Palazzo Versace Dubai

Not a lounge off a lobby — the lobby itself, a colonnaded hall with gilded Corinthian capitals down both sides, a coffered ceiling, and a mosaic floor laid by hand in black, ochre and cream that runs the whole length of it. It is useful at almost every hour it is open, but the middle of the day is the reason to sit here: high tea, and a room that fills for it. There is an opera singer on Thursday and Friday evenings from 5, and a DJ at the weekend from 6.30.

A terrazzo hall the size of a small church, with columns down the middle and a jungle-motif wallcovering out of the Versace paper collection in green, ivory and pale leaf. This is where breakfast happens, 6.30 to 11 every morning, and where the Into the Jungle brunch runs on Saturdays from 1 to 4.

The serious room, and the only one here that does a single thing. Classic Italian cooking — pasta made in the building, risotto, fish — served straight rather than reinvented, at tables set for two against the Creek. It does not open for lunch at all: 6 in the evening until 11, last table at 10.30. The one hard rule is that children under 6 are not seated.

The best table in the hotel at dusk, and it is not close. Enigma sits on the ground floor of the West Wing with 60 covers inside and 36 more on a stone-colonnaded terrace that looks straight down onto the lit main pool, the palms and the Creek behind it. Dinner only, 6 until 11. Shisha is served on the terrace from 1 in the afternoon, Tuesday to Sunday.

The first bar Quincy Jones ever put his name to, and the only room in this hotel built around a stage. Live music on both nights it opens, from artists he picked himself. Friday and Saturday, 7 in the evening until 1, over-21s only. Smoking is allowed indoors, and there is a minimum spend.

A cocktail bar on the ground floor of the East Wing that changes character as the evening goes on. It opens at 4 for drinks and plates ordered off the list, turns into an aperitivo hour at 6, and after 9 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday becomes something closer to a club, with a DJ and bottle service. The drinks list is written as a set of stories rather than a run of spirits.

A shisha lounge on the ground floor of the east wing, and one of the last rooms here still serving at 1 in the morning. Low cushioned seating, lanterns on the tables, and Mediterranean plates meant to be shared rather than ordered a course at a time. The mixes run from the classics through house blends to the hotel's own. From 5 in the afternoon Sunday to Friday, and from 7 on Saturdays. Nothing to book.

The al fresco room at the West lagoon pool, which is the family one and open to every age. Rustic Mediterranean cooking done properly — salads, things grilled over fire, and whatever comes out of the wood oven — served from 12 until 6, with drinks from 9 in the morning and the pool itself open 8 until 7. Beachside casual, and nothing to book.

At the East pool, under the palms, and it is a poolside bar with a programme rather than a restaurant. Chilled soups, sushi and Mediterranean platters, cocktails with names like Spice Me Up and Volcano, and a DJ through the afternoon. Open 10 in the morning to 7, with a different party most days of the week.