Luxury Hotels on Bluewaters Island: Which Room to Book

Banyan Tree Dubai at Bluewaters took over the former Caesars Palace building and reopened under its own name in late 2023, which explains why some reviews and maps still use the old name. It has 178 rooms and suites, from around 54 square metres up to 315, in categories named Bliss, Serenity and Harmony, plus a four-bedroom signature villa. Two outdoor pools sit behind the beach, and the kids' club has its own shaded pool and splash pad, which keeps the main pools calmer for couples. Guests rate it 9.5 out of 10 across more than 1,000 reviews. Its spa reopened, renovated, in October 2024.

The view is the decision to get right. Rooms on the Gulf side look over the private beach and the open water of the Gulf, and they put Ain Dubai close at hand; rooms on the other side face the Dubai Marina towers and the JBR skyline. They are different holidays: the Gulf side for sunsets and sea, the marina side for city lights. I would ask for a Gulf-view room on a beach week and the marina side for a short city break, and I would book the category whose name states the view, such as a Serenity Gulf-view room, rather than a generic one.

Dining stays on the island. Banyan Tree runs Alizée for all-day dining and its pool and beach terrace, Tocha as a Japanese-inspired tea house with an outdoor terrace, TakaHisa for a high-end Japanese omakase, and Demon Duck by chef Alvin Leung for Chinese-inspired cooking. Alizée also serves breakfast, and Tocha is where afternoon tea is poured. The restaurants around Ain Dubai add more options a few minutes on foot, and The Walk at JBR is across the footbridge. That matters at night: a luxury stay here works without a car for dinner, which is rarely the case on the Palm crescent.

One&Only One Za'abeel is the city version of a luxury stay. It stands in Za'abeel, at the World Trade Centre end of Sheikh Zayed Road, a short drive from DIFC and Dubai Mall. Its 229 rooms include 51 suites, and The Link, the cantilevered bridge between its two towers, holds most of its restaurants and bars, including La Dame de Pic by Anne-Sophie Pic, plus what the hotel calls Dubai's longest rooftop infinity pool, for adults. Guests score it 9.0 across almost 1,900 reviews. It has no beach: book it for the skyline and the dining, not for sand.

The island's limits are real. There is no metro station on Bluewaters; the Dubai Tram stops at JBR on the landside of the footbridge, and most guests take taxis over the road bridge to Sheikh Zayed Road. From June to September, the beach and the promenade are for early morning and after sunset. November to March is the season when a Gulf-view balcony is usable all day. During Ramadan, hotel restaurants keep serving guests, and iftar at sunset fills them, so book the evening tables ahead. On New Year's Eve, access around the Burj Khalifa is restricted for hours, and the island is a calmer base.