Fairmont Fujairah Beach Resort

Built into a stretch of coast where the Hajar Mountains meet the Gulf of Oman, Fairmont Fujairah Beach Resort was raised as a beach base with the rock face at its back and open water at its door. The resort holds 181 rooms and suites, most facing either the marina or the ocean, and several with private balconies or terraces set for morning coffee above the shoreline. Family rooms and two- and three-bedroom suites connect for larger groups; the Royal Suite runs to 360 square metres across the top floor, with three bedrooms and a wraparound view of the water. Rooms carry five-piece bathrooms and 42-inch screens as standard, plain comforts rather than flourishes. Below, a run of pools includes a floating breakfast service at the Canvas Pool, and a rooftop bar looks over the sea for dinner after dark. A kids' club and chalet at the adjoining beach club give families their own patch of sand. You can watch the mountains catch the last light from the rooftop terrace, the water beyond it turning from gold to grey. The beach runs shallow and calm, sheltered enough for early swimming. Check-in and the rest of the resort's rhythm follow standard hotel hours, but the setting, mountain on one side, gulf on the other, is what the place was built around.