the waygabounds

Dubai is one of those places I never had on my radar – up until I had to go there for business reasons. And then discovered how diverse, modern, amazing, beautiful and outstanding this part of the United Arab Emirates really is. One of the hotels I can definitely recommend as your homebase there is the JA Palm Tree Court Hotel. And here’s why.

First of – it’s located a little bit outside of Dubai City with the well known sights, such as for example the Dubai Creek. So if you’re planning to go to Dubai for shopping and sightseeing reasons only, it might not be your ideal fit. But if you’re looking for a hotel with a huge variety of sports facilities, award-winning dining options, luxury suites and beach resort feeling, the JA Palm Tree Court is just perfect.

The beachfront property is set along the glistening Gulf shores and features 208 suites, located in nine sea facing villas – and all of them have a large balcony and are spacious. The suites have sea or garden views and come with all modern amenities you might need. I personally liked the huge tub a lot – and of course the complimentary champagne and the chocolates and the fruit. But you won’t spend too much time in your suite anyway, as the resort has so much more to offer.

First, there’s the beach with the infinity pool, all kinds of water sports and a beach bar. There are three more pools on the property, you can relax in the spa (which I did, I had a heavenly massage), go for a horse ride, go golfing, have some waterpark action, go clay shooting, take a seawings sightseeing flight (which I did, too. And I loved it so much, I had tears in my eyes) or kick back in one of the several amazing restaurants and bars.

My favourite restaurants were La Fontana, where all-day breakfast and dinner buffets as well as Mediterranean lunches were serves. Outstanding though is the White Orchid with it’s far-eastern flavours and its award winning Asian fusion kitchen. What I think is really lovely: There’s an on-site garden that caters to the restaurants, for example fresh fruit, herbs and vegetables.

So, enough of the “hardware” of the resort. I loved the service so much; the staff was so helpful and friendly, they made sure to fulfill every guest’s wishes. Another distinctive feature is the lush garden with the peacocks, the turtles, a small zoo with pets, little bridges, ponds and rivers.

More information:
JA Golf Resort
Exit 13, Sheikh Zayed Road, Mina Jebel Ali
Dubai – United Arab Emirates
www.jaresortshotels.com

Room rates start at about 165 Euros/night.