Banyan Tree Dubai

★★★★★Bluewaters Island, DubaiBluewaters Island, 6, DubaiSpecialist pick

Overview

Banyan Tree Dubai took over the old Caesars Palace building on Bluewaters Island in late 2023, and the rebrand is thorough rather than cosmetic. It's a 5-star, 178-room and suite resort with a genuine 500-metre private beach on the open Arabian Gulf, a short hop from Dubai Marina and JBR. Good fit for families wanting a proper beach weekend without leaving the city.

The beach here faces open sea, so expect real rolling waves rather than a flat lagoon — bring bodyboards, and know your kids' swimming ability before you commit them to it. There are three pools (a family pool, a shaded spa pool and an adults-only pool), a Banyan Tree Spa with a Rainforest Experience walk-through, and a kids' club for ages 3-12 that's actually housed next door at sister hotel Delano rather than on the Banyan Tree grounds itself. Service on the ground gets consistently good reviews, and it feels calmer and greener than the bigger beach hotels along this stretch.

If your children need dead-calm water to swim confidently, or you specifically want a sheltered cove, this isn't that beach — the waves are a feature, not a flaw, but they won't suit every family. The kids' club being a short walk away at Delano rather than on-property is worth knowing before you book. Traffic getting onto and off Bluewaters is generally light, which helps for a Friday-night dash after work.

500 metre private beach
three swimming pools
adults-only pool
Banyan Tree Spa with Rainforest Experience
kids club ages 3 to 12
five restaurants and bars
Michelin-recognised Japanese restaurant
former Caesars Palace Dubai
Bluewaters Island location
open sea with real waves

Rooms

Good to know

Meal plans: Room only · Bed & breakfast · Half board
Paid at the hotel: The tourism dirham fee and any security deposit
Cancelling: Each room shows its own terms; cancel online from My trips while they allow

Eating and drinking

Alizée — All-day beachside dining with a French-Mediterranean menu, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Indoor and outdoor seating with sea views. Officially flagged by the hotel as one of the restaurants suitable for families, so a reasonable dinner choice with children.
Alizée Pool & Beach — The casual poolside sibling of Alizée, serving lighter Mediterranean dishes and cocktails right by the water. Relaxed, informal, come-as-you-are mood that works well for a family lunch between pool sessions.
Demon Duck by Alvin Leung — Chinese and Pan-Asian cooking with a playful, theatrical edge, open nightly for dinner. The hotel notes children under six are welcome but encouraged to dine before 8pm, after which the mood shifts more towards couples and a livelier evening crowd.
Tocha — A Japanese tea lounge doing afternoon tea, pastries and a wide range of teas, with a pleasant outdoor terrace. A calmer, quieter option than the resort's dinner-focused venues, good for a slower afternoon rather than a big meal.
TakaHisa — Japanese omakase dining with sushi and premium wagyu, smart elegant dress code. This is the resort's fine-dining anchor and firmly an adults' or special-occasion restaurant rather than a casual family stop.

Getting there

Bluewaters Island sits just off Dubai Marina and JBR, connected by bridge, so the drive from most of Dubai avoids the worst of the Marina's internal congestion. Dubai International Airport is roughly a 30 minute drive; valet parking is available on site. For a weekend stay most residents will find driving themselves straightforward, though a transfer is worth it if you're arriving straight from the airport with luggage and children in tow.

Ask about Banyan Tree Dubai

Another room type, more than one room, or a date that is not showing — send it over and a specialist replies with what is available and what it costs, usually the same working day.