Palazzo Versace 5*, Dubai (UAE)

The Most Glamorous Stay I've Had, in a Grand Suite Designed by Donatella

Palazzo Versace is one of the few Dubai hotels where the designer name means something. The Versace world here runs through everything: the marble, the linen, the bathrobes, the wallpaper, even the Medusa worked into the floor at the entrance. I stayed in a Grand Suite in [visit month] 2026, and it made an impression long before I reached my room.

Location & Vibe

Palazzo Versace sits on the Jaddaf Waterfront, on the shores of Dubai Creek, in the Culture Village area. By car it's central: about 15 minutes from the airport and under 10 to Downtown and Burj Khalifa. On foot, it's a different story. There's no strip of restaurants or beach promenade to wander out to, the way there is in Marina or JBR. This is a hotel you settle into rather than use as a base. If you're after a weekend tucked away in a Versace world, that suits it perfectly.

The building is modelled on a 16th-century Italian palazzo, with subtle Arabian touches: neoclassical, symmetrical, full of columns. The lobby sets the tone straight away, with an enormous marble mosaic floor, floor-to-ceiling windows onto the Creek, and that first Medusa worked into the stone by the entrance.

Design & Rooms: The Grand Suite

This is where Palazzo Versace sets itself apart from other luxury hotels in Dubai. Every piece of furniture and every length of fabric in the rooms and suites was designed by Versace specifically for this property, and Donatella Versace personally signed off on each one. You can feel that consistency in the room. None of it feels generic.

My Grand Suite was a proper apartment at 130 square metres: a living room with its own dining area, and a separate bedroom with a super-king bed dressed in Versace linen. My favourite part was the dressing area, with a walk-in wardrobe and a Hollywood-style lit vanity. The detail is everywhere once you start looking. Gold runs through the ceilings. The silk furnishings come in the Versace Home palette of turquoise, blue, gold and salmon, and the Greek Key trim edges the walls. The Medusa turns up everywhere: on the cushions, the crockery, and in the marble bathroom, which has the round soaking tub the Versace suites are known for. My balcony looked straight out over the Creek.

It's gloriously maximalist, and for me that was the whole appeal. The effect is rich, glamorous and a little theatrical, and it was a wow from the first moment I stepped inside.

Pools & Grounds

There are three outdoor pools, and they each have a different character, so it's worth trying more than one.

La Piscina is the adults-only pool, for guests 21 and over, and it's the lively one. There's a resident DJ, sundowner music and a younger crowd, especially on weekend afternoons. I spent an afternoon there and enjoyed it, though it does get loud.

When I wanted somewhere quieter, I moved to the Central pool, which has an infinity edge looking out over the Creek. The mood is calm and the view is wide open. I read for a couple of hours and didn't want to move. Having both a party pool and a peaceful one on the same property is one of the things the hotel gets right.

The third pool, Amalfi, is for families, and younger children are welcome there, which keeps the families and the guests who want quiet comfortably apart.

Dining

I'm pescatarian, so I order fish and seafood, and the hotel's restaurants handled that easily.

Vanitas is the signature Italian restaurant, set against the Creek, intimate and low-lit. I had the seafood pasta, and it was excellent: light rather than heavy, and clearly built on good ingredients. The room is quietly romantic.

Enigma was the surprise of the stay. It's the hotel's Persian fine-dining room, and the standout for me was the eggplant appetiser: smoky, layered, a mix of flavours I hadn't come across in quite that combination before. If you go to Palazzo Versace for one meal, make it this one.

Breakfast is at Giardino, which deserves a mention of its own. It's a garden-themed room with terrazzo marble, tall columns and the same green-and-ivory Versace palette, plus live cooking stations and a buffet running from Arabic to Asian to Italian. What kept me coming back, though, were two small things. On the mornings I wanted something sweet, it was the thyme-infused honey, which I put on everything. On the mornings I wanted savoury, it was the cheese selection. Either way, it's a relaxed start to the day, and calmer if you go early.

Afternoon tea is in Mosaico, in the lobby, which is the most palatial room in the hotel. It has floor-to-ceiling windows onto the Creek and a grand mosaic ceiling, and the afternoon I was there, a young woman was playing live saxophone. The whole thing felt elegant and indulgent. It comes on the traditional three-tier stand, with scones, clotted cream and jam, finger sandwiches and pastries, and as a suite guest I had it complimentary through the lounge.

One detail summed up the level of attention. A welcome chocolate cake arrived in my suite with a gold Medusa on top. It's a small thing, and the best hotels are the ones that bother with the small things.

What I Loved

• The design. The Versace world reaches right down to the crockery, and Donatella signed off on it herself.

• The two pools I tried: lively at La Piscina, then calm at the Central infinity pool.

• The eggplant appetiser at Enigma.

• The afternoon-tea room at Mosaico, saxophone and all.

Verdict

Palazzo Versace is one of the few Dubai hotels that truly earns the label design hotel. Spending a weekend inside a fully realised Versace world is every bit as glamorous as it sounds, and the suites, the pools and the dining (Enigma above all) live up to it. I loved every part of the stay, I'd go back without hesitating, and I'd book Enigma again for the first night.

Good to Know

• Where: Jaddaf Waterfront / Culture Village, on Dubai Creek. About 15 minutes from DXB, and under 10 to Downtown by car.

• Best for: design lovers,  a luxury vacation from A to Z.

• The three pools: La Piscina (adults 21+, lively), Central (quiet, Creek-view infinity), Amalfi (family).

• Don't miss: dinner at Enigma (Persian) and afternoon tea at Mosaico.

• Pescatarian note: Vanitas does an excellent seafood pasta.