Dukes Dubai. In the midst of this ongoing pandemic, we need an escape. Dukes, The Palm perfectly fits the bill.
Homeschooling for months, desks crammed into bedrooms, work calls with the cat lying on the keyboard and the vacuum cleaner droning in the background and summer get always cancelled. We are more than ready to swap our four walls for something different.
Dukes Dubai, A Royal Hideaway
So we book ourselves into the Dukes Hotel. A home away from home, we swap our desks for sun lounges and kids for cocktails, albeit temporarily. The Dukes Dubai is a breezy and inviting hotel conveniently located on The Palm. The hotel boasts 279 rooms while the complex includes a further 285 serviced apartments, all with stunning views of the Palm, JBR and the Arabian Gulf. West 14th Steakhouse and Dreamworks Spa are onsite and Nakheel Mall at the centre of The Palm is directly opposite.
While the spa is tempting, all I really want to do is laze the day away by the pool. This is exactly what we do. We find a couple of sun lounges and some shade by the edge of the water, unpack our books and settle in.
It is hot. Think 40 degrees Celsius and humid as anything. We drink gallons of water and cold sushi and fruit salad for lunch is perfect. There is no breeze despite the proximity to the blue Arabian Gulf glistening across my view.
I take a dip to cool down, lingering on the edge of the pool gazing more at the houses that look back on JBR than the scene itself. What a life! I am acutely aware as I glide free and cool under the water that there are many around the world right now locked down or in circumstances much more grim than I can imagine. Yet I feel elated, a weight of worry and concern lifted, even if only for the duration of our stay.
Later afternoon after alternating our book with dips in the pool and sips of our drinks we head back past Dukes Dubai’s own lazy river to our room. We can see more of the bay from here with the hotel facilities spread out below. The Dubai Eye looks back at me, the sun sinking behind it. I close the balcony doors on the dusk humidity and turn the air conditioning on before taking a cool and refreshing shower and kicking back, curled up on the bed, for a bit.
Eventually we rouse ourselves from our quiet bubble, dress and head up to Khyber, one of the hotel’s restaurants for something to eat.
Khyber Restaurant
By now, having shaken off the afternoon heat haze by returning indoors, I am hungry and Khyber’s menu is tempting. Offering a range of Northern Indian delights, Khyber is just the right balance of delicious and comforting for our evening in. We are seated in a private nook and settle in for a feast.
We can’t go past our staples, Palak Paneer and Butter Chicken and add lamb Rogan Josh and Dal Makhani to our selection, simply because the smells wafting from the kitchen are so tempting.
There is no hurry and we take out time, sinking into the lazy pace and enjoying our date night and each other’s company. We finish off with a trifecta of gulab jamun, rabri and mataka kulfi for dessert. I eat more than I should, the flavors being so good.
The next morning we sleep in and are surprised at how late we wake. We stay in bed, delaying breakfast as long as possible, trying to soak the peace and tranquility into my very being.
After breakfast we head back poolside for the rest of the morning before eventually, reluctantly admitting that we need to return to reality. No more Royal Hideaway.
Good To Know
Dukes Dubai is a luxurious hotel stay. Close enough to other attractions to be convenient and far enough away to offer a true city escape.
Would I Return?
Yes. But in the meantime I can recall the relaxing mood at home in my Dukes bathrobe!
