This is the SPA/ beauty salon to take your other half. 1847 has built quite a reputation for all the nicknacks it has created for the boys (plasma screen, game boys...). That said, great express treatment shaves and Thai massages.

A great place for Saturday brunch. Al Qasr offers no less than 3 al fresco  restaurants

A 5 star hotel built following the traditional architecture of Dubai. One of the best in town, smack in the middle of Jumeirah (where you kind of want to be, when in Dubai)

A classic Lebanese restaurant and bakery

In the middle of Bastakiya's art galleries, the Majlis Cafe is a great place for a light lunch or mint tea

Wherever you go in the world, you can't really go wrong with Bice, the classic Milanese resto.

Coffee Shop

At Dante we believe in living life to the full. Every day should offer a new adventure, however big or small that might be. Plus we are passionate about good food. It's part of the joi de vivre that makes life worth living.

The hotel features numerous facilities and services, including a rooftop pool which is perfect for relaxation after a long business meeting, or a day spent touring or shopping in Dubai.

A beautiful and relaxing salon in Jumeirah, Dubai; where the professional gives one-to-one advice on skin type and condition aswell as recommends and helps applies the customized treatment

Emirates Towers is a dramatic backdrop to Dubai's skyline and a visible statement of the region's growing corporate success.

The classic European deco style. It's a great source for furnishing your apt if you just moved in town.

Flooka is a classic Dubai hangout. Great seafood restaurant. Read our story: http://www.diadiwan.com/nothing+flook in our archives.

Great facials and more at Givenchy Spa. Make sure to book well in advance.

Offering a diverse range of culinary options including various national and international dishes

Grosvenor House has 217 exquisitely comfortable and spacious sea facing guest rooms and suites

"The best blow dries in town" (Luxe Dubai)

 

For some of the best stores in town, you might not want to bother with Dubai's massive malls. Hit straight to the Emirates Tower Hotel and its adjacent mall, by far, one of the nicest places in town. Head to Boutique 1 (formerly Villa Moda) for quality retail therapy. Also check out Azza Fahmy, the Egyptian jeweler's Dubai boutique, across the lane. There are a couple other nice boutiques to check out. Although now that Villa Moda has opened in Festival city, things might change a bit...

La Maison d'Hotes is our stop in Dubai. Tucked in the middle ofJumeirah, it might be hard to find, but it's all worth it. Openedlast spring by two dynamic and classicly tasteful French women, the 20 roomboutique hotel will make you feel very at home. It also offers a verygood restaurant, ideal for a different kind of work meal.

Perhaps Dubai's main mall. Just try not to lose the whole afternoon wandering around. Places worth the stop include: Aizone, Etoile, Boom and Mellow for fashion. For the house: Flamant, the White Company and Zara home. For food and coffees: Almaz by Momo, Le Pain Quotidien. For fun...Dubai's skidome!

Who: From Jumeirah Janes desperate for born-to-be-blonde roots to perfectly match their offspring to the league of late twenty-something ladies who populate the city with perfectly straightened and expertly shaded tresses. Note to the wise: there is nothing more coveted than an appointment at mariadowling – two months in advance is the bare minimum.

How: It's all about the pampering, this is Dubai after all. Colour tone consultation will guarantee you don't come out with skunk chunks and then the traditional method of highlights and lowlights ensues. Kerastase products add a touch of super-indulgence.

Why: Because any place that requires you to book two months in advance has got to be good (there's no way they could be bluffing). And as for the highlights, they'll never betray your true colour, even when they're growing out.

Price: Dbetween dhs330 -550

This might in fact be our favourite hotel. Located in Dubai's Yacht and Golf club, you definitely feel far from the city's mayhem. Decorators chose the Moroccan ryad style for this hotel, and it works incredibly well. One of the rare hotels that look just as good from the outside as on the inside. 

Exalt in a private playground perched upon an exclusive beachfront island situated in the heart of new Dubai Marina beside the Arabian Gulf.

Lebanese fish restaurant.

Nestled on the lower level of Madinat Jumeirah, Segreto enjoys great views on the "resort" and waterways that spread through the Malakiya Villas. Chic, romantic and well, Italian.

Shabestan is an award-winning Middle-Eastern restaurant

200 m tall neoclassic city hotel offers contemporary architecture similar to the skyscrapers in New York.

The Shangri-La is on a class of its own. The two skyscrapers ar recognizable a mile away and the hotel's service is impeccable.

 

Teatro is everything you want: Sushi, Italian, American... and it works. A popular restaurant with expats.

Another uber chic hotel which, along with the Fairmont and the Shangri-la, stand as the city's very best. Grosvenor is located a litte bit outside of Dubai's center, in the Marina area, but with all the construction going around, it soon will be in the middle of the action.

One of the city's most exclusive hotels. The Oriental, Middle Eastern deco looks good - not tacky, not fake. We like.

A smart venue for lunch and dinner - a lot of business men here. Despite it's name, the Rib Room also offers fish, aside from the staple meat dishes.

One of Dubai's only boutique hotels. XVA is an art gallery, a cafe and a hotel. The brainchild of American expat Mona Hauser, XVA is defintely the place to be these days, with a weekly film series, a constant flow of art shows and the Saturday flea market in Bastakiya - Bastaflea. The nine rooms were recently re-decorated by various Middle Eastern artists and designers, including Nada Debs and the girls at shopping heaven S*UCE.