Bulgari Resort Dubai

Bulgari Resort Dubai opened on 7 December 2017 on its own private island, Jumeirah Bay Island, as the Roman jeweller's fifth hotel worldwide and the most expensive in Dubai at the time. Designed by Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel and Partners, the low-rise, 101-room resort includes 20 private villas, the world's first Bulgari Marina and Yacht Club, and Il Ristorante by three-Michelin-star chef Niko Romito.

The place

The resort occupies the whole of Jumeirah Bay Island, a man-made, seahorse-shaped island off the Jumeirah coastline connected to the mainland by a short bridge, a few minutes from Downtown Dubai and Dubai Marina. Bulgari controls the entire island rather than a plot within a larger development, which is unusual among Dubai's beachfront hotels.

The concept

Bulgari Resort Dubai was the brand's fifth hotel worldwide and its first freestanding island resort, designed end-to-end by Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel and Partners in the same restrained, Arabescato-marble language as the original Bulgari Hotel Milano. Rather than compete with Dubai's skyline of towers, the resort is deliberately low-rise, spread across the island at just a few storeys, with its own private beach, marina and yacht club — the first Bulgari Marina and Yacht Club anywhere, with berths for superyachts up to 80 metres. At 101 rooms and suites plus 20 private villas, it is a genuinely small property by Dubai resort standards, a scarcity that was itself part of the pitch when it opened as the city's most expensive hotel.

Dining & wellness

Il Ristorante - Niko Romito, the resort's signature restaurant, is run by three-Michelin-star chef Niko Romito and echoes the design of Il Ristorante at Bulgari Hotel Milano, with raised banquettes facing the Arabian Gulf under a dramatic black ceiling. Il Chiringuito serves Mediterranean beach-club fare by the private beach, and Il Bar anchors the lobby for cocktails and light bites.