10 of the best family hotels in Dubai for a trip that appeals to all ages
People are often surprised that the fast-paced and futuristic city of Dubai is family-friendly. But when you consider the fact that nearly 90 per cent of its population has resettled there from abroad, and that a vast chunk of that percentage has either moved there with the aim of improving their children’s quality of life, or are sending the majority of their salaries back home to provide, it makes more sense. Family is the lifeblood of the emirate, and it’s reflected, firstly, in the service. We’ve seen wait staff dance around restaurants trying to entertain our little one, experienced teams of doormen who remembered their name every day and restaurants that adapted menus to suit their young palate. It’s also obvious in the way many Dubai hotels are designed, with adjoining rooms and imaginative water parks and kids’ clubs. That’s not to mention the year-round sunshine, which helps make everything easier – or the world-class air-conditioning and well-positioned shaded areas, for those more nervous of the hotter times.
When you’re not off on a desert safari, on a sandy public beach, riding Ain Dubai, the world’s largest observation wheel, or charging around one of the city’s other unique attractions such as the Dubai Parks and Resorts or IMG World of Adventures theme parks – these family hotels are where you should be, as selected by ourselves, along with dozens of local Dubai parents.
Editor's picks
- For luxury: Bvlgari Resort Dubai
- For a beach location: Atlantis the Royal
- For water slides: Atlantis the Palm
Our top tips for family holidays in Dubai
- Car seats are available in taxis when you arrive, though if you’d rather not be faced with having to fit it yourself, head for the slightly more expensive pink Dubai Taxis, driven by women.
- For the journey back to the airport, download the Careem taxi app which works like Uber but easily allows you to book a car with a kids’ seat.
- Always ask if the hotel can have your room ready with swim nappies, bottles, creams and other suitcase-filling paraphernalia – typically in these hotels, they can.
How we choose the best family hotels in Dubai
Every hotel on this list has been selected independently by our editors and written by a Condé Nast Traveller journalist who knows the destination and has stayed at that property. When choosing hotels, our editors consider both luxury properties and boutique and lesser-known boltholes that offer an authentic and insider experience of a destination. We’re always looking for beautiful design, a great location and warm service – as well as serious sustainability credentials. We update this list regularly as new hotels open and existing ones evolve.
Courtesy Bvlgari Resort DubaihotelBvlgari Resort Dubai
Distance from airport: 18 minutes
Kids' club ages: all ages, but best suited to ages 4 to 12
Located away from Dubai’s main traveller trail, the Bvlgari Resort Dubai feels like a secret refuge. The line-up of supercars on the driveway may hint at a clientele of crypto bros and reality TV influencers, but inside there’s a grown-up, understated crowd. And while there’s very much a grown-up ambience here, children are made very welcome. There are two kids’ clubs, one at La Spiaggia beach club and one at the Yacht Club, with children’s pools. Kids are welcomed with activity passports along with colouring pencils, colour sheets and a collage book of resort activities, and there are various indoor and outdoor activities on offer, including treasure hunts and cooking classes in cute little chef jackets. The palm-flanked pool at the yacht club is kid-friendly, and sipping a fresh coconut with the Bulgari Yacht Club logo hot-stamped onto it is likely to become a core memory for any family.
There are also plenty of other amenities that make stays even more special for kids, including tents pitched in-room with beds and glow-in-the-dark stars, backpacks filled with camping activities, and even the option to go beach camping, with movies on the sand complete with popcorn and candy floss. Nicola Chilton
Price: Rooms from around £1,000 per night.
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Nicolas DumonthotelRaffles the Palm
Distance from airport: 30 minutes
Kids' club ages: 3 to 8 years old
If you want your child to feel like a little prince or princess for your stay, check into Raffles the Palm. Not only will they be dazzled by the gold dripping from every which way in the dome-ceiled lobby and many of the rooms, but most staff will know their name, and they’ll probably be attentively watched over by multiple lifeguards in the shady kids’ play area, and if they’re lucky, they might be given a private tour of the complex in one of the remarkably deluxe golf buggies. As well as being home to the largest hotel rooms on the Palm, starting at 700 square feet for a suite, and so many – 389 (so you have a good chance of being able to book two connecting ones), the kids’ club is open right up until 8pm on weekdays, 9pm weekends, with activities masterminded by a ‘children’s butler’. Our favourite little detail? The child-height Young Voyager buffet table inside the flagship international restaurant, Le Jardin.
Price: Rooms from around £270 per night.
