36 Hours in Dubai

YOU name it, Dubai has it. Or if it doesn’t have it, it’s building it. Or if it’s not building it, it’s dredging up an island to put it on. The busiest of the seven United Arab Emirates is growing so fast that its newest developments can only be measured in hummingbird flaps. Blink and you’ll miss the latest superlative. This way to the world’s tallest building. That way to the world’s largest aluminum plant. Coming soon, the world’s longest bridge. Over here to the world’s biggest mall — which, incidentally, is about to be usurped any day now by a bigger one.
1) GETTING YOUR WINGS
The only way to wrap your head around the sheer scale of Dubai is from the sky. Take a cab out to Jebel Ali (about 45 minutes from downtown), the departure point for the Seawings seaplane company (971-4-883-3532; www.seawings.ae). For 795 dirhams (about $212 at 3.75 dirhams to the dollar), you get a 30-minute tour of the city from 1,500 feet overhead: the iconic sail profile of the Burj Al Arab, the impossibly high Burj Dubai building and the artificial archipelagoes fashioned in the shapes of palm trees and continents. Whatever you think of them — fascinating, silly, ecologically catastrophic — you won’t forget your first tropical “Antarctica” island.
8 p.m.2) RUNNING HOT AND COLD
Why diners need to be escorted by white-gloved attendants from the lobby of the new pyramid-shaped Raffles Hotel to the elevator bank remains unclear. But when you arrive at the Fire & Ice Restaurant (Sheikh Rashid Road, Wafi; 971-4-324-8888; www.dubai.raffles.com), the place can only be described as warm and inviting: exposed brick walls, leather chairs and flattering lighting. But it’s not without its gimmicks. The open-air kitchen is ringed by fire, and the “ice tartar” dishes are injected with liquid nitrogen so they emit a milky white vapor. The menu is vast (it calls itself “trans-ethnic”), so make it easy on yourself and order the tasting menu. Mine started with crab cakes and apple salad, followed by seared sea bass, and ended with chocolate tart. Dinner, including wine pairings, is about 700 dirhams.
11 p.m.3) BARROOM WITH A VIEW
This is a city determined to raise the bar — literally. If you ever thought the Great Pyramids of Egypt were missing tequila shooters and an observation deck, China Moon Champagne Bar is the place for you. Ensconced within the glass apex of the Raffles Hotel, it is one of the hottest — and highest — new bars in Dubai. But what makes it really memorable is not the giant pharaoh head guarding the stairway, or the 130 dirhams you’ll lay down for a glass of Veuve Clicquot. It’s the view: 360 degrees of twinkling sprawl stretching out to the Arabian Desert.
Saturday
10 a.m.4) ABOUT FACE
A Dubai hotel is not a Dubai hotel without a spa, and among the grandest (and newest) is at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City (Festival City; www.intercontinental.com/dubai; 971-4-701-1111). The spa evokes another world, with flowing strands of neon that resemble seaweed dangling from the ceiling. Slide into a plush white bed, watch Dubai Creek sparkling outside, and let your face be slathered with delicious creams that smell of honey and chamomile (the Just Pure Facial, an hour and 20 minutes, is 550 dirhams).
1 p.m.5) TASTE OF TRADITION
You can take only so much newness before the urge for authenticity strikes. Veer off to one of the city’s most historical restaurants, the curiously named Special Ostadi Restaurant (Al Mussalla Road, Bur Dubai; 971-4-397-1469). The small spot is 41 years old — ancient by Dubai standards — and is run by a boisterous Iranian man named Muhammad Ali Ansari. There are only a handful of tables, all covered in a half century of memorabilia, all packed with local businessmen wearing traditional kaffiyehs or shiny Italian suits. The natives come for one thing: grilled lamb kebabs doused in a tangy yogurt sauce and served with pita, onions, cucumbers, arugula, tomatoes and a fat wedge of lime. Order a dish of sweet dates and a cup of mint tea to wash it all down. The whole meal comes to 20 dirhams.
2 p.m.6) OFF LABEL
In a city of strung-together malls, a quirky boutique is a rare and beautiful thing, even if it’s technically attached to a mall. Sauce (the Village, Jumeirah Beach Road; 971-4-344-7270; www.shopatsauce.com), which recently doubled in size, carries an eclectic mix: funky gowns, wispy tops, ironic T-shirts, travel journals, candles, earrings, stilettos, pillows made of denim, and lamps made of neon bowling pins. Sauce also has a weakness for little-known designers like Tata-Naka, Mira and Third Millennium. It feels as though you’re walking into a really, really big closet — if your closet were designed by Stella McCartney, Anna Sui and a dozen Project Runway contestants.
