There aren’t many hotel suites in the UAE with private plunge pools on the terrace – and fewer still that welcome kids in. But it’s one of the many reasons JA Lake View Hotel is such a treasured jewel in JA’s portfolio of properties. It’s the slicker and more stylish triplet out of JA The Resort’s hotel triumvirate – which includes JA Beach Hotel and JA Palm Tree Court across its 1-million-square-metre plot – but for all its cool and contemporary finesse, it retains all the family-friendly ‘feels’ the cluster is so famous for. Kids have been the beating heart of the resort since it staked a claim on a then unused patch of Jebel Ali beach all the way back in 1981.
JA Lake View Hotel joined the portfolio in September 2019, and while JA Beach Hotel and JA Palm Tree Court secured ringside seats to the 800 metres of private beach, this JA Lake View Hotel takes a step back, plumping itself on the edge of a lake and 9-hole golf course, bringing with it oodles of greenery and views.
Designed in the shape of a ‘3’ – representing ‘Protect, People, Planet’ – the hotel’s curvilinear silhouette is the precursor for a design narrative focused on the natural flow of light and space, and sustainability. If you’re a design junkie, this is the hotel for you.
With interiors by Brewer Smith Brewer Group, the vast hotel atrium – with its mashrabiya-styled ceiling spliced by sunlight, wire mesh deer and flying bird artworks and gleaming Italian-made golden onyx plateau – is indeed striking. The light flows, uninterrupted, from the entrance all the way down to the golf course below.
On the same level, down a long, coral-printed carpeted corridor, lies my One Bedroom Private Pool Suite – one of the hotel’s 348 guest rooms, but one of only four such suites, all located on the first floor. The contemporary design cues are all the richer inside, the 168-square-metre space a shrine to modern creature comforts and connectivity. The flow of the space is spot on – open-plan but with sliding shutters and partitions for privacy. The first thing I do is throw back all the curtains letting sunlight cascade in, bouncing off the glass-wrapped balcony through to the light wood floors. Neutral colours pop with sky blues and sunset oranges, all riffing off the greenery outside.
There’s a six-seater dining table, sitting room, reading corner with desk, two TVs, dressing room, guest bathroom and roomy master bathroom with a gorgeously curvy tub. Bath products come in over-sized bottles from FairTrade company CosmEthics, made from things like cane sugar and Brazil nut oil.
But the real beauty is opening those balcony doors to let the indoor/outdoor nature of the suite do its thing. Perfect for families wanting space, outside, along with the views, there’s a plunge pool (tucked behind a lockable glass partition for safety), sun loungers, a lounge seating area and still enough space for a game of Tag or two.
It’s a real luxury having our own plunge pool, so we dip in and out of the hotel’s main pool in the morning (it has three – including one just for adults), then slink back to our suite to play in private in the afternoon.
We fuel ourselves with breakfast and live music at 81 (so named after the year JA The Resort first opened) where never-ending options are rivalled only by the endless views out of its floor-to-ceiling windows. One afternoon, we hop in one of the resort’s electric buggies to take us to the JA Equestrian Centre, to go swimming with horses. There are over 40 different activities across the resort – from tennis and clay pigeon shooting to waterskiing and mini golf, but ‘Swimming With Horses’ is undoubtedly the most special. The only place in Dubai you’re allowed to do so, we spend an incredible 30 minutes in the sea with a beautiful white horse called Whooby, as the sun sets over the Marina. Definitely a bucket-list activity.
Staving off the desire to order room service and hibernate in our suite, we have dinner at RePUBlik, a European gastrobar serving salads and sliders, then listen to live music in the lobby where the night-lit onyx is all ablaze. A magic show for the kids is being held in one of the conference rooms, happy painted faces exiting with ‘balloon animals’ waved aloft. You can of course hop in a buggy to eat at the other hotels (the resort has 25 venues in total), but between RePUBlik, 81 and Kinara by Vikas Khanna – a stunning Indian restaurant by the world-renowned chef – you’ll have everything you need. And to be honest, we don’t want to stray too far from the suite. While we know it’s ours and we’re the only ones with a key, it’s the kind of place you want to throw your towel down early to secure your spot. Suites like this don’t come around often and it’s mine, all mine...