Rupert PeacehotelOne&Only One Za'abeel
Distance from airport: 15 minutes
Kids' club ages: 4 to 12 years old
Architecturally, One&Only One Za’abeel is undeniably striking: the hotel sits in one of two imposing towers linked via a cantilever. Once inside, this boulevard-style bridge called The Link is Tardis-like, with room within its three storeys for beautifully designed restaurants by a roster of Michelin-star-earning chefs. Don't let the rather self-conscious moniker “vertical resort” put you off; beneath the shine, the One&Only brand values are resoundingly present: warmly intuitive service, considered luxury and a sense of occasion.
Down at The Garden on level 4, Bali is the inspiration for a series of sculpted rice-paddy-style, family swimming pools with a swim-up bar. The landscaping is really appealing, with decorative water features and tropical foliage to cool the pool deck, and lifeguards are conspicuously on-hand. A separate couples’ pool is a perfect parent hideaway while younger children enjoy the well-designed kid’s club, complete with dressing up area, drawing tables and a star-lined, chill-out level for budding astronauts. The daily roster of activities provides scheduled entertainment. Clare Dight
Price: Rooms from around £460 per night.
Francois Nel/Getty/Atlantis DubaihotelAtlantis the Royal
Distance from airport: 35 minutes
Kids' club ages: 3 to 12 years old
If you want to do Dubai on a grand scale, this is the place. Atlantis The Royal isn’t an understated bolt-hole: it’s big, it’s bold and brands itself “the most ultra-luxury experiential resort in the world.” This is a hotel with 795 rooms and suites, 17 restaurants and bars, 17 high-end boutiques, a wellness space spanning 32,300 square feet, and multiple swimming pools, including Cloud 22, perched high on top of the sky bridge. If bling’s your thing, Atlantis The Royal is for you. Don’t let the fire and fountain shows distract you from the fact that the staff here are exceptional. In spite of its sheer scale, the resort offers some of the best service you’ll experience anywhere in the city.
From the fire and fountain shows to the well-designed Atlantis Explorers’ Club, children’s splash pad, and family watersports, there’s plenty to keep kids happy here. Additionally, all stays include complimentary access to the adjacent Aquaventure waterpark and aquarium. The Royal Pool is the family pool, and there’s a 1.2-mile stretch of beach here to play on, but be careful around the water – this is jellyfish territory at certain times of the year, as evidenced by the purple warning flags fluttering along the sands. Stick to the pools if you don’t want an unpleasant surprise. Nicola Chilton
Price: Rooms from around £800 per night.
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Natelee Cocks/Bab Al Shams, A Rare Finds Desert Resort, DubaihotelBab Al Shams, A Rare Finds Desert Resort
Distance from airport: 60 minutes
Kids' club ages: 4 to 12 years old
For a fun, family-friendly taste of the desert a short drive from the city, you can’t do better than Bab Al Shams. A favourite of Dubai residents and visitors since it first opened in 2004, the resort is back and better than ever after an extensive renovation, with a renewed sense of style and restaurants. Many of the key elements that have drawn loyal guests for years – like desert-edge infinity pools, tall palms, and feature archways – are still here, while those that verged on Arabian Nights pastiche are consigned to history.
Aside from the swimming pools, family activities include giant chess, croquet, and cornhole on the lawn, an adventure playground with a kid-sized zipline, guided nature walks, camel and pony rides, falconry, and cultural sessions such as Arabic calligraphy and coffee-making. Nicola Chilton
Price: Rooms from around £450 per night.
Jumeirah Zabeel Saray & Royal Villas
Distance from airport: 35 minutes
Kids' club ages: 0 to 16 years old
On the sprawling western crescent of the Palm Jumeirah lies this impressive Ottoman-style palace hotel. Inside is grandiose on an only-in-Dubai scale – gold pillars, intricate chandeliers and domed ceilings. Family rooms feature equally ornate bathrooms with tubs the size of paddling pools. Outside of the hotel is a kid’s wonderland, from the sandy stretch of beach to the supersized pool and the lush gardens. Much of the family-friendly action takes place at Sinbad’s KiDS Club, which covers an indoor play area as well as an outdoor water playground with slides and fountains, a climbing wall and an outdoor playground. Ages four to 16 can be dropped off at the kid’s club while parents enjoy some relaxing beach time, or better yet, check out the impressive spa – one of the best hotel spas I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting. Fittingly grand in scale – an incredible 88,000 square feet – the traditional Turkish hammam is a beautiful rabbit warren of his and hers Thalassotherapy pools, steam rooms, saunas and even snow rooms. This is a hotel that really pulls out all the stops during the school holidays too, with a range of all-ages events and activities on offer. I stayed here during the Easter weekend and was amazed by the elaborate Easter parade, egg hunt and party that took place for guests – think jumping castles, ice cream and cotton candy stalls, lawn games and lots of happy tiny tots. Lauren Burvill
Price: Rooms from around £320 per night.
