Sofitel Dubai The Palm
££££Personally verified. We stayed here.
The Palm Jumeirah, East Crescent Road, 55558, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesWebsite
A beach resort on the crescent of Palm Jumeirah, with a slide-fitted family pool and balconies looking straight across the lagoon to Dubai Marina.
Sofitel Dubai The Palm sits on the outer crescent of Palm Jumeirah, its red-tiled eaves and stone facades built low and wide rather than tall, so a private beach and a run of thatched cabanas sit right against the water. Balconies on the upper floors look straight across the lagoon to the towers of Dubai Marina, hazed by heat for most of the day and lit up after dark.
A day here runs from breakfast on the terrace to the beach by mid-morning, loungers under thatched umbrellas and a roped-off swimming area calm enough for small children. The family pool has a slide built into a rock outcrop, watched over by a lifeguard, and by evening the restaurant terraces light their patio heaters against the desert chill that arrives once the sun goes down.
The setting is the Palm itself: a private, self-contained curve of the crescent, the working city visible across the water rather than underfoot, so there is no walking into Dubai from here, only the view of it. Everything beyond the resort means a taxi.
That suits a family after the beach, the pool and the slide more than the city, treating the drive into Dubai as a day out rather than a daily habit. It is a big resort, built for turnover rather than intimacy, so anyone after a quiet, adult stay should look elsewhere.
The facts
Rooms
- Sea-view room
Pools
- Pool
- Yes
Food and drink
- Restaurants
- A notable one
Practical
- Beach
- Yes
More in Dubai
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A Michelin-starred dinner 100 metres above Dubai, on the stretch of glass bridge that has run out past the end of its tower and kept going.
Where to eat in Dubai
- Laguna Beach TavernaWe ate therePalm Jumeirah · MediterraneanTables set in the sand at Palm Jumeirah, with grilled seafood and cocktails as the sun sets over the Gulf.
- The Maine Beach HouseWe ate therePalm Jumeirah · seafoodPick your own catch from the fish market counter, then eat it grilled steps from the Palm Jumeirah sand.
- 11 WoodfireRecommendedJumeirah · wood-fired grillMeat, fish and vegetables grilled over oak, hickory or hay in a converted Jumeirah villa, under its own Michelin star.
