Bab Al Shams is a Rare Finds desert resort on Al Qudra Road, opposite Endurance City in Dubai. Arabian flair runs through the design, with golden dunes beyond the grounds and lush desert palms around the villas. You step away from the city into a setting built around the desert, with its own dining, wellness and outdoor experiences close at hand. It suits couples, families and friends who want a slower rhythm and still like a full day.

Rooms and suites are designed with Arabian flair, with plush bedding, stylish interiors, marble bathrooms and unlimited Wi-Fi. Terrace Desert View and Terrace Garden View Rooms open onto a private terrace. The Junior Suite and Deluxe Suite add space, and the Deluxe Suite brings a sitting room with a bar and a bathtub. Families can choose a Deluxe Family Room or a Terrace Family Room, each with two externally connected rooms. One and two bedroom Desert Pool Villas offer a private pool, views of golden dunes and a dedicated Villa Host.

Days can be as active as you like. The Kids Club welcomes children aged five to twelve for supervised indoor and outdoor activities between nine and six. Archery, camelback trekking, a desert drive tour and desert stargazing take you out into the dunes, and a private hot-air balloon ride shows the landscape from above. Back at the resort, a pool day, fitness classes and personal training fill the hours, and Al Hadheerah adds live entertainment once the sun goes down.

Temperature controlled pools give you plenty of choice, from an infinity pool and a lap pool with a swim-up bar to a plunge pool and a kids pool. The Pool Bar serves drinks and light bites beside the water. Bab Al Shams Spa and Hammam opens daily from nine until ten, with facials, massages and traditional hammam experiences. The fitness centre opens from seven until nine, with a steam room, a sauna and expert-led classes, while yoga under the stars adds a calmer option.

Dining spans seven restaurants, lounges and bars. Zala serves Eastern Mediterranean flavours from morning to evening, Ninive offers Middle Eastern and North African cuisine, and Anwā is a rooftop lounge with Pan-Asian bites and crafted cocktails. Al Hadheerah is the showpiece, an open-air Arabian theatre of live cooked dishes, with dancers, musicians, falconers and camel riders performing on Tuesday to Sunday evenings. The Lobby Lounge serves light bites and mocktails, Ya Hala is a cigar lounge for adults, and the Pool Bar keeps you refreshed by the water.

The Dubai desert is the main attraction here. The desert drive tour crosses the Al Marmoom Desert Conservation Reserve, where you might spot the Arabian oryx, and the balloon ride looks out over the Margam desert and the surrounding communities. Camelback treks follow the way nomadic Bedouins once crossed the sands, and a stargazing session uncovers constellations through a telescope. Golden dunes, open skies and starlit evenings frame everything you do.