JA The Resort
Distance from airport: 45 minutes
Kids' club ages: 4 to 12 years old, and a separate creche for ages 3 to 4
The ultimate family-friendly hotel by far according to most Dubai parents is JA The Resort. It’s made up of three hotels – JA Beach Hotel, Palm Tree Court and Lake View – over a million-acre green and beachy plot in the Jebel Ali area of the city and has undergone huge renovations over the past couple of years. The main reasons parents love it are the seven pools, the 800-metre beach and the Pirates and Mermaids Kids’ Club, open to kids from 4- to 12-years-old and offering eight different activities per day, ranging from origami art to recycling nature (a creche for babies from 4-months-old is also available for a fee). But even more than those elements, it’s the uniquely wide range of outdoor activities you can book them into at Dubai’s self-titled ‘largest experience resort’ that families flock for, from swimming in the sea with ponies and bubble maker diving, to mini golf, clay shooting and wake surfing. Is all that going to leave them ravenous? There are no less than 25 restaurants and bars to work through. Mind you, we say all this and what will stand out in your and their minds the most? The more than 100 peacocks that roam the dreamy, serene grounds.
Price: Rooms from around £200 per night.
Jumeirah Beach Hotel
Distance from airport: 25 minutes
Kids' club ages: 2 to 12 years old
The wave-shaped, sparkling Jumeirah Beach Hotel opened back in 1997, before the Burj Al Arab located out to sea in front of it, and practically a century ago in Dubai terms. It’s impressive, therefore, that its kids’ pool area and club remain some of the city’s best regarded, with the latter complimentary for hotel guests aged between 2 and 12. Activities range from zombie tag and trampolining to jungle gym, both inside and outside, and there’s a youth activity centre with musical instruments to play about with too. Alternatively, for older kids with energy to burn, there are squash and tennis courts, and instructors on hand for each. If all else fails, get them to the original super water park, Wild Wadi, which is free for guests (as well as for 3s and under), and to which a complimentary buggy and shuttle service operates from the hotel. Note: attempt the 120-metre sheer-drop Jumeirah Sceirah slide if you dare (and are taller than 1.1 metres); it remains a true Dubai rite of passage.
Price: Rooms from around £500 per night.
Atlantis the Palm
Distance from airport: 30 minutes
Kids' club ages: 4 to 12 years old. There are also dedicated play areas for ages 0 to 4, and 13 to 18 year olds
There probably aren’t many kids who wouldn’t at some point like to stay in the real-life equivalent of the Disney castle. Aside from its arresting coral appearance and central spot bam at the end of the Palm Jumeirah, there’s little chance even a young child could forget a stay at Atlantis the Palm. For starters, there’s Aquaventure, the world’s largest water park with the world’s most slides and experiences (that’s 105, in case you’re wondering), ranging from a splash play area for all ages to shark safaris and shark snorkels. There are also dolphin and sea lion experiences and The Lost Chambers Aquarium – 10 chambers to gaze into and marvel at the 65,000 creatures inside (or even take part in the back-of-house tour) – as well as the Ambassador Lagoon, the aquarium that non-divers can get into. Need a rest? You can drop them at the kids’ club if they’re aged between 3 and 12, or The Zone, which caters for teens aged 13- to 18 years old into gaming. Alternatively, you can book a babysitter from £20 an hour and get yourself to Nobu, Hakkasan or Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen, pronto.
Price: Rooms from around £550 per night.
Nicolas DumontPark Hyatt Dubai
Distance from airport: 10 minutes
Kids' club ages: 3 to 17 years old
Perhaps one of the chicest hotels in the city, Park Hyatt Dubai has stood the test of time in its Creekside, beach and marina-facing location, with its Moorish and Mediterranean-flavoured design and peaceful tropical grounds popular as a more stylish wedding venue – that first family event. It’s a smart choice, therefore, for those parents who once said having kids would not impact their holidays (it can be true!). There's a dedicated Kids’ Lagoon plus a child-friendly, the 25-metre swimming pool is open and supervised from 6am to 10pm, and located next to a sandy play area. Just next door you’ll find The Cave Kids’ Club (its nearby location is either good or bad, depending on how you look at it), also open right from 6am to 10pm and complimentary for hotel guests from 3- to 12 years old.
Children aged 16 and older, meanwhile, can join their parents at the 100-metre infinity lagoon, known as the Lagoon Beach by Twiggy (inspired by the Sixties model), lounge in one of the cabanas while looking at the skyline views, then pad their way onto the adjoining, tucked-away, man-made beach.
Price: Rooms from around £410 per night.
