The Best Resorts in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi is all about pushing the luxury envelope, with bigger and shinier new hotels sprouting up perennially. But few resorts – old or new – come close to the pull of a private island. A 15-minute boat ride from the city centre, this sandy speck is an Eden of lush greenery in a mirror-like watery desert of blue. Split into little hamlets of the different accommodation options – from the boutique one-bedroom beach villas to the mansion-like five-bedroom Estate Villas (all immaculately stylish) – it truly feels like your own little world of tranquillity away from the city.

If you didn’t know better, you’d be forgiven for mistaking this hotel for an actual palace. After all, it’s got the sprawling landscaped grounds, kept glisteningly green by hundreds of sprinklers; the grandiose entrance, with a courtyard of fountains spurting 10 feet (3m) into the air; the domed main building and interiors liberally gilded in gold. You’ll certainly feel like royalty when you drop your bags in your room, with its wood-panelled, arch-shaped headboard, velvet-upholstered chaise longue and private balcony overlooking the sea, pool, or landscaped gardens. This place put Abu Dhabi on the luxury hotel map, and it’s easy to see why.

Appearing out of the heat haze like a terracotta-roofed, Arabic-Roman mega villa, there’s certainly no risk of missing the turn-off for this hotel. It’s on Saadiyat Island, 20 minutes beyond the city centre – home to the Louvre Abu Dhabi (that’s right, the Emirates’ offshoot of the Paris original). It’s also bang in the middle of what is, arguably, the nicest stretch of beach in the area, with talc-white sands and playful turquoise waves. Inside, rooms riff on the Mediterranean-meets-Middle-East theme, with tiled, emerald-green feature walls, marble floors and glimmers of brushed gold.

If you’ve stayed in a St Regis resort before, you’ll have a good idea of what to expect here. If you haven’t, then here’s what you’ll get: sober, solid, quality interiors – think crisp white bed linens, lots of honey-hued wood and carefully curated objects. It’s tasteful, classic and with a colonial twist (the ceiling fan is really just for effect, as the air conditioning is refreshingly frigid). Factor in a spa, an athletic club (a posh gym), four swimming pools (including two lap pools) and a choice of seven restaurants, lounges and bars, and you really won’t need to leave. Oh, and did we mention the fab private beach?

With its low-rise silhouette and clean, white lines, this resort has an atypically understated profile for Abu Dhabi, almost disappearing into the white stretch of sand along Saadiyat Beach. You’ll want to spend more time outside than in, with the vast, oasis-like pool shaded by nodding palms and lush vegetation; the long, wide boardwalk that takes you right out onto the flour-soft sand and the landscaped areas of putting-green-neat grass. But that’s not to say rooms aren’t a pleasure to spend time in, with their calming organic tones and materials and spacious furnished private balconies.

If it’s fly-and-flop efficiency you’re looking for, you won’t find many hotels faster to get to from the airport than here – it’s just on the other side of the main road. But that’s far from the only thing it’s got going for it. Picture lush, landscaped grounds, a truly palatial-scale outdoor pool overlooking Abu Dhabi’s gently-rippling Grand Canal (it’s one of the city’s largest), and rooms that tastefully play on the Venetian link – especially within the Venetian Village complex, where baroque-patterned soft furnishings meet dark wood and lavishly marble-clad bathrooms.

This award-winning place delivers on the wow-factor front: look no further than the lobby’s monumental installation of dangling “jellyfish” made of hand-blown glass. Then, there’s the White restaurant, a dazzling collage of snow-white tones, made brighter by natural light flooding in from the atrium space above. Unsurprisingly, rooms don’t disappoint on the design front either, with wall-mounted hand-woven baskets adding a warm, artisanal accent to the monochromatic palette of whites and taupes.