Royal treatment: Raffles The Palm Dubai

The heritage hotel group’s second property in the Emirate is a palatial resort that combines tradition with cutting edge to create a world-beating destination resort

Travel and Wellbeing 14 Feb 2022

Raffles The Palm, Dubai
The ornate master bedroom of the Royal Suite at Raffles The Palm
Raffles The Palm's lobby bar and restaurant, Blüthner Hall
The indoor pool is the largest in the Middle East

Raffles is a hotel group with a long and storied past. Just its name brings up visions of Jackie Onassis sipping cocktails created for her in Cambodia, or Joseph Conrad or Somerset Maugham propping up the bar at Raffles Singapore, of exquisitely dressed doormen welcoming guests and palatial hotels filled with an elegant crowd. This side of Raffles certainly still exists and thrives but rather than resting on its gilded heritage, the group continues to adapt, expand and progress in impressive style. Raffles has an incredibly ambitious plan for 2022 that promises landmark openings in London, Boston (its first hotel in North America), plus new properties in Macau and Saudi Arabia.

The Cinq Mondes Spa and, right, Piatti By The Beach
The Cinq Mondes Spa and, right, Piatti By The Beach

The group also recently opened a beautifully ornate and unique hotel in Udaipur, its first in India, on a private island with lake and temple views. And Raffles also opened its second property in Dubai on the man-made Palm Island development, a palatial resort on a white sandy beach overlooking the blue waters of the Arabian Gulf and the striking Dubai skyline. The hotel opened in October 2021 following an enormous renovation that transformed the interior into an ornate Italianate palace complete with expansive marble floors, gold accents and enormous crystal chandeliers. And behind the gold leaf, marble and ultra-attentive and friendly service is a truly modern resort.

Bedrooms are enormous – the largest on the Palm, in fact – ornate and extraordinarily comfortable. For the most seamless and convenient way of staying, book a room that comes with access to the top-floor Raffles Club Lounge. This exclusive bar and restaurant is open all day for snacks, drinks and meals and has breathtaking views across the resort, bay and the Palm towards downtown Dubai.

The view across Dubai from Raffles The Palm
The view across Dubai from Raffles The Palm

The resort’s world-beating food and drink is overseen by renowned chef Batuhan Piatti whose namesake restaurant, Piatti By The Beach, serves perhaps the best pasta and pizza in the Emirate. Piatti By The Beach transports guests immediately to a beach club in the Mediterranean with white-washed walls, vibrant bougainvillea, sea views and an irresistible menu of Italian classics. The restaurant boasts a pizza oven that’s rumoured to be one of the biggest in the Middle East, and it puts it to excellent use in creating delicious, thin-crust pizzas that demand to be enjoyed with a crisp glass of Pecorino. Don’t miss the exquisite and exciting dessert table, a cornucopia of sweet treats, pies and cakes that guests can choose from.

The hotel’s other signature restaurant is the equally chic Matagi, a Japanese eatery that is made for exciting evenings out and makes the perfect destination to enjoy Dubai’s famous brunch scene. Matagi serves a selection of sushi and raw dishes and robata-grilled specialities including an unmissable black cod. The bottomless brunch includes an extremely generous selection of everything the restaurant has to offer, including its signature cocktails and exquisite desserts, all along with Dubai’s beautiful crowd and a DJ.

Matagi
The ever-exciting Matagi, Raffles The Palm’s Japanese restaurant

Raffles The Palm is also home to one of the Emirate’s most exciting and salubrious jazz clubs, Sola. An elegant and clubby destination that hosts world-class musicians five nights a week from the evening until late playing superb jazz to an enraptured and appreciative crowd. It’s about as far as you can get from the stereotypical idea of resort entertainment and makes for a thrilling evening out.

Raffles The Palm also offers cutting-edge wellness at its Cinq Mondes Spa: try the Hot Sand Therapy in the signature Quartz Bed, on which guests lie on a bed of hot pebbles that gently tilts while providing a soothing rhythmic back massage – complete relaxation immersion and just one of the original and unique therapies on offer. The spa has 23 treatment rooms plus two beautiful hammams, Japanese baths and specialised hydraulic and air-based treatments. The hotel also boasts one of the largest indoor pools in the Middle East, as well as a high-tech gym and some of the best spa therapists and beauticians in the Emirate, if not the world.

As with all Raffles properties, what really sets Raffles The Palm Dubai apart is its people. Beautiful design, exquisite food and drink and wonderful facilities only go so far if the people helping you aren’t invested in you having a good time. Happily, at Raffles everyone from the doormen to the waiters and pool attendants offer a warm, fun and personal service, making every day feel extremely special.

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