My family and I were very fortunate to have found the Al Maha. We had originally planned to go to Kenya then Dubai for a vacation but with the political unrest in Kenya we switched our plans and landed in the fabulous Al Maha before making our way into the city of Dubai and staying at the Burj Al Arab.

We had one of the larger suites as we were travelling with our teenagers aged 17 and 16. The suite was spectacular and boasted a large communal living space flanked by two fabulous master bedroom suites each with master baths. We also had a kitchen and two smaller bedrooms/baths which were available had we been travelling with a nanny etc.. One of my favorite designs of the suite was that we had our own private courtyard with a fountain. It was beautiful especially as we were there during a full moon and when we came in at night it was gorgeous.

The swimming pool was quite large as was the surrounding patio. We had dinner poolside two of the four evenings. The staff comes and sets it all up for you. We also opted for the desert picnic by torchlight one night. Do not miss that!

The spa is great. Really plan on taking some time away from your room to enjoy the spa area. It is very much worthwhile.

We also had plenty of time to participate in many of the activies. The camel ride was one of the highlights. The camels are cared for meticulously. The camel driver is very proud of his herd with good reason. They are excellently trained (and do not smell as I have heard some do). These are some clean, clean camels. The ride includes watching the sun set from sand dunes overlooking the hotel while sipping champagne. It's very romantic (even with teenagers; though ours were the only kids there during our stay).

Robert, one of the restaurant supervisors was incredibly helpful when our daughter suffered motion sickness from the dune buggy ride. Apparently, green apples are the cure for that if you didn't already know and we certainly didn't.

Our butler/co-ordinator was Okello. He was fabulous; anything we needed we had without having to ask twice. Jorg was our activies director and he also was fabulous and among many things during our stay he taught me archery.

Every staff member that we came across knew who we were and treated us tremendously. They were kind, caring and often funny . How often can you say that of most hotel staff? Our stay at the Burj was also great we stayed there for five nights. But the Al Maha will be our first choice when we return to Dubai.

Most importantly for us it was great quality time with our children in a very luxurious relaxed atmosphere.

If you want luxury and privacy this is truly the place to go. Thank you to all the staff at Al Maha for making our time there so special. We will be back!