The Address occupies 11 floors of a 63-story residential tower with views of the adjacent Burj Dubai, currently the world's tallest building. Most of the 196 rooms are huge, with balconies that overlook the hotel's green garden and swimming pool. The property's obsession with visuals extends to architecturally complex pastries served in the lobby coffee shop and to the mostly female staff, whose gray satin and silk gowns make some guests feel underdressed. Though the hotel is aimed at business travelers, the ESPA-operated spa, upscale Chinese restaurant, glassed-in penthouse bar, creative room service menu, and convenient location appeal mightily to vacationers, too.

Located on a desert nature reserve a 45-minute drive from Dubai, Al Maha offers a respite from the city's urban grind and ubiquitous cranes and construction. The 43 air-conditioned tented suites, tastefully decorated with Omani antiques, have private plunge pools and views of dunes: Golf carts provide transportation to the spa, central pool, and dining area when it's too hot to walk. Guest can go on game-viewing drives to see Arabian oryx, gazelles, and dab lizards, and connect with their inner Bedouin during sunset camel rides and falconry lessons. The resort can also arrange day trips into the city as well as 4x4 excursions into the Hajar Mountains. The best part is rereading Wilfred Thesiger's Arabian Sands in your refrigerated Bedouin paradise, waiting for the oryx to pass by to graze on Al Maha's lawn and sip from the private pools.

This $1.5 billion, 1,539-room re-creation of the Atlantis in the Bahamas ramps up the amenities with a giant aquarium housing 65,000 sea creatures (including a rare captive whale shark), a water park, a designer-brand-only shopping mall, nightclubs, belly dancers, and four big-name-chef restaurants, including Ossiano and the first Middle Eastern branch of Nobu. The standard Deluxe rooms are surprisingly sedate, but the over-the-top three-story Neptune and Poseidon suites have butlers, floor-to-ceiling windows that look into the aquarium, and decor echoing the domed lobby's motifs: shell-shaped pillars, lamps made of giant clamshells, and textiles imprinted with coralline patterns. Although Atlantis's location is at the top of The Palm, the most privileged spot on the artificial island, be aware that its beachfront faces not open sea but Dubai's cityscape—and consequently feels more Miami than Caribbean.

The 202 all-duplex-suite Burj Al Arab is, at 1,053 feet, the tallest building in the world to be used exclusively as a hotel. Low-key it is not, with Rolls-Royce pickups at the airport, a rooftop helipad, and an entrance that denies mere plebeians the right to gawk (a barrier ensures only guests and those with restaurant reservations get onto the man-made island on which it's located). The interiors are brightly colored and Midas-touched, while the service is slick and discreet, thanks to battalions of 24-hour personal butlers and in-room check-ins. Each suite has private dining facilities and 42-inch plasma-screen TVs, while the Club suites have their own snooker rooms. The decor is pretty garish, with lots of gold leaf and mirrors over the beds, but the views either out to sea or back toward the coast are breathtaking. Additional facilities are as luxurious as you'd expect: They include the Assawan Spa & Health Club, a secluded infinity pool, and six restaurants, among them the Al Muntaha, 656 feet above sea level on the 27th floor, which serves Mediterranean cuisine, and Al Mahara, the flagship seafood restaurant on the ground floor. But all this glitz comes at a price: Deluxe suites (the most basic) start at around $2,000. If you're determined to get that unique Burj experience, shop around off-season, as it's highly likely you'll find a cheaper rate.

One of the city's rare small hotels, this enclave of 24 suites and villas sits on a 150-acre polo estate whose verdant lawns feel far, far away from the cranes of Dubai. Thirteen suites on the upper floor of the hotel wing, accented with modern and ancient statues of horses, have freestanding egg-shaped tubs and come equipped with espresso machines and yoga mats; the white-washed villas add kitchenettes and private plunge pools. The location makes hiring taxis difficult, but the hotel engages private cars for excursions at a reasonable (for Dubai) $32 per hour. Guests share a spa, large infinity pool, organic café and bakery, wine bar, and excellent steak restaurant with the estate's permanent residents. Nonetheless, the resulting atmosphere remains uncrowded and unpretentious. Excellent horses are available for riding lessons, but the best part of a sojourn here is taking high tea or sitting with a martini on the terrace overlooking a field where the emirate's sheikhs play sunset polo.

