, travelers looking for more intimate and unique experiences can still find several smaller, independent hotels in the City of Gold. With a sense of style and character unmatched by the larger chain hotels, these are the eight coolest hotels in Dubai.
Nikki Beach Dubai
5 Stars | Website | Dubai International Airport
195 | Outdoor swimming pool; Fitness center; Spa | 3
Emaar Square; Burj Khalifa; The Dubai Fountain
In the Pearl Jumeira development, Nikki Beach brings the world’s original beach club concept to the Emirates. With 117 rooms and suites and 15 villas with private pools, Nikki Beach is the ultimate destination for an unforgettable waterfront stay in Dubai, featuring a 1,400-foot private beachfront and a sprawling infinity pool. On the weekend, Nikki Beach becomes the city’s best pool and beach party destination, playing host to world-class DJs and performers.
Bulgari Resort Dubai
5 Stars | Website | Dubai International Airport
101 | Outdoor swimming pools; Fitness center; Spa | 4
Mercato Beach; Bay Avenue Park; Burj Khalifa
Fancy a Mediterranean getaway in the Middle East? Bulgari’s fifth hotel, the Bulgari Resort Dubai, leaves visitors feeling like they’re in the heart of an Italian seaside village, complete with cobbled streets, dramatic fountains, and lush gardens. As part of the Jumeirah Beach development, the resort is the only one on its seahorse-shaped island, meaning you’ll feel more like a local than a tourist—and with 101 rooms and suites (the smallest clocking in at a whopping 570 square feet) designed by renowned Italian architectural firm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, you’ll be hard-pressed to find more luxurious digs.
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Form Hotel
4 Stars | Website | Dubai International Airport
136 | Outdoor swimming pool; Fitness center; Spa | 2
Dubai Creek; City Centre Deira; Dubai World Trade Centre
Set in Dubai’s burgeoning Al Jaddaf neighborhood, this stark-white 15-story hotel is filled with bespoke art-deco-inspired furniture, including one-of-a-kind art and photographs by Marfa, Texas-based artist Nina Dietzel. Unlike most Dubai hotels, Form leans into immersive local experiences for its guests, offering photography tours on a traditional dhow led by an Emirati guide or a desert safari drive in a 1950s vintage Land Rover.
Address Sky View
5 Stars | Website | Dubai International Airport
169 | Outdoor swimming pools; Fitness center; Spa | 1
Burj Khalifa; Dubai Mall; The Dubai Fountain
Opened in December 2019, Address Sky View’s two dramatic towers are joined by a Sky Bridge that’s sure to astound architecture fanatics. The property’s breathtaking views are even more incredible, overlooking downtown Dubai and Burj Khalifa. Each of the hotel’s 169 rooms has floor-to-ceiling windows, but the real party starts on the 54th floor at Cé La Vi, Chef Howard Ko’s lively restaurant-turned-club.
Raffles The Palm Dubai
5 Stars | Website | Dubai International Airport
389 | Indoor swimming pool; Outdoor swimming pool; Free WiFi | 4
Aquaventure Waterpark; Burj Al Arab; Sky Dubai
Raffles’ palatial Dubai resort, the brand’s first resort in the Middle East, sits on the shores of Palm Jumeirah’s West Crescent. In addition to a sprawling private beach and spacious rooms, wellness is top of mind here, thanks to an outpost of the award-winning Parisian spa, Cinq Mondes. Meanwhile, design also takes center stage: Raffles is home to 70,000 pieces of furniture from Italian manufacturer Francesco Molon, tended to by an in-house “furniture master,” natch.
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Armani Hotel
5 Stars | Website | Dubai International Airport
160 | Outdoor swimming pool; Fitness center; Spa | 5
Dubai Water Canal Waterfall; Safa Park; Mercato Beach
The world’s first Armani-branded hotel opened in 2010 and remains one of Dubai’s luxury benchmarks more than a decade later. Occupying 10 floors in the iconic Burj Khalifa, the Armani Hotel showcases genuine Italian hospitality in Dubai, with every detail—from the Eramosa stone floors, Armani/Casa furnishings, and Giorgio Armani-designed hotel amenities—acknowledged. Don’t skip the 12,000-square-foot Armani/SPA experience, where bois, jasmine, and jade oils used in treatments are custom-made for Armani.
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25hours Hotel Dubai
5 Stars | Website | Dubai International Airport
434 | Outdoor swimming pool; Fitness center; Bar | 4
Burj Khalifa; Green Planet Dubai; The Dubai Fountain
A much-loved European brand, 25hours brought its quirky, playful design to Dubai in 2021, including unique touches like the “fountain of tales,” a 5,000-book library; the Analogue Circus, a collection of more than 500 vinyl records with Walkman-listening stations; and Schindelhauer e-bikes, available for guests who want to zip around Dubai on their own terms. While room sizes and themes vary, even the basic “Medium Bedouin” room is a beauty, with colorful tilework and a dramatic rainfall shower in the middle of the room.
XVA Art Hotel
4 Stars | Website | Dubai International Airport
15 | Free WiFi; Room service; Breakfast | 1
Hareem Al Sultan Exhibition; North Beach; Green Planet Dubai
If Dubai’s hustle and bustle have got you down, get away at the XVA Art Hotel, a 15-room oasis hidden in the sikka (“maze”) of Dubai’s historic Al Fahidi neighborhood. With each room individually curated by hotel founder Mona Hauser and a cast of guest designers, you’ll find contemporary art at every turn, ranging from fabric installations hung from ceilings to spray-painted canvases and armchairs upholstered in movie prints.
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