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Anantara The Palm Dubai Resort
Hotel Information
There’s an air of Siam-style sophistication in child-friendly Anantara The Palm Dubai Resort’s beachfront abodes. Clustered around winding lagoon pools, by the private sands or over the water, these red-roofed, whitewashed wonders have families in mind, with clubs for kids and teens, an action-packed watersports centre and a super spa.
At the hotel
Private beach, watersports centre, spa, kids club, playground, gym, tennis courts, and free WiFi throughout. In-rooms: flatscreen TV, iPod dock, bathrobes and slippers, minibar, and tea- and coffee-making facilities.
Our favourite rooms
There’s a clean-lined, sober Thai aesthetic to the rooms, decked out with dark wooden floors, crisp white linens, striking headboards and plush sofas. We love room 62, an Over Water Villa sporting a private deck, a sumptuous bathroom and a mesmerising glass floor in the living room for spying on fish; there’s space for an extra bed or cot, and the little kitchen, equipped with a microwave, is handy. Lagoon Access Rooms are perfect for keen swimmers: steps lead down from their private deck straight into the inviting pools. Families of four will be most comfortable in the Deluxe Lagoon View and Access Rooms, which have a day-bed suitable for one child and room for an extra bed or cot.
Poolside
Aquaphobics, look away now: 10,000 square metres of azure, temperature-controlled pools take centre stage here. With its pagoda-roofed swim-up bar and a crescent of sea-facing sunloungers, the main infinity pool is a lively affair. Look out for the small Thai boats criss-crossing the lagoon pools (there are three of them meandering around the Lagoon Access Rooms), from which staff hand out cold towels, fruit and water – a blissful treat in the Dubai sun.
Spa
Located on an island in one of the lagoon pools, the sumptuous Anantara Spa (open 10am–10pm) is an all-singing, all-dancing retreat. Its 18 treatment rooms offer Thai massage, salt inhalation and Ayurveda, a private hammam suite and couples’ facilities. Thalassotherapy fans are well catered for with a Vichy shower, liquid sound pool, Jacuzzi and Kneipp walk for lithe limbs. Treatments inspired both by Anantara’s Asian roots and Arabic traditions incorporate ingredients harvested from date-palm gardens and the Gulf’s seawater pearls. Citrus-infused facials, manicures, pedicures and hair-conditioning treatments are available for 12–16 year-olds, too, as long as they bring an adult along.