The Exacto Blade–shaped twin towers of this 400-room hotel and its adjacent office block are a dominant feature on Dubai's skyline. Visitors always gasp at the transparent elevators that whisk you up the 52 floors. Located in the heart of the business district, the hotel has a monopoly on the power brokers doing business in the adjacent Dubai International Financial Center. The Chopard floor is reserved exclusively for women: Rooms are serviced by female employees and have soft pastel furnishings and extras such as a small cosmetics fridge in the bathroom (complete with handy tubes of Chopard lip balm, eye cream, and moisturizer), and a desktop that doubles up into a large mirror. The H20 spa, dedicated to male pampering, also has an Oxygen Lounge with leather massage chairs and oxygen masks (it might cure your jet lag). Restaurants include the sushi-based Tokyo@TheTowers, bankers' favorite Agency bar, karaoke bar Harry Ghatto's, and Vu's restaurant for—as if you couldn't guess—the view and its modern European cuisine. The tiny swimming pool is a bit of a letdown, although there's a free shuttle service to the one at Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

This 217-room hotel is located bang in the center of near-complete Dubai Marina and pulls in the crowds thanks to its position on the main waterfront promenade. The moment you step into the raised foyer, the hubbub of construction outside ceases to exist. Very much a chic city hotel rather than a resort, the room decor is minimalist—in chocolate browns, dark woods, and gleaming marble—with huge plasma-screen TVs. Popular with business travelers, it has an exclusively male grooming spa, 1847, in addition to its unisex Retreat spa. There's only a small outdoor pool, but guests have access to the nearby Le Royal Méridien Beach Resort & Spa (note that's not the Méridien Mina-Siyahi next door), which has numerous water sports facilities. Its restaurants include Mezzanine (which has been taken over by British celebrity chef Gary Rhodes), the Indian Indego, and the Turkish Ottoman's, as well as expat favorite the Buddha Bar. Looking to stay longer? The hotel also has apartments.

Arguably as iconic as the Burj Al Arab, with its mirrored wave-shaped exterior, this was the first of Jumeirah's beachfront resorts, opening in 1997. Admittedly the clashing primary-colored interior looks a little dated now, but it remains the perfect family beach resort, with 598 huge rooms, 20 restaurants and bars, and a multitude of water-related options, including five swimming pools, unlimited access to the adjacent Wild Wadi water park, the Pavilion Marina & Sports Club, yacht charters, a dive center, and free shuttle service to many malls. The Sinbad Club keeps kids occupied, while the low-key Uptown Bar, Ibiza-style 360°, and the Apartment Lounge+Club provide entertainment for grown-ups. Book one of the 19 Beit Al Bahar (House by the Sea) villas tucked on the beach, away from the main hotel. Each villa has its own terrace, outdoor dining area, large sunken baths, and plunge pool; there are also dedicated butlers and concierges. The villas' decor is in an Arabic style (high ceilings, wooden beams, and warm maroons) far removed from the slightly garish interiors of the main hotel.

This luxurious, French-managed guesthouse off the Jumeriah Beach Road sprawls around three sand-colored modern villas and two swimming pools and has become the model for Dubai's emerging boutique hotel business. Partners Claude Berquier and interior designer Julie Renaudie have created 22 spacious rooms with Omani, Afghan, Berber, Persian, Sri Lankan, or Middle Eastern themes. Five lounges, an excellent French restaurant, and a business center make this a place to work as well as play.

Dubai's answer to Vegas's Venetian Hotel, complete with 2.3 miles of meandering waterways navigated by electricity-powered abras (traditional water taxis), sounds tacky but is in fact utterly enchanting. This huge Arabian-themed resort is the site for two hotels: the flagship 292-room Al Qasr (The Palace) and the 292-room Mina A' Salam (Harbor of Peace). Mina A' Salam's rooms, restaurants, and bars are grouped around a harbor with uninterrupted views of the sea and the Burj Al Arab. Al Qasr was loosely modeled after the palace of the current ruler's grandfather. The impressive entrance, flanked by sculptures of gold Arabian stallions, is in keeping with the glittering interior, with its sparkling chandelier and massive floral displays. Despite the two hotels' being of similar size, Al Qasr feels far more exclusive and luxurious; expats consider the Koubba Bar Terrace one of the town's intimate spots for drinks. Interiors generally follow traditional gold, maroon, and dusky ocher color schemes, with dark carved wooden furniture. There are also 29 ultraluxurious villas (with ten rooms in each that can be booked separately). The Gulf villas have the prime beach sites, while the Arabian villas are dotted around the resort with three villas sharing their own pool and private butler. This resort also has a sprawling Arabian-themed shopping area called the Madinat Souk.

One of the city's most established and romantic resorts, this comprises three separate hotels in one heavily landscaped 150-acre complex. There's the original 246-room Palace, surrounded by palms and seemingly dipped in gold; the newer and more intimate 172-room Arabian Court; and the low-key 48-room Residence & Spa, which is like a very lavish, comfortable home. The resort draws heavily on traditional Moroccan decor, with lots of archways, dark carved wood, and elaborate mosaic floors. All rooms have balconies or patios that overlook the sea. What sets this resort apart is the beautifully landscaped pool areas and wide variety of restaurants, such as Tagine; it also boasts the best spa in town, one of only a handful of Givenchy-run spas worldwide, and the only luxury Oriental hammam in Dubai. The biggest drawback is that the cranes and apartment blocks being constructed on Palm Jumeirah are startlingly close to the Arabian Court, although the Palace is a little distance away.