4 p.m.7) MUSEUM OR SHOP?
The design gallery Traffic (Al Barsha; 971-4-341-8494; www.viatraffic.org) is the Middle East’s answer to Moss in New York City, which means it’s splashier, pricier and more exclusive. The 7,000-square-foot gallery in central Dubai carries ultra-high-end, museum-quality, one-of-a-kind designer chairs, tables, benches and fixtures — furniture so avant-garde as to be deemed “pieces.” Recently on display was a chest of drawers entitled “You Can’t Lay Down Your Memory” by the Dutch design collective Droog for 85,100 dirhams — one of the few versions not in a museum.
8 p.m.8) THAI VIEWS
The city’s dining scene revolves around hotels (maybe because they’re about the only places that serve liquor), and the current hot spot these days is Thiptara Royal Thai at the Palace, a new Sofitel hotel (Old Town; 971-4-428-7888; www.sofitel.com). Thiptara is as remarkable for its spicy Thai food as its vantage point — steps from what will soon be the world’s tallest building: the Burj Dubai. (Construction should wrap up any day now, they swear!) The restaurant features rich wooden fixtures, lakefront views and terrific dishes like spicy green papaya salad (80 dirhams) and the chicken stir-fry with cashews, mushrooms and pineapple (120 dirhams). Afterward, take your after-dinner drink to the hotel’s outdoor pool to see what a 2,000-plus-foot building looks like from the bottom up.
Midnight9) UNDERGROUND CLUB
The closest thing to indigenous culture in Dubai is night life. Make your way to Club Submarine at the Dhow Palace Hotel (Bur Dubai; 971-4-359-9992; www.dhowpalacedubai.com). As the name suggests, there’s a nautical theme, punctuated by curved walls and portholes that look out to nothing. Whether you come for the in-house Samba band, the techno stylings of a local D.J., or arrive on one of the nights they decide to retract the roof, Submarine packs them in. Get ready for a night of drinking, dancing, mingling with strangers and other debaucheries punishable by prison just a few hundred miles away in Saudi Arabia. When it’s time to leave, follow the hipsters to Zataar W Zeit (Sheikh Zayed Road; 971-4-343-1259) for a greasy melted cheese wrap and chilled yogurt drink (31 dirhams).
Sunday
10 a.m.10) BE A SPORT
The Els Club is what you get when you cross 7,500 yards of soft green sod, an opinionated champion golfer and possibly the world’s largest sand trap. Scheduled to open soon for nonmembers, the 18-hole course (www.elsclubdubai.com) was designed by Ernie Els as a compendium of his favorite links from around the world. Nonmember rates will be 695 dirhams. Even if you don’t know a nine iron from an Iron Chef, you should pay a visit. The club is in the middle of Dubai Sports City (971-4-425-1111; www.dubaisportscity.ae), a 50-million-square-foot United Nations of sports. Currently under construction are four stadiums (including ones for cricket and field hockey), a tennis academy, a race track, Manchester United Soccer School, a gymnasium, thousands of private homes and — lest you forget where you are — a sports-themed shopping mall.
THE BASICS
Emirates Airlines flies nonstop flights to Dubai from Newark Airport, starting at about $1,370 in May, according to a recent online search. Americans don’t need a visa to travel to Dubai, just a passport that is valid for roughly six months after your entry date. Some travelers who have Israeli stamps on their passports have reported problems being allowed entry, but Dubai has no official policy banning visitors who have also visited Israel, as do some other countries in the Middle East, like Syria and Libya.
This is the city that claimed the first seven-star hotel, so be ready to pay up. The Park Hyatt Dubai (Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club; 971-4-602-1234; www.dubai.park.hyatt.com) is in the quieter area of Deira and affords great city views. It has a great in-house spa, and a relaxing outdoor bar overlooking the harbor. Rooms start at 1,750 dirhams, about $467 at 3.75 dirhams to the dollar.
If you want to be closer to the action, the new Raffles in Wafi City (Sheikh Rashid Road; 971-4-324-8888; www.dubai.raffles.com) is a good bet. The common areas are vast and daunting, but the rooms are spacious and comfortable. Rooms start at 1,750 dirhams.
The eight-room XVA Gallery in the arty Bastakiya neighborhood (971-4-353-5383; www.xvagallery.com), which feels like a North African souk, may be Dubai’s only boutique hotel. Rooms start at 500 dirhams.