Jumeirah Al Qasr

You turn off Jumeirah Road at Umm Suqeim and the drive opens into a court with a long fountain down the middle of it and 6 gilded Arabian horses rearing out of the water. Behind them stands the house: pale sandstone wings 4 storeys high, crenellated along the top, wind towers on every roofline, and an avenue of date palms running out to either side. Al Qasr means the palace, and the hotel was built to be one. It opened in 2004, and the idea carries through: the waterways in the gardens, deep enough for the traditional abras that work them; two kilometres of private beach along the front; and the Burj Al Arab offshore at the end of the sand, in the frame from most balconies. It is 23 kilometres from Dubai International and 27 from Al Maktoum.

Every room in this house has a balcony, and the balcony is what you are choosing between. Ocean rooms look over the palms to the sea and the Burj Al Arab; Arabian rooms look inward over the gardens and the waterways; Lagoon rooms look straight down at the water, where the abras pass. Inside they are the same 51 square metres — 43 indoors, 8 on the balcony — and the same language: a bed under a scalloped plaster arch with twisted columns either side, a carved headboard, a blue-and-gold geometric carpet, mother-of-pearl inlaid tables, a pierced brass lantern hanging over the sitting corner, and a marble bathroom with a deep tub set under a stepped arch of banded stone. The suites take the same vocabulary further — canopy drapes gathered over the bed, sunburst mirrors, orange leather armchairs against navy and gold — and the two Royal Suites change it entirely, into painted timber-beam ceilings, marble floors and gold mashrabiya screens. At 6 the light comes low along the wings and the sandstone goes the colour of the carpet; the lanterns come on under the arcades; and the Burj Al Arab lights up out on the water and starts cycling colours.

The service here is family-first and unusually literal about it. Jumeirah Circle, the children's club, runs to 1,000 square metres of play areas and pools for ages 2 to 10, with a 6-hole mini golf course among the waterways for anyone 4 and up; in-house guests get one session per child per day, and the club is under refurbishment at the moment, with families sent to the one at Jumeirah Al Naseem meanwhile. Babysitting is arranged with 6 hours' notice. The abras are the thing guests remember: traditional boats running the waterways from 10 in the morning until midnight, and complimentary for guests of the Madinat hotels. Souk Madinat Jumeirah is the other fixture — shaded lanes of boutiques and open-air restaurants under wind towers, with the Burj Al Arab framed at the end of them. The Eco Village at Dar Al Masyaf is complimentary for in-house guests and better than it sounds: an ecology walk through the gardens, a beekeeping session, falconry with the handlers, native tree planting, and the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project's own lagoon. Club rooms and suites come with a dedicated concierge and airport transfers. Wild Wadi is not currently open: the waterpark is closed on official guidance, with no reopening date.