The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre

What the classifiers highlight

A ten-storey waterfall cascades through the lobby, art deco lines picked out with Arabic detailing, in a hotel attached directly to Gate Village and its galleries. The 341 rooms and suites keep the same restraint, with floor-to-ceiling windows over the financial district. Two of the spa's 13 treatment rooms are couples' suites with private bubble tubs.