Daryl Visscher for The New York Times
The 360 bar at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel.
Dubai Travel Guide
From the New York Times - December 9, 2007
Party Destination | Dubai
Clubs Bloom in the Desert
By SETH SHERWOOD
SIX years ago, Dion Mavath, an Australian D.J., flew to Dubai to take up residency at an upstart local nightclub. Dubai, a fledgling metropolis, was still mostly known as an airport hub and a shipping port, and the local night-life scene, he quickly found, was nearly as sterile and undistinguished as the flat Middle Eastern desert landscape.
"It was dire," he recalled with a laugh. "It was very backwards. There was absolutely no musical knowledge whatsoever."
But few places on the planet have transformed themselves with as much deliberateness and aplomb — to say nothing of oil money — as the tiny city-state on the Persian Gulf. Three mammoth palm-shaped artificial islands have risen from the sea, and scores of five-star hotels and futuristic skyscrapers are exploding from the barren ground.
Amid them, the Middle East's most dynamic clubs and chic lounges have also coalesced from the dust, boosted by an enormous expatriate community, tolerant local mores (a Dubai branch of Hooters is reportedly in the works) and a proliferation of glittery events like the Dubai International Film Festival. From a night-life backwater, Dubai has become the kind of city where you might run into Michael Jordan at the Buddha Bar or stumble across Naomi Campbell celebrating her birthday with a multiday bash, as she did last year.
"Everything is growing exponentially in Dubai, and the party scene is just another facet of that," said Mr. Mavath, who plies his trade from Miami to Malaysia. "Dubai is one of the leading scenes in the world right now for the D.J. community."
The evidence is on view every week at Peppermint (www.peppermint-club.com), a Thursday-only megaclub at the Habtoor Grand Resort, with six bars, 50 V.I.P . tables and its own Facebook page. The boldface D.J.'s that have propelled the jam-packed, Dolce & Gabbana-sporting crowds include Carl Cox and Derrick May.
At the Madinat Jumeirah hotel is Trilogy ( www.madinatjumeirah.com/trilogy), a members-only house-music center. (Travelers can apply for free membership cards through Trilogy's Web site.) Jazzy Jeff, David Guetta and scores of other faces from the Mount Rushmore of D.J.-dom have graced the soaring, sultanically decorated three-level palace. The rooftop lounge offers sublime views of the gulf and the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab hotel, the tallest in the world.
Though Dubai is thousands of miles from St.-Tropez, the Middle Eastern princes, the Russian moguls, the dolled-up Euro girls and the abundant wannabes who pack the plush baroque interiors of the 400 Club (Fairmont Dubai, www.the400club.com) are oblivious. Everyone from Roberto Cavalli to Ludacris has luxuriated amid the crystal chandeliers and gilded mirrors of this year-old club, where a chilled six-liter bottle of Dom Pérignon runs a cool 31,000 dirhams, about $8,447, at 3.74 dirhams to the dollar.
For a more populist night out, lounge chair travelers can go around the world in 80 bars, stopping for fruity Polynesian cocktails at Trader Vic's at the Crowne Plaza Dubai ( www.tradervics.com), mojitos at Cuban-themed Malecon (www.dxbmarine.com) and vodka à go-go at the Red Square Discothèque in the Hotel Moscow ( www.moscowhoteldubai.com).
The only crimps in the social scene are a lack of options for gay partygoers (in 2001, authorities shut down a club for holding a gay night featuring a transvestite D.J. from England), the prohibitions on alcohol during the Islamic holy period of Ramadan and the year-round 3 a.m. closing time.
But as you would expect from an energetic juggernaut of a city, revelers make up for the limited partying hours by redoubling their efforts. Between midnight and last call, Mr. Mavath said, "people just go mental."
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