The Moorish-style Park Hyatt's soothing cream, beige, and ocher interiors offer a welcome respite from the brash decor of most hotels in Dubai; even the staff is clad in spotless white. All 225 rooms—each with a balcony or terrace—in this low-rise (for here) five-floor hotel face the Creek and are a comfortable minimum 560 square feet. Ask for one of the 1130-square-foot Terrace Suites, which include two large balconies; their prime positioning at the corner of the hotel gives unparalleled views of the Creek and the Marina. The Park Hyatt's open-plan bathrooms are exceptional, with huge freestanding pod baths and rain showers. The Amara spa and pool area is a secluded oasis lined with tall palm trees, while the Levantine Café Arabesque serves an excellent traditional Arabic cold meze buffet for only $16 per person. The location, on the Deira side of the Creek, adjacent to the Dubai Creek Golf and the glitzy Yacht Club, is a good spot if you are interested in the older part of the city (or golf) but not so convenient for most of the city's nightlife, restaurants, and shops.

Although attached to a shopping mall with an ancient Egyptian theme, the pyramidal Raffles is a lesson in not judging a hotel by its exterior. The external kitsch conceals some of Dubai's largest, most stylish hotel rooms, all 248 loftlike in feel with oversized terrace balconies. The friendly and efficient staff beat the liveried pants off their counterparts at other Dubai luxury hotels; unlike many new arrivals from far-flung worlds, Raffles employees actually take messages, summon taxis, and can expertly direct guests around the city. Thoughtfully conceived facilities include two artificial-current lap pools in addition to the main pool, a large gym, and a spa whose sex-segregated Jacuzzis and saunas are open to hotel guests regardless of whether they book massage treatments. Botanical gardens occupy the pyramid's center, and the glassed-in trilevel top contains two Asian restaurants, a nightclub with no minimum drink requirement, and a champagne bar.

One of the smallest five-star hotels in town, the 138-room Ritz-Carlton may have excellent service, but apart from the Bedouin-inspired Amaseena restaurant, in tents on the beach, you could be in a Mediterranean mansion—there isn't an Arabian lantern or buff-colored wind tower in sight. Built in 1998, this low-rise resort sits on 8.6 acres of green landscaped gardens leading directly to a broad sandy beach. While the Dubai Marina's huge yellow skyscrapers now dwarf this hotel, it still manages to feel like a calm, private retreat. Culinary highlights include the hotel's signature Italian restaurant, the low-lit Splendido (Wagyu beef ravioli with morel mushrooms and pine nut sauce, and goat-cheese-crusted lamb chops with eggplant caviar), which houses one of Dubai's best-stocked (but pricey) wine cellars, the Amaseena (serving a traditional Arabic buffet), and French La Baie; make sure you don't miss the excellent afternoon tea. Prime rooms include those on the ground floor that lead out to the pools and have roomy patios.

The "Old Town" is actually brand-new—a hotel, condo, and shopping complex built in Arabian palace-style at the foot of the Burj Dubai, a finger-thin tower soon to be the world's tallest skyscraper. It sounds like a gimmick, but the architectural contrast is pleasing, and many of this hotel's 242 rooms offer breathtaking views of Dubai's latest monument to hyperbole. Similar views can be enjoyed from the large blue-tiled pool and the Thai restaurant, situated in a pavilion on a small artificial lake. The adjacent area, which will include the world's largest shopping mall, remains a construction site, but the hotel's proximity to the Dubai International Financial Center and its location midway between the emirate's main beaches, malls, and traditional souks mean that businesspeople—the target clientele—can do their deals and sightsee without wasting time in traffic. There are two sex-segregated spas with monsoon showers and hammams, and Palace Rooms and Suites have 24-hour butler service. Asado, the property's Argentine steak house, is popular for business dinners.

One of Dubai's most respected contemporary art galleries, XVA opened in 2003 within the 100-year-old neighborhood of Bastakiya, first settled by Persian traders who built the original town of wind-towered houses along the creek, a stone's throw from the Fahidi Fort Museum and the Old Souk. In two courtyard houses built out of coral-colored stone, accented by dark wooden furniture, pottery, and plants, XVA comprises an amalgamation of ground-floor gallery space, eight art-hotel rooms on the second floor, and a courtyard vegetarian café serving a basic but fresh menu of soups, sandwiches, salads, and XVA's signature mint lemonade. Artsy expatriates are drawn to XVA, especially on a Wednesday, when it plays host to offbeat art-house films and lectures (Brazilian author Paulo Coelho chose XVA for the launch and reading of his book The Witch of Portobello). The Moroccan-riad-style rooms, with Wi-Fi, are airy, minimalist, and slightly snug; each was decorated by a local or regional designer, including Lebanese furniture-maker Nada Debs and Essa, a Dubai couturier. The service is friendly though a bit languid. This is not the hotel for guests looking for a luxury five-star experience, and dining and entertainment options are severely limited—but at least this will ensure you leave the confines of the hotel to explore the city, which can only be a good thing.