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The National
23-05-2025
- The National
Delano Dubai review: Miami export is a modern wonderland
When Lewis Carroll wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865, he could not have predicted how influential it would become. Stepping into Delano Dubai is just like falling down the rabbit hole featured in that famous novel. 'We just want guests to come and relax, you know? Forget about the outside world and be in this world,' a member of the guest relations team tells me. It's an ethos taken from the brand's flagship Miami hotel, which opened in 1995, and its Maison Delano in Paris, which opened in 2023. The National checks in to find out what's beyond the looking glass at the Bluewaters Island hotel. Having visited The Banyan Tree on Bluewaters Island just a few days before, I think I've made a mistake on the taxi booking app when my driver begins following a familiar path, pulling off the main road at the same turn. But as he reaches the security gates, he takes a left turn to the aforementioned hotel, which also has residential buildings, and a right turn to enter Delano Dubai. Together, the two hotels took over the space that was once Caesar's Palace, another US export. Behind the thin, translucent curtains – a signature design feature of the hotel – is a bright and airy lobby. Cream rugs top light pine floors, and more fabric drapes from tall ceilings against white walls and glass panels overlooking the sea. Minimal furniture includes oyster-hued curved sofas, tall potted plants and monochrome coffee tables topped with travel books. After a smooth check-in, the mood shifts as my guest and I leave the lobby. While the same curtains grace the corridors, the lights have faded, dimly shining over the dark marble floors as we enter the tunnel into 'Wonderland'. As we check into the fourth-floor room, the fun begins. It's one of the best hotel rooms I've stayed in. I notice the stunning terrace view: palm trees, hotel pool, blue seas. Cliched perhaps, but I do feel miles away from home, despite being a short drive away. Besides the bed, there is a sofa underneath one small window, indoor-opening wooden shutters adding extra charm. A sizeable study desk as well as a padded foot bench and a big light-up wardrobe complete the amenities. The refreshing spritz and range of desserts is a nice touch. The bath, shower and wash basin are in a separate room from the toilet. It's nice to see a sensible design decision here, meaning guests can soak in the supersized bath for lengthy periods without disruption. I also love the Byredo products the bathroom is stocked with. With dark hues and low lights, sultry vibes are consistent throughout the hotel. Things lighten up by the pool, though. Delano strikes a delicate balance with its poolside ambience. There's music and a buzz of chatter, but it's also possible to peacefully tuck into a novel. There are plenty of spots to throw down a towel for the day, from poolside loungers to cabanas and hammocks. Staying true to its Miami roots, two bistro chairs and a table stand firm in the pool's shallow end. Supposedly, they're an ode to Roman baths; a place to come together, unwind, discuss ideas. The gym is an unexpected highlight. It's spacious, with great sea and pool views and screens with workout programmes to select. During my visit, the on-site personal trainer gives me a challenging yet rewarding session. There are several restaurants in Delano Dubai, from Tutto Passa to Blue Door and The Delano Pool & Bar and the Rose Bar. Breakfast is a beautiful spread of classic morning foods, with a pastry offering to marvel over. The friendly staff remember from the previous evening that I'm vegan and bring me fresh avocado toast, a bowl of mixed berries, a chia yoghurt pudding and an oat latte before I even have the chance to scan the buffet. The night before, it was a specially-made vegan pizza for me (Dh95) and fresh spinach and ricotta ravioli (Dh105) for my guest. We also enjoyed colourful panzanella salad (Dh75), made with cherry tomatoes, red onion, crispy croutons, basil and cucumber and a bread basket to share. We also dine at Gohan in neighbouring Banyan Tree, tucking into edamame (Dh27); sweet soy cauliflower (Dh40); shiitake mushroom skewers (Dh35); baby spinach salad (Dh54); and the a vegan maki selection (Dh44). Each bite demonstrates vegan dishes done well, simple vegetables dressed and seasoned to make a lasting impression. Our final visit is to the speakeasy-style Rose Bar. The drinks are spectacular, but it's the disco room with light-up floors that stands out. The seating is reminiscent of disco balls and there are mirrors for walls. There may not be any Mad Hatter tea parties, but you won't get bored between the hotel amenities and the surrounding venues on Bluewaters Island. There is Madame Tussauds Dubai, Swingers Crazy Golf, an interactive City of Illusions museum, an arcade gaming zone at Brass Monkey, igloo-style dining at The Pods restaurant overlooking the water, and many more restaurants and bars to visit. Ain Dubai is also back in motion. Small details add up to a positive big picture at Delano Dubai. Despite a hiccup here or there, the overall experience is positive, making the hotel one I'd confidently recommend. Pricing is dependent on the dates and the season, with deluxe rooms starting at approximately Dh2,000 per night. Check-in is from 3pm and checkout is at noon. This review was conducted at the invitation of the resort and reflects standards during this time. Services may change in the future
