Dubai: 5 Places to Stay

Set in the heart of so-called New Dubai (about 20 minutes south from downtown), this 393-room hotel looks right onto one of Dubai's most extravagant new attractions: Ski Dubai — the world's biggest indoor snow park. In fact, hotel guests can access Ski Dubai — and the swanky shops in the adjacent Mall of the Emirates — right from the Kempinski's soaring alpine-themed lobby. It's a surreal (but very real) draw. While the common spaces are flights of fancy, though, the rooms and suites are firmly grounded: all are warmly lit refuges with polished wood floors; high, recessed-lit ceilings; streamlined modern furniture; and spacious marble baths with bidets, separate tubs and showers, and double vanities. The hotel has three main restaurants, but the most wildly popular is the gargantuan (935-seat) Sezzam, with a menu that's organized by cooking method — e.g., flame, bake, steam — rather than cuisine.

Insider Tip: Escape the mall on the rooftop, where the open-air Mosaic Bar extends into the overflowing swimming pool and overlooks the Jumeirah skyline.

Room to Book: One of the 15 "ski chalets," with their beamed wood ceilings and European chalet décor. One-bedroom chalets look out over Ski Dubai's indoor slopes, but two-and three-bedroom suites have both slope-side and city skyline views.

• 1. Kempinski Hotel, Mall of the Emirates
  Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, U.A.E.; 971-(0)4-341-0000 kempinski-dubai.com