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art high-rise hotel tower, part high-end beach resort, part French and part Arabic, the Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah Beach is an emblem of today’s Dubai, a city that’s as much a leisure destination as it is a business hub. The best big hotels have always been able to cope with both sorts of traveler, of course, and some of the most memorable trips incorporate elements of both. But what’s remarkable here is the seamlessness of the transition — one minute you’re thirty floors up in a room that could just as easily pass for an Arab-accented vision of Paris, and the next you’re on a lounger by the pool, facing out to sea, with the Walk, Dubai’s waterfront promenade, more or less right at your feet.

In fact it’s hard to imagine how you’ll find time to take in the view from your room’s ocean-facing balcony, so plentiful are the diversions. Two restaurants, three bars and a full-scale spa and fitness center compete with the pool and the beach, and beyond that you’ve got the shops and cafes on the Walk to contend with. The Montgomerie Golf Club is more or less right next door, and if you’re here on business you’re close to the enterprise districts of Internet City and Jebel Ali Free Zone — and that’s without even venturing anywhere close to downtown.

How to get there: From Dubai International Airport take the Jebel Ali/Abu Dhabi exit, staying in the right lane. Cross Al Gharoud Bridge, going southwest towards Jebel Ali/Abu Dhabi-Drive for 30 km. Take exit number 32, Dubai Marina/Jumeirah Beach Residence-JBR. After thesecond traffic light, go left at the T-intersection. Follow the JBR signs, make a right towards the beach, and left on the Walk. The hotel is located in the second half of Jumeirah Beach Residence, before the Amwaj cluster, facing the beach.