Telegraph
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Ballet to Broadway: Wheeldon Works: An evening of unexpected delights and disappointments
'Wheeldon Works'? He sure does. Extravagantly talented, protean and industrious, the Yeovil-born wonder has a CV that's packed to the gunwales with goodies. With Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2011), The Winter's Tale (2014) and Like Water for Chocolate (2022), the Royal Ballet's 'artistic associate' has done more than any other choreographer to keep the three-act ballet alive and kicking. All the while, has also created a wealth of shorter, rich abstract ballets on both sides of the Atlantic. And, as the 'kicker' to this new programme suggests, he is also eminently at home in the world of song and dance. The fact that the Royal Ballet is now dedicating an entire evening to his cannon shows the esteem with which it (rightly) holds him. What's more, three of these four pieces are company firsts − I can't think of a comparable bill at Covent Garden in my lifetime. The one piece the company has danced before (if only six times), Fool's Paradise also proves the most successful. Not because of the Royal's prior experience of it, but simply because this 2007 work offers dancers and audience alike the most to get our collective gnashers into. A well-judged 30 minutes long, it's the sort of shorter piece that Wheeldon is particularly good at: multi-movement, simultaneously complex and lean, entirely abstract but also hinting at narrative undercurrents. Performing in spacy beams of light and in all manner of contrapuntal permutations, the nine dancers slink and coil in and out of each others' space and embrace, mostly following the mood of Joby Talbot's dramatically cinematic score, occasionally pushing against it. Narciso Rodriguez's pointedly plain, flesh-coloured costumes have an anonymising effect on the performers (all excellent, little Viola Pantuso once again marking herself out as a name to watch), heightening the piece's ritualistic edginess, and it all builds to a climax that's a mini-masterpiece of sculpture-in-dance. A closing, kaleidoscopic knickerbocker glory to that opening, near-monochrome study in moodiness, An American In Paris is the 25-minute work-within-a-work from Wheeldon's Tony Award-winning 2015 show of the same name, which he adapted from the cherished 1951 film. Extravagantly designed and lit by Wheeldon regulars Bob Crowley and Natasha Katz, with the house orchestra clearly relishing Gershwin's jazzy luxuriance, it's a slender but hugely energetic choreographic mash-up of George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, with an astute dash of Gene Kelly's princely-everyman swagger. A stage Billy Elliot in his youth, Cesar Corrales pounces on the latter: not just a fantastic, virile ballet dancer, but also a born showman, he here displays just the right kind of grin-inducing braggadocio. As his innamorata Lise, standing in for his regular and also real-life partner Francesca Hayward, Anna Rose O'Sullivan dances with her usual pin-sharp briskness, but looks slightly ill at ease in this display of old-school Hollywood-meets-Broadway pizzazz. And what of the two shorter, similarly titled pieces that fall in between? With the entire orchestra here lining the back of the stage, and displaying a looser, more contemporary-dance idiom, The Two of Us (2020), is a little, 'variety'-tinged romantic journey that plays out to four songs by Joni Mitchell, here delivered live by veteran pop singer Julia Fordham. Lauren Cuthbertson and Calvin Richardson are super as the couple, though I struggled on Friday with Fordham's fluttery delivery. Technical issues with the sound on the night mightn't have helped, but you craved the original recordings. Us, meanwhile, is a romantic duet for two men − still an astonishingly rare dance trope − that Wheeldon created in 2017 for the BalletBoyz. Intimate and intense, the steps are lovely, generating vivid little vignettes of mutual support and empowerment, and Matthew Ball and Joseph Sissons make a great deal of them. Keaton Henson's score is on the dirgey side, though. So, a bill that shows Wheeldon at his most mercurial, if not always playing the strongest possible hands. Still, the evening flies by, and his Alice returns next month − if you really want to see what all the fuss is about, there's no better rabbit-hole to fall down.
