Bulgari Resort Dubai

Seen from the air, Jumeira Bay is a seahorse: an artificial island of 1.7 million square metres joined to Jumeirah Beach Road by a bridge, with villas along its tail and a hotel at its head. Bulgari Resort Dubai, Dubai, occupies that head, the first resort of the Bulgari collection outside Bali and the one built with the most space.

History

Meraas, the Dubai developer, reclaimed the island and signed Bulgari and Marriott in 2014 to anchor it with a hotel and branded residences. Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, who have designed every Bulgari hotel since Milan in 2004, drew the resort as a Mediterranean village rather than a tower. The hotel opened on 6 December 2017, three months after Bulgari Beijing, and the yacht club and marina followed. In 2021 the resort added Hōseki, a Japanese omakase counter of eight seats, which received a Michelin star in the Dubai guide's first edition in 2022.

Architecture and design

The buildings are low, clad in pale stone and coral-coloured render, set around courtyards and a central lawn that runs down to the beach. The design borrows from the Italian Riviera: pergolas, terraces, a long pool and a beach club with cabanas. Interiors follow the collection's codes, with Zimbabwe black marble, Italian furniture by Citterio for B&B Italia and Maxalto, and the Bulgari star inlaid in the floors. The Yacht Club building, on the marina side of the island, has its own restaurant and bar overlooking the berths.

Rooms and suites

There are 101 rooms and suites in the main hotel and 20 villas with private pools and gardens along the beach, the largest with three bedrooms. Rooms are big by city standards, with terraces facing the sea or the Dubai skyline across the bay. Residences on the island, sold privately, share the resort's services.

Dining

Il Ristorante Niko Romito, as in the other Bulgari hotels, serves the chef's spare Italian cooking. Il Café is the all-day venue and Il Bar the evening address. La Spiaggia, the beach club restaurant, serves lunch on the sand. Hōseki, the Japanese counter overlooking the marina, is the resort's most sought-after table, with a single omakase menu each evening and eight seats. The Yacht Club restaurant serves seafood above the berths, and the Bulgari Yacht Club is open to members as well as guests.

Wellness

The spa covers about 1,700 square metres with a 25-metre indoor pool under a vaulted ceiling, a hammam, a Turkish bath and treatment rooms, plus a fitness centre and an outdoor pool facing the beach. The private beach is reserved for hotel guests and residents.

Weddings and events

The resort has a ballroom, meeting rooms and the central lawn, which is the setting for weddings facing the sea, with ceremonies on the grass or the beach and dinners under the pergolas. The marina and the yacht club give corporate groups a private venue away from the hotel's public rooms. Dubai weddings here draw couples from the Gulf, India and Europe.

Location

Jumeira Bay sits off Jumeirah Beach Road in the Jumeirah 2 district, about 20 minutes by car from Dubai International Airport and 15 minutes from Downtown Dubai and the Burj Khalifa. The bridge to the mainland is private to the island. Among the beach resorts of the city, it is the luxury hotel in Dubai nearest the centre, close enough that the skyline is in view from the pool.