Bvlgari Resort Dubai

Why book?

In spite of the flashy supercars that line up in front of the hotel’s porte cochère – including, on my last visit, a Bentley completely covered in sparkling crystals – the Bulgari Resort Dubai is more about stealth wealth than brashness. This is a hotel that doesn’t shout about itself. While others in Dubai court influencers, celebrities, and crypto bros, Bulgari quietly gets on with doing what it does best: showcasing a sense of quality, elegance, and style that immediately makes guests feel a little calmer. Combine all of this with a couple of dreamy swimming pools, lush gardens, a handful of Michelin stars (two for the Italian restaurant, one for the Japanese), a yacht club, some of the best resort villas in the city and access to Downtown Dubai just a 12-minute drive away, and it’s an enviable spot.

Set the scene

This is a place of quiet luxury, where the blingy-ness that’s a feature of some of Dubai’s other resorts feels largely absent. There are no Guinness World Records here, and nothing superlative about its architecture or design. The most dramatic feature is the shading that resembles coral reefs, casting cooling shadows around the building. There’s a level of subtlety throughout, and reassuringly high-quality interiors and fixtures. The location, away from the main resort areas of the city, also gives it a sense of being a bit of a hideaway, but turn your eyes towards the city skyline and you’ll see the Burj Khalifa – the world’s tallest building – piercing the sky.

The backstory

The resort opened in December 2017 on a manmade island loosely shaped like a seahorse, just off Dubai’s Jumeirah residential neighbourhood. Like all Bulgari hotels and resorts around the world, Italian studio ACPV Architects, Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, was behind the interiors and exteriors. The hotel’s press materials say it resembles a “traditional seaside Italian village”, but you’d have to use a lot of imagination to see that. Instead, it looks like a sleek, stylish resort perched on the edge of the Arabian Sea, which is exactly what it is. The Bulgari Resort Dubai is more than a hotel, though. The property sprawls over almost 100,000 square metres, including six apartment buildings, private mansions, a beach club and the world’s first Bulgari Marina and Yacht Club. The Bulgari Lighthouse is also under construction next to the marina, a towering skyscraper that will feed Dubai’s insatiable appetite for luxury branded residences, set to open in 2027.

The rooms

Dubai’s plentiful sunshine and natural light pour into all rooms, suites and villas, highlighting the neutral tones of the interiors and the exceptional quality of the finishes. Unlike some of Dubai’s city centre skyscrapers, where rooms are hermetically sealed within glass and steel, every accommodation comes with its own spacious balcony for lounging and gazing at the sun setting over the sea or the city lighting up at dusk. Furniture is Italian, hand-selected or custom-designed for the hotel, and there’s a sense of tactility to everything, from the polished oak surfaces to the walls covered in silk fabrics and the thick Beni Ouarain rugs from Morocco’s Atlas Mountains.

The 120-square-metre Bulgari Suites aren’t the showiest, largest or flashiest in town, but they’re definitely up there with the most desirable. Beds are dreamy, at once so cool and cosy with silky linens and cashmere blankets that it takes a concerted effort to get out of them each morning. Thoughtful details are everywhere, like little boxes of orange and pecan or fig and balsamic truffles from the in-house chocolate boutique, Technogym weights for in-room workouts, and Devialet speakers in the living room. Minibars resemble leather steamer trunks and feature everything needed – including recipes – to craft a Champagne cocktail or a Negroni.

Dubai is a city that has plenty of luxury resorts, but a surprising shortage of standalone villas within them. This makes the 20 Bulgari Villas even more special. They’re blissfully private, tucked away behind Indian limestone walls in gardens with sun decks and swimming pools offering views out to sea or the Burj Khalifa standing tall on the horizon, serviced by butlers who are unobtrusive yet always available.

Food and drink

Dining here is elegant and understated. At breakfast at Il Caffè, a small selection of help-yourself items – Italian cheeses, seasonal fruit, and focaccia fresh from the oven – sit on a central table, with the rest being à la carte.

With just 17 seats, one-Michelin-starred Hōseki – meaning gemstone in Japanese – feels like a hidden treasure. It’s a slice of Tokyo on the Arabian Sea, with chef Masahiro Sugiyama bringing 157 years of family sushi traditions to diners through omakase menus featuring hyper-seasonal Japanese seafood. And open for dinner only, there’s Il Ristorante – Niko Romito, a staple of Bulgari hotels around the world, which holds two Michelin stars for its Italian cuisine combining contemporary and classical touches.

But for me, the highlight is lunch at the Bulgari Yacht Club, gazing out over the sleek boats lined up in the marina and seeing who I can spy onboard. The red prawn, served on a bed of crushed ice, is sweet and plump, the scallop tartare silky smooth, the fritto misto light and crispy, and the linguine vongole cooked perfectly al dente with just the right amount of brininess. You could linger for hours here, and many do.

The spa

Expanses of dark wood and hushed corridors welcome guests to the 1,700-metre spa, where treatments range from results-driven Augustinus Bader facials to soothing massages with argan and sweet almond oil, as well as ayurvedic rituals that feel like a counterpoint to Dubai’s often frenetic energy. The spa facilities also include a 25-metre indoor pool, perfect for when it’s just too hot outside, as well as a vitality pool adorned with green and gold mosaic tiles inspired by the ancient Caracalla Roman baths, a hammam and a seaside deck for basking in that post-treatment daze.

The area

The resort’s location is both connected to and separate from the busier areas of Dubai. Downtown, home to Dubai Mall, the Burj Khalifa and the DIFC business and dining district, is less than 15 minutes away by car. The airport is just a 20-minute drive, so guests can soak up the sunshine on the beach, float in the pool or sip another Negroni at the bar until the very last minute.

The service

From the smiles that greet travellers at the front door to the housekeepers, restaurant staff and pool attendants, there’s a sense of friendliness here that cascades down from the effortlessly charming general manager, Pep Lozano. Attention to detail throughout the hotel is exceptional, from the personalised calling cards in my suite with “My Residence in Dubai” printed above the hotel’s address to the beach bag monogrammed with my initials in gold. Other much-appreciated touches include breakfast available 24 hours a day, complimentary Berluti shoe shine for all guests, and the possibility of arranging in-room Bulgari jewellery viewings and sales when visiting the in-house boutique feels like a chore.

Eco effort

This is a big, multi-faceted property built on a man-made island, so it doesn’t exactly have a small environmental footprint. There are several sustainability programmes in place that focus on waste reduction and solar heating of water. Thankfully, the proliferation of single-use plastic bottles containing amenities in the rooms is being phased out. The resort also supports conservation activities in the Al Wadi Nature Reserve, including planting the UAE’s national tree, the ghaf.

Accessibility

There are two accessible rooms for wheelchair users, one deluxe suite and one garden deluxe suite with access to its own private garden.

Family

While there’s very much a grown-up ambience here, children are made very welcome